Smash Sausage Kitchen, Newtown

At this time, I probably should be doing a recap but 2014 has been a pretty average year for me to be honest. In terms of food blogging, it has been really awesome on the other hand especially with meeting more cool foodies and exploring new restaurants. So let's end the year with hearty comfort food...like sausages! 

Recently a friend invited me to check out one of her fave joints located on the quieter end of King Street, Newtown. While you don't hear this as much in social media, it has a solid following in the local community especially from the circle of friends who were with me that night. The decor may not be the fanciest (lots of really cool pop art though) but it definitely has the heart and soul when it comes to serving their good ol' fashioned snags. 

Bulmers Apple Cider ($7.50)

There was so many of us so it was hard to cover what everyone got. So this post will mainly focus on what I sampled on this visit. Went with the Bulmers Apple Cider, which was very sweet and rich but also a great way to cool down on a hot day with hot food.

Willie The Boatman Foo Brew Long Necks ($14.00)

Since it was a sausage joint, we couldn't help but laugh when we saw a drink called "Willie". While it looked dark and rich, the flavour was actually lighter than I expected. Quite easy to drink compared to the cider. Would order this drink if it wasn't that pricey. 

Sausages (2), Creamy Potato, Bacon and Leek Mash and Mushroom Gravy ($18.50)

The signature concept of Smash Sausage Kitchen is that you get to build your own sausage, mash and sauce to whatever way you like. First you choose your sausage/s then you choose your mash (or chips, garden salad or veggies if you don't like mash) then sauce, gravy or chutney to have on the side. For $2 extra, you also get the choice to add toppings to your snags whether it's grated cheddar or crispy bacon Parmesan crisps. My mash pick was the creamy potato, bacon and leek which was very tasty and not lumpy at all. The mushroom gravy has a smooth but not too creamy texture which made it ideal for pouring it over the sausages or the mash...or even something you could dip your sausage into...ahem.

Old English Pork sausage

There's a generous range of sausages to choose from including Smokey Bacon, Pork and Maple; Vegetarian sausage; and Lamb Mint and Rosemary to name a few. I decided on two flavours which were the Old English Pork and the Smokey Beef Texan. Both sausages were juicy, flavoursome, firm but not too hard nor was it too soft. While they were both delicious, I personally preferred the Smokey Beef Texan because of it's mild spices that gives it a good flavour boost. Bonus points for all sausages being gluten free! Extra bonus points for the size of those...erm yeah.

Smokey Beef Texan

Sausages, gravy and mash topped with cheese

Honey roasted carrots ($8.00)

We also got a bowl of honey roasted carrots to share between everyone on the table. Loved the not-too-sweet flavour as well as the stickiness that adds to the firm texture of the carrots. 

Lime creme brulee (special menu)

Initially I was planning to get one of the puddings but I was so keen to try the creme brulee when I spotted it on the special menu. Unfortunately this ended up being a let down because the custard way too soft and liquid-like when I tried it out. The saving grace was that the brulee topping was hard, which was how I preferred. 

Flourless Chocolate Cake with gooey chocolate sauce and cream ($9.50)

Only took a bite of this but I could sense the decadence and richness from the chocolate in this dessert. The cream will certainly be a good match to complement the intense flavour from the chocolate. Since I love chocolate, will definitely order this on a future visit

Sticky Date Pudding with salted macademias, hot butterscotch sauce and ice cream ($9.50)

Only had a sample of this as well but I really enjoyed this dessert. Warm, sticky and sweet; this dish was certainly my idea of comfort food on those cooler days. If it didn't belong to someone else, I would have certainly grabbed much more than a sample. 

Apart from the dessert I've had, I was pleased with the food I've tried at Smash Sausage Kitchen. There's so many different types of sausages to choose from plus the sausages were generous servings so you get full without worrying about spending too much on your budget. Will definitely return to try more different juicy and hearty sausages, mashes especially during the cooler weather .

So here we are at the end of 2014. I've had lots of awesome foodie adventures this year whether it's at a foodie catch up outing, the occasional travel or discovering new restaurants, bars and food-related products. Thank you to everyone who has checked out The Random Foodie this year. Cheers to even more foodie memories in 2015!

