ash & char, mccallum street.
debated internally for a while between trying ash & char and having salad for lunch (i honestly stood there pondering, and someone i know walked by and asked me what i was doing there *awkward*). decided on ash & char in the end, since the menu looked suitably tempting. plus, they had a set lunch as well (just $5 extra for a soup and drink with any mains).
soup of the week happened to be roasted butternut, served with toasted sourdough. it seemed to be the one on their christmas special menu, which came with chestnuts and spiced crème fraîche. it came piping hot, like all soups should be, but the crème fraîche was mysteriously missing, replaced by what seemed like truffle oil. hmm... i'm not the biggest fan of truffle oil. the soup was also more watery than i'd expected, but it tasted alright. what i didn't like was the grilled sourdough- it seemed to have been brushed with truffle oil, and its taste was overpowering.
for my main i got the grilled chicken leg ($17), which came with charred broccolini, sweet potato crumble and king oyster mushroom. i was curious as to what was a sweet potato crumble, but it turned out to be just sweet potato mash. everything on the plate was spot on, though! the chicken leg was juicy and tender, with an almost crispy skin.
but my favourite of the plate was probably the king oyster mushroom, which had been grilled (?) until its exterior was almost crackly. the dish was finished off with a truffle chicken jus (!) but thankfully the truffle taste was nonexistent. the jus was pretty good, actually- it tied the dish together.
i finished off my meal with a coffee. strangely enough they don't do things like lattes or flat whites- the only option is espresso, with milk or without. i got a 7oz espresso with milk, which bordered on the bitter side. it was drinkable, but not something that i'd get again.
i liked my food enough that i'd return. they're having a christmas special of chicken roulade stuffed with sticky rice, and that sounds like it's worth a try. hopefully i can squeeze in a trip back before they take it off the menu.
ash & char
21 mccallum street
https://www.facebook.com/AshandChar/
