The Norfolk Hotel on Cleveland, Surry Hills

29 June 2011, 06:54

Seems like Mexican food is all the rage these days. Check out our table of foods! We were at the Norfolk Hotel on Cleveland (305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills) to check out the $3 tacos. Oh how I heart taco Tuesdays! (Side note: it’s ribs night on Thursdays!)

A quick gander at the menu and the bar snacks looked too awesome to resist (as compared to the normal mains menu) and the suggestion of ordering one of everything was quickly confirmed by our group of 7. Order and pay at the bar and food will find its way to your table whether you be perched on a bar stool, in a cozy booth on the main floor or clustered upstairs on the mezzanine level with the pool table.


Jugs of deliciously sweet alcoholic beverages are $30 and comes with a crazy huge wooden spoon. There was also beer. Note to future self: I don’t like Becks! There was also cans of grape Welchs which I was insanely jealous of and knew to stay away from the tequila shots until I had eaten :P


$3 tacos! Chicken, fish and beef up the back. There was also a pork taco which came later so I er forgot to take a pic and we didn’t get the vegie taco cos um that’s just not on (right Minh?). Super loved the braised beef taco with its rich, tender meaty nubbins! There was a twitter special running that if you ate 10 tacos you’d get free beer but next time my precioussss


Bbq’d sweet corn with chipotle mayo, queso cheese and lime ($5.50) was freaking addictive with each kernel bursting in corn juice. Mmm corn juice.


Now normally I hate pickles. Can’t stand em. Get them outta my cheeseburgers yo! But there they were on the menu with the magical words of DEEP FRIED. Majority of the table didn’t like pickles but I was just so curious about them and I think i was expecting the smaller sized pickles but ohoho what landed was a plate with about 10 pickle halves ($7.50) coated in the most delicious batter I have ever eaten. Seriously the batter was awesome! Piping hot straight from the deep fryer and slightly sweet, the batter would’ve been perfect for deep fried bananas. Or mars bars. You bet I peeled the batter off! All class.


Hot dog sliders with bacon, sweet mustard relish, pickled cucumber, crispy onions and jalapeno sauerkraut ($7.50) Squeeee how cute are the hotdogs!!! Perfect looking specimens but I think prefer The Dip’s smoky dawg


Dan’s awesome attempt at cutting the mini hotdogs into 7 pieces haha good effort


Pork belly crackling and slaw roll with fries ($8.50) was disappointingly devoid of crackle. Or I managed to get the piece that didn’t have crackle attached. Um.


Salt & pepper squid ($14) was your typical bar snack but made awesome with the spicy jalapeno aioli. That was one spicy dip man! Burrrrrrning


As spicy as the jalapeno aioli was, nothing prepared me for the Fried chicken wings with hot sauce and red eye mayo ($12.50) OMG BURNING!!! I’d just assumed it would be the sauce that was gonna be hot so I took a massive bite and my brain nearly exploded. The chicken is freaking covered in chili! So ok maybe it wasn’t that hot but I am super chili fail haha


Potato skins with bacon, cheddar, ranch, scallions ($9) were so delicious we ended up getting a second round because we were fighting over the last ones haha each potato half had tender potato innards and crisp baked skin, the ranch dressing was generously dolloped on and the bacon bits were just awesome cos who doesn’t love bacon?


Annnnd lastly there was this crazy ass burger: Chip roll with fries, cheese, chipotle, mayo and diced bacon and more fries ($7.50). Awesome right? A burger filled with fries and covered in gooey cheese. Yeahhh carb overload!


Sadly there were no desserts so we made do with tequilla shots. Cos it’s Friday Tuesday!


<3

1. Haha! Crazy kids! An ohmyword deep fried pickled! I love pickles. And I love deep fried. So much.

   — Shez    Jun 29, 07:40 AM    #
   
   

2. great post…I love the food that came out!! especially the chip burger!! will check it out , xo

   — Anna    Jun 29, 09:08 AM    #
   
   

3. By jingos, everything looks UH-mazing. Reason #1232 why it sucks to live rural – aint nobody getting 3 buck tacos (or ANY kind of taco) or civilised tequila shots around this joint, man. Sigh. I shall continue to dream-eat through thy… or Thye, rather. Mwhaha, what a pun :)

   — Katie    Jun 29, 09:09 AM    #
   
   

4. I like Friday Tuesdays :-)

   — Irish    Jun 29, 09:31 AM    #
   
   

5. Aaaw The Norfolk was our local at my old job… Friday pub lunches were awesome!! Sad not to be working in the area anymore!

   — mel - crunchytiger    Jun 29, 09:59 AM    #
   
   

6. Love the pickles and tater skins – but chip butties now? Bring on the carb overlaod! (hello Irish).

   — Tina@foodboozeshoes    Jun 29, 10:05 AM    #
   
   

7. I would slaughter a daycare centre of babies for one bite of that burger with fries and cheese. Wowwww.

   — Lizzi    Jun 29, 10:21 AM    #
   
   

8. I WANT DEEP FRIED PICKLES!!

   — KayB    Jun 29, 11:08 AM    #
   
   

9. I’m like you in regards to pickles but i LOVED the deep fried pickles at norfolk. The pork belly crackling slaw was a little disappointing but those chicken wings… YUM!

