Ash Street Cellar
By Franz Scheurer
It seems to me that with the opening of Ash Street Cellar at ivy, Sydney is finally giving Melbourne some competition in the casual dining stakes. Regardless of the advertising or marketing speak, itÕs a tapas bar Š and the closest thing Sydney has to the likes of MelbourneÕs Bar Lourinha. This small, narrow space opens onto the lane that is Ash Street, where tables and chairs are scattered around under large heaters, the walls are taken up by wine bottles from every corner of the globe and at the southern end, the piece de resistance, a tiny open kitchen, the domain of the talented Lauren Murdoch.
Lauren, a graduate of the kitchens of Janni Kyritsis, is building on a perfectly-honed technical foundation by expanding her cooking repertoire, and handles the ŌtapasÕ assignment admirably. Relax with a Sherry, a beer or a glass of wine and order as many of the small dishes as you can eat. We loved the black pudding, baked eggs with tomato, tuna crostini, whitebait with aioli, mixed selection of excellent cold cuts and buffalo mozzarella with green tomatoes, and we adored the shoestring fries to underpin all those flavours and textures. When your savoury stomach is sated, delight the dessert stomach with LaurenÕs tart of the day (which sits on a pedestal in a window of the open kitchen). Whether itÕs almond, rhubarb or whatever fruits in season, this is a savoury chef who can also turn her hand to pastry.
Ash St cellars offers wonderfully satisfying food. ItÕs relatively light, covers a wide spectrum of aromas and flavours and small shared plates is, in my opinion, the best way to eat. The casual European atmosphere will make you want to call this your ŌlocalÕ, a place where you can drop in for a drink, a nibble or pig out to your hearts content. With friendly, knowledgeable, wait staff to complete the picture, this is a venue that Sydney deserves!
Score: 7.5/10
For more information:
Ash Street Cellar
1 Ash Street
Sydney
Tel.: 02 9240 3000