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GTFO – Blacksmith Cafe

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On my morning and afternoon bus rides to and from work, I noticed a new little cafe pop up along the route.  It’s dimly lit interior and out of the ordinary exterior, captured my curiosity.  So naturally here we are, welcome dear readers to The Hidden Thimble’s  Greatly Terrific Food Outing at Blacksmith Surry Hills.

Setting and Atmosphere

Rating: ★★★

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Blacksmith’s atmosphere reminded me so similarly of the cafe culture Siree and I had experienced in Korea.

Finally Australia. You’re catching up…and possibly even doing better!

That’s right, you’ll find no half-assed decor here.  Prepare to be fully submerged into an immaculately detailed blacksmithery.   Actually correction, step into your imaginations with me here.   Let’s pretend you’re walking through deserted woodlands, and ahead of you, you see a lonely structure standing within the fog. You approach it and open the door to an abandoned blacksmithery, overgrown with woodland flora:

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You’ll be served your tea in boxy, heavy-weight tea pots and your water in full blown glass pitchers.
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What’s a menu without some hand stitched leather?

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Food

Rating: ★★★

Dine in messy elegance.  What is messy elegance?  Messy elegance is the term I have decided perfectly describes Blacksmith’s food – rustic presentation mixed with the sophistication of soft shelled crab or poached chicken and quinoa. Delicious!

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Salad 01: Tri – Coloured Quinoa with baked beetroot, walnuts, persian feta, roasted pumpkin, avocado, pomegranate and date balsamic vinaigrette. Salad 02: Poached Pulled Chicken w/ brown rice salad, mixed dried berries, tamari and prune star-anise vinaigrette

The great thing with this dish was that we could go half and half with a choice of any two salads.  I could have gone without the quinoa salad, it sounded a lot better on the menu than it tasted, but that poached chicken with brown rice salad was to die for.  I’d never tasted such a soft and succulent chicken before.  I was left craving for days!

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Soft Shelled Crad Burger w/ pickled asian slaw, shredded fennel, kimchi salsa, mayonnaise on a Brioche Bun

This dish for me is definitely a recommendation, not only is it unique – I mean have you heard of a soft shell crab burger? – but it also tasted good.  Another bonus was, for non korean chefs, that kimchi was spot on!

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Kale Juice | Banana Smoothie

The reason why the food here scored 4 stars, is because of the drinks. Both Siree and I were somewhat underwhelmed with our cutely presented beverages, further proof that eating with your eyes is only half the battle.

The Cheeky Bits on the Side:

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Pomegranate Rose Tart

This was yum, the negative was too much complication.  The desert would have been perfect without the chocolate on the bottom.

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Service

Rating: ★★

 It’s really unfortunate that the place was so busy, because I’m sure the staff would have been a lot nicer.  I almost felt sorry for the poor lady who greeted us at the door, her eyes, voice, expression just said “please, go away.”  I know how that feels having worked in food retail myself.

Pricing and Value for Money

Rating: ★★★

Blacksmith is quite pricey, but it’s definitely worth it for some dishes – I’d pay any price to eat that poached chicken again.

The Details

Where: 11 Chalmers Street Surry Hills NSW 2010

Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 07:00–17:00  |  Sat – Sun: 08:00–16:00

Phone: (02) 9690 0103

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blacksmithsurryhills/

 

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