Kitchen By Mike, Rosebery – Closed
Edit: CLOSED
I must be the last person in Sydney to visit this place. That’s right it’s Kitchen By Mike (1/85 Dunning Avenue, Rosebery)! We weren’t too familiar with the area which is how we completed missed the entrance and luckily spotted signage for the Cannery and made our way into the warehouse-like space.
Thanks to Baz arriving early, our group of 8 managed to score a table close to the kitchen so we could ogle at the food being prepared. I really wanted to touch the pizza dough! Brekkie finishes at 11.30am and when the lunch menu switches over at 12pm a line of hungry humans starts to form. Start from the far left of the counter where there’s a chalkboard menu of what’s on offer. The menu changes daily depending on what Mike (formerly Executive Chef at Rockpool) gets at the markets. Shuffle along canteen style and pick out what you feel like eating and pay when you reach the end.
Start with a slice of in house baked sourdough bread ($3.50) which comes with a generous schmear of Pepe Saya butter. Or take home a loaf ($12) and grab a fat wheel of Pepe Saya butter ($10) or Lemon Curd, Jams, or Chutneys made on the premises daily.
The 2 meat dishes of the day were Crispy Pork Belly ($14) and the Roast Chicken ($14).
Moving onto salads, Peach, celery, raisin & pine nut; kale, chickpea, freekeh & green tahini; and cucumber, mirin & ginger ($7.50/per serve)
Aaand then the sneaky delicious sides! Wood Roasted Pumpkin, nigella seeds and coconut yoghurt ($5.50)
Scallops & black bean vinaigrette ($3.50/each)
We missed out on the Wood Fired Pizza but freshly baked Thyme & Rosemary Focaccia ($5.50) beckoned instead.
And last but not least the Ham & Cheddar; Ashed Goat’s Cheese & Onion Quiche ($9.50) and the Mustard, Cheese & Bacon Scroll ($8).
I opted for the roast chicken which was pretty darn tasty and super tender and absolutely loved the golden Dutch carrots and the dab of aioli it came with! I fell in love with the wood roasted pumpkin which tasted like caramelised deliciousness but $5 for a single slice had me wincing. And yes I chose the peach salad mainly for the fat, juicy peaches mmm gotta love summer fruits!
Noods’ plate! He went a lil nuts and may have ordered more than he should have which resulted in him freaking out when we paid (my plate + his plate + longneck of beer = $77) haha everything was so tasty though! Gloriously crispy crackle and juicy pork belly was a winner though the accompanying roast apricot was crazy sour and had us all puckering. He gave the scallop a thumbs up but of course wanted one 3 times the size haha and that pile of greenery is about 3 portions of different salads because he couldn’t decide which one to get!
Taking a break from the foods we wandered the Koskela design showroom where I promptly discovered and immediately coveted a teepee. I’m totally regretting not taking a pic of it now but I want it, I need it.
Noods happened to walk past the furniture section and found a cushion made of reindeer. For $680. Ouch. Yep some of the stuff in there is super cute but the crazy prices for some items made me not want to touch anything in case I broke it..
Couldn’t resist the Rhubarb and Berry Rock Cake ($8/slice) which was great and tasted like a cross between a pavlova and a nutty cake? Not sure if my taste buds were out of whack but I couldn’t really taste the rhubarb and instead tasted pistachio? Eh, anywhos it was delicious especially with the fresh cream and the plate was just about licked clean.
Overall I do think I’d return to Kitchen By Mike, the fresh produce really shone and while it is a tad on the exxy side if you don’t watch what you order it’s still a great place to come. I hear breakfasts are a lot more affordable buuuut waking up early enough will be hard 😛
