I would see Redfern in different way now with the addition of Cafe Oratnek opened by Chef Kentaro "Kenny" Takayama, ex-Bills head chef, located just behind the Prince Alfred Park and surrounded by the retail space and residential area.
Named after the chef's first name in reverse (Kentaro - Oratnek), this place offers some fresh Asian influence to its menu and produce everything mostly in-house (with the exception of Brickfields bread and Mecca coffee).
The inside area generally gives the industrial feeling with the mix and match in between the unfinished concrete wall, white tiles and the timber furnitures. While the outside courtyard garden is simply pretty with several pots of colourful flowers and herbs.
As an avid green tea lover, I personally love matcha in any form - by itself, in a latte, cake, pudding, donut, you name it! With its smooth taste and deep flavour on top of numerous healthy benefits, I can tell why it's becoming so popular and apparently everyone loves it as well!
I found Oratnek's Matcha Latte was too milky and quite runny for my liking.. As there's no measure of what is the perfect matcha latte, I guess it's all back to your personal preference. If you like subtle matcha flavour with no bitter aftertaste, you might like this one!
I love this cafe so much I have been coming back here more than 3 times in 2 weeks.. LOL! Recently, they introduce some new matcha sweets to their freshly baked cabinet and this one is their Matcha Lamington! The sponge cake was a bit dry but seriously had a strong matcha flavour as Chef Takayama dunked it into the matcha tea before tossed it through the dessicated coconut.
On another occasion, I went there and saw they had Matcha Muffin instead! It was soft and moist with lovely crunchy oats on top but it didn't really have a distinct matcha taste as I could barely taste it (too subtle for my liking unfortunately).
As Oratnek serves an all-day breakfast menu, I needed a light lunch and decided to go with their Housemade Granola. Served with poached fruits and toasted with peanut butter.. The granola was so light, crunchy, creamy, not too sweet and so nutty! You can request your preferred milk as they have all types in house (I had mine with Almond milk~)
Now I know why their Pork Fillet Katsu Sandwich is popular! You'll see thick cut of tender pork is coated in panko breadcrumbs in between the soft and fluffy white bread and then smothered in sweet Japanese BBQ and mustard sauce! Each mouthful is meaty and juicy with the finely shredded cabbage also adds crunch to the overall texture.
The Japanese Fried Chicken Sandwich has a different look and crunchy feel compared to the pork one. In between the lightly toasted bread, there were juicy and flavourful pieces of well-marinated chicken thigh with mild kimchi slaw and creamy mayo!
This flavourful and exciting Miso BBQ Beef Short Ribs will definitely tantalize your taste buds like it does to me! Served boneless (make eating well effortless), the ribs were so tender and fell apart easily. The flavour was rich with deep salty umami taste and I'd suggest you to eat it together in "San Choy Bau" style with the iceberg lettuce cups, pickled radish, fried onions and the zingy and fresh corriander dip sauce so you'll get all the combination of textures and flavours burst in your mouth in one go!
Boneless and stuffed with pork? Yes! Oratnek serves a better way to eat Chicken Wings! They looked fried (I guess they're baked instead) with beautifully golden brown crispy skin and had that nice crunch on the outside. The tip of the wings made a perfect handle to hold the chicken and when you bit into it the pork inside was so tender and juicy. Served with exceptional chili jam, the sauce definitely gave out the sensational flavours and brought this dish alive.
Cafe Oratnek
Address:
4 Pitt Street, Redfern
Opening Hours:
7am - 4pm Monday to Saturday and 8am - 4pm on Sunday
No comments
Post a Comment