4Fourteen, Surry Hills

  19 January 2014


So on my quest to eat all the bone marrow in Sydney, I may have strongly advocated for the weekly family dinner to be held at 4Fourteen (414 Bourke St, Surry Hills but actual entrance is via Fitzroy St). We visited just before Christmas so the menu has changed a bit since then (but the marrow has stayed!), and with a menu split into Nibbles, Small and Large plates we were able to cover quite a fair bit.

The Roast Bone Marrow ($16) is a beauty, the quivering, gelatinous mass carefully slathered onto the slices of grilled bread. The chimichurri cuts through the richness of the bone marrow (hooray!) so I don’t feel like I’m going to have a heart attack – always a good thing. I totally rate 4Fourteen’s bone marrow!


CJ’s Chips and Dips ($9) is another must-order, ridiculously crispy shards of heh chard and super light and puffy crackling dunked in the addictive spicy sauce set our tastebuds alight.


The Confit Chicken Wing ($8 each) is the perfect 2-bite snack- the tender boneless wing hid a slab of smooth pate, a dollop of apple chutney and the tortilla chip just brought it all home with a resounding crunch.


Noods wanted the Seared Albacore ($19) because he didn’t know what albacore was. Turns out it’s a species of tuna which was just as well because he is a tuna fanatic. I absolutely loved the ginger beer jelly and the Granny Smith apple nubbins which was refreshing and tangy.


The Glazed Lamb Ribs ($10) made me swoon! The glaze was lip smackingly rich, sticky and sweet and the meat fell off the bone so easily and was just as easily dispatched into the depths of my stomach. I ended up abandoning cutlery and picking the ribs up with my hands because I was a caveman in my prior life and wanted to feel the lamb’s life force being absorbed.


I was curious about the Chef’s Late Night Dinner ($14) after our waiter so enthusiastically described it as ‘epic’. And epic it was! A fat Iggy’s bun was split into two, a massive wedge of D’Argental cheese was grilled until melty rivers ran amok and a tangle of caramelised onion brought a sweet balance to this crazy dish. This pretty much killed me though, I wanted to keep eating it but would’ve been too full to eat anything else! This dish would be perfect in the wee hours of the night/morning after a big night out hitting the happy juice.


The parents chose the Roast Skate Wing ($34), at first I was a little apprehensive at the thought of the combination of ham hock bouillon + fish but surprisingly it worked and the ham didn’t overpower the delicate fish.


The Roast Pork ($35) was pretty glorious, the tender meat had ribbons of creamy fat and more crispy crackling. I loved the smashed apple hiding underneath and the side of colcannon was buttery smooth with surprise pockets of crunchy cabbage.


I admit I may have over ordered but I had to get the Smoked Beef Brisket ($36) because it came with onion rings! I heart onion rings! These onion rings were awesome! The batter was so light and crispy! I didn’t really detect a smokey flavour to the juicy brisket but at that stage I was suffering from oh-god-too-much-food-must-let-stomach-digest syndrome. Oh and there were roast potatoes in there too but uh I couldn’t eat anymore.


By the time we’d finished up it was about 9pm and the restaurant was packed. We’d had the best service but it was around this time that they were getting slammed and so there was a bit of a delay getting our table cleared but turned out this was awesome because it meant my stomach could settle aaaand find space to order dessert!

The White Chocolate Sandwich ($14) caught our eye because hey who doesn’t like an ice cream sandwich?! If that’s you then we can’t be friends. Kidding. Maybe. The white chocolate ice cream was smooth and creamy and not overly sweet. Instead of the usual biscuit holding the ice cream there were two delicate tuiles which shattered upon stabbing. The dollop of dulce de leche was deeelicious but I think I would have preferred it pre slathered onto the ice cream but I guess this way you can control the sweetness.

The bone marrow will have me returning soon but I definitely need to come back on the weekend and try the suckling piggeh!

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