Sunday, 6 June 2010

Restaurant Review: Four Ate Five, Surry Hills



One of the things I love about Sydney, especially compared to London, is the cafe culture. There are lots of unpretentious cafes, serving great fresh food at decent prices. I was really keen to show mum and dad one of Sydney's cafes. And why not use it as a opportunity to try Four Ate Five, which Time Out labelled as Sydney's best?

First impressions are very good. Small, independent, lovely light open space, a communal table up the back and some individual booths near the window. Another striking element is the beard quota. I don't think I have seen so many beards in the one place since arriving in Sydney!

Based on Time Out's review I'd decided in advance that I was going to order the pulled pork sandwich. Do you see that little piece of pork that had tumbled out of the sandwich in the bottom right of the photo? I couldn't resist tasting it first and I was actually disappointed. It tasted dry and I thought I could be forcing my way through very dull sandwich. However, once I took a bite and got a taste of the pork with the aoili and tomato chutney it was everything I hoped for.



Mum ordered the veggie burger. She was a big fan of the home made burger, commenting on the large chunks of real vegetables. It couldn't be further from a processed frozen burger if it tried. We had a bit of a disagreement over the chips. I thought that they were under cooked, but mum believed it was the floury variety of potato. Don't question your mother!



Dad went for the vegetable pie. I thought this was a very Top Aussie choice for only his second day in Australia. It turned out to be a lighter and more Mediterranean than I expected, made with filo pastry.

Four Ate Five was a great find of a cafe and ably showed off the best of Sydney's cafe scene. It was exactly the type of place I was hoping to show mum and dad.

Fouratefive on Urbanspoon

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