   — Gastronomous Anonymous    Jun 29, 11:15 AM    #
   
   

10. haha those fried chicken pieces were so spicy but you gotta power through the heat! the corn was so awesome!!

    — Jacq    Jun 29, 11:25 AM    #
    
    

11. So… Thursday? :D

    — Minh    Jun 29, 11:28 AM    #
    
    

12. Chip sandwich glorified! And, um, I like pickles =D

    — mademoiselle délicieuse    Jun 29, 11:43 AM    #
    
    

13. OMG yum! out of interest where do you go for ribs on Thursdays? i really need to find a good ribs place!

    — Erin@TheFoodMentalist    Jun 29, 12:16 PM    #
    
    

14. ooh, pickles! Pickles own my soul! I’ll eat the ones you stripped batter from :P

    — Hannah    Jun 29, 01:18 PM    #
    
    

15. ooo all of them look so good! so shame there wasn’t any crackling on the burger though!

    — irene    Jun 29, 02:09 PM    #
    
    

16. YUMMO!!!!!!

    — Tammy    Jun 29, 04:06 PM    #
    
    

17. I love every single dish you have mentioned. I am certain that I will be paying this place a visit within the month. :)

    — Anna @ The Littlest Anchovy    Jun 29, 06:19 PM    #
    
    

18. $3 tacos and bbq corn!! wheeeeeeee!!! my kinda place :D

    — sugarpuffi    Jun 29, 06:26 PM    #
    
    

19. Deep fried pickles? Goodness gracious I really need to get out more and see what else I’m missing. That bbq corn looks super, super awesome.

    — shaz    Jun 29, 09:47 PM    #
    
    

20. I love the Norfolk and have been hearing their snack bar menu just got great… thanks for the post Suze… I’ll be visiting for sure.

    — Keely aka The Richest Girl in Bondi    Jun 30, 12:24 AM    #
    
    

21. 1 Tequilla 2 Tequilla 3… eheheheh I am soft when it comes to Chilli. My face would have been fire engine red and I wouldnt have been speechless.. Thank god for Tequilla. ehehehe

    — Katherine    Jun 30, 12:27 AM    #
    
    

22. The food there looks fun. I’m all for those burgers with chips, they look great :)

    — Dumpling Girl    Jun 30, 08:16 AM    #
    
    

23. All of this food looks really good…way too good to resist actually. I love gherkins…I’m wondering what they’d taste like deep fried now. Damn you Norfolk – there goes the diet (again).

    — Miss Piggy    Jun 30, 10:12 AM    #
    
    

24. another chipotle corn! i love the look of those potato skins :)

    — muppy    Jun 30, 11:11 AM    #
    
    

25. Gotta love it when there is enough foodies gathered that you can order one of everything!!

    — Brenda    Jun 30, 12:07 PM    #
    
    

26. Deep fried pickles & sweet corn w/ chipotle mayo FTW!!

    — shaun@everybodylovesramen    Jun 30, 12:31 PM    #
    
    

27. Deep fried pickles?! Yes please! I looooove all pickles and gherkins, I’m one of those nutters that asks for extra pickles on my burger.

    — Chanel    Jun 30, 03:35 PM    #
    
    

28. Deep fried pickles for the win!

    — joey@FoodiePop    Jun 30, 04:34 PM    #
    
    

29. don’t bother with the rib night. it was a bit meh.

    — hollypop    Jun 30, 09:02 PM    #
    
    

30. Wow fun fast food party! I GOTTA COME HERE

    — Phillip Nom    Jun 30, 11:07 PM    #
    
    

31. So much innuendo in this post :P dunno where to start haha but when we ribbing it up?

    — FFichiban    Jul 1, 12:32 AM    #
    
    

32. Yum! Will definitely have to head there on a Tuesday – the corn sounds too good to be true!

    — bhavani/ameanderingmango    Jul 1, 09:31 AM    #
    
    

33. PO-TAY-TOH SKINS!!!! That is some serious nommage!

    — Trisha    Jul 4, 04:59 PM    #
    
    

34. Chip burger, yes please!!!

    — missklicious    Jul 5, 08:41 PM    #
    
    

35. I am sooo pissed that I just read about this place now! Enormous fan of Mexican food here and I’m glad there’s a somewhat explosion of the cuisine this year in Sydney – it truly is about time. Must…get…arse out on Tuesdays.

    — Jenny @ Musings and Morsels    Jul 15, 06:34 PM    #
    
    

36. If you’re a fan of Bloody Marys they serve theirs in a Campbell’s soup can here – tres cute!

    — forager @ The Gourmet Forager    Jul 28, 10:36 AM    #
    
    

37. Chip rolls not there when we went…. bugger!

    — Buggles & Squeak    Aug 3, 10:44 PM    #