I’ve made a decision to depart from reviewing on Yelp and Google… and decided that if I’m going to be writing my own unique style of reviews, that I should post them to my blog.
Oratnek is a Japanese Fusion cafe that opened back in July 2015, but has somehow eluded our radar’s. If photos of katsu sandwiches didn’t entice me, the menu offerings