Smash Sausage Kitchen
512 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042
(02) 9516 5424
http://smashsausagekitchen.com.au/
Mon-Thurs: 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Fri-Sat: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Sun: 5:00pm - 9:30pm

Palings Kitchen and Bar, Sydney CBD

It seems that Sydney is moving towards a more casual, lower-priced dining given the many high profile restaurant closures recently. Lots of celebrity chefs who fronted fine dining restaurants have been moving onto cheaper and affordable dining in areas such as cafes, ramen, burgers and Mexican food. One of them was Mad Cow which has reinvented itself as Palings Kitchen and Bar and opened earlier this year. It may have the same head chef (Christopher Whitehead) but Palings now come with slightly lower prices, friendly and casual atmosphere, and a more diverse menu that will satisfy vegetarians, sweets and seafood lovers. 

During the winter season, Merivale has introduced a number seasonal cheap deals that were only available for certain hours. At the moment, Palings is holding a 'Roast with Th'most' deal where you could wither have a bowl of soup and a sandwich on the menu for $19 or you could have a two course meal with a glass of wine or beer for $35. You could choose a main dish and match it with a salad or a dessert from the menu. This deal is available for lunch and for dinner (6pm-7pm only) and valid until 30th August. So get going before you have to pay a main and a dessert for full price! (A la carte prices are listed below).

As usual, I was quite stuck on what I wanted to order. I was so keen on trying the Rangers Valley rump steak but it was sold out! At the time of our visit (about a month ago actually...), there used to be a 'Pie of the Day' but since then, there has been a couple of beef pies added to the permanent Palings menu as of now. Either way, the Pie of the Day that evening was also a beef pie and it was absolutely scrumptious. It may not have the insane flavours or exciting sides like The Pie Tin but I adored the flaky and buttery pie crust, plus the beef filling was tender to my liking.

Pie of the day - Beef pie with potato mash and winter greens ($15.00)

The amount of seafood dishes on the menu is generous which is good for those who cannot eat meat for personal or religious reasons. I only tried a little bit from this dish and found it juicy and slightly cheesy which matched well with the spaetzle (egg noodles from Eastern Europe ala Austria, Hungary, Switzerland). R had this dish and certainly enjoyed it.

Grilled local prawns, spaetzle, lemon, parmesan ($28.00)

CC also wanted the rump steak so once we heard that it sold out, she ended up ordering the Cape Grim rib eye on the bone. It was no surprise how generous the dish was so I had to help with eating a bit of the dish. While it tasted nice, the meat was tougher than we liked. In fact, the steak was quite hard to cut that the table kept shaking. 

Cape Grim Rib Eye on the Bone, crisp spuds, watercress and black pepper - 400g, grass-fed ($36.00)

When given the option of a two-course meal, we knew we had to get desserts especially if they are made by the legendary Lorraine Godsmark (former pastry chef at Rockpool and Yellow Bistro) who runs Lorraine's Patisserie downstairs. 

CC was immediately drawn to the peanut butter ice cream sandwich with chocolate sauce. While it looked different to the generic ice cream sandwiches, CC absolutely loved it and gave it the thumbs up. I'm a fan of anything with peanut butter so will look into this next time.

Peanut butter ice cream sandwich, chocolate sauce ($12.00)

The New York cheesecake was a highlight on our table. The filling was quite light which complemented well with a thin biscuit base and the dollop of sweetened cream (or was it creme fraiche?) on the side.

My pick for dessert was the flourless chocolate cake. It was incredibly rich, moist, sweet and soft on the palate. Quite intense to handle after a few mouthfuls but nicely complimented by the cream and the red jam on the side (I think it's raspberry jam...can't recall sorry guys). The white cream (sweetened cream/creme fraiche?) must be a signature for their desserts since it appeared in all of our dessert plates.

The atmosphere is certainly more casual, noisy, hip, down to earth and vibrant than the much more formal Mad Cow. It is situated in the same area as the Ivy Bar which contributed to the social vibe of the restaurant. I personally thought that the service wasn't too great in my opinion. For instance, one of the waiters made us go to a specific table (which ended up being very unstable) even though there were many other available tables in the restaurant. While some of the food didn't blow my mind, I wouldn't mind coming back to try out the other food on the vast menu especially the rump steak and the deli sandwich. Will recommend it for outings with friends and workmates especially for Friday night drinks before hitting up the dancefloor at the Ivy Bar.

Palings Kitchen and Bar
Level 1, Ivy
330 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9240 3000
http://merivale.com.au/palings/ 

Orto Trading Co, Surry Hills

Oh Surry Hills! You really love to engage us with more and more restaurants from a wide spectrum of cultures than in most suburbs across Sydney. Orto Trading Co is no exception. What differs itself is while the menu is inspired from classic English dishes, they do a fresh, Mod Oz twist to it. They even have a nice veggie garden and a pretty layout of empty bottles hanging from the ceiling to illustrate this. Coincidentally, the name Orto is Italian for 'vegetable garden'. Well you learn something new everyday!

Having been set on what I wanted to get, I asked the waitress if I could have the smoked ocean trout wellington. Unfortunately on that day it was unavailable! Don't you hate it when that happens? So I opted for the spatchcock baked in salt and hay as the main meal instead after seeing similar recipes in various cooking shows. Their plates are designed to share - for a reason. The serving sizes were massive!

Truffled popcorn!!!

Restaurants usually serve you with bread and either butter or olive oil. Orto takes it up a notch and provides you a complementary serving of truffled popcorn. Oh yes. I wish this was available on the menu with a larger serving because I cannot get enough of it! You get the truffle oil hitting your tastebuds as you gobble the pieces of popcorn. While it does have a bit of the usual crunch, the truffle oil delivers a slightly creamy taste. There were 3 of those small buckets containing the popcorn. Unfortunately, the waitress gave me the bucket with the least amount! I tried to slow down and take by timw with taking these bites but I couldn't stop. Imagine my sadness when it's all gone.

Epic Sadness

Smoked prawn and crispy pork cheek witlof bites

This was probably the most interesting dish I have tasted at Orto. Having never tried witlof before, I thought this was salad when it was presented on the dish as a boat. I think today was my bad luck with out of stock ingredients because smoked eel was unavailable so they went with prawn instead. The witlof was a bit too bitter for my liking but I enjoyed the crispy pork and the prawns. Too bad there wasn't enough crispy pork cheek as that was the best part of the dish.

Scotch egg with house-made pork sausage and pear piccallili

What's more English than a Scotch egg? After hearing raves about this dish, I knew I've got to try it. I've seen various bloggers describing its soft, oozy, runny yolk. Mine was sadly overcooked. No soft ooziness here my friend. Luckily I enjoy anything with breadcrumbs and the crispy outer coating made with breadcrumbs and pork sausage was a winner. The pear piccallili had a nice curried flavour which delivers a nice punch to the meal. I did notice another group ordering the same dish and their scotch egg had a runny yolk. Oh well.

Spatchcock baked in a salt and hay crust served with orange, iceberg and onion salad

I've had the spatchcock before but never had any dish baked in a salt crust. The flavour from the salt crust remained on the meat to give out a different texture to how it was usually baked. It was cooked with tender juiciness inside the meat. The salad was a yummy yet fresh addition to balance out the flavours. By this time I was wondering why the waitstaff have not refilled my glass of water that I have finished during my first plate. They finally refilled the glass when I asked for my bill.


Orto is a place full of surprises from one end to another. The meals were packed with flavour not to mention fresh and friendly to the health conscious. Some of those dishes are ones that I would love to try if I ever decide to go on a diet. However on the date I went, there were a few minor disappointments (no runny yolk, not getting any water refills until the very end) but I guess you can have a few off days. I definitely will come back again to try many of the other dishes with a larger group of friends sometime this season.

Orto Trading Co

38 Waterloo Street, Surry Hills
Contact no: 0431 212 453
http://www.ortotradingco.com.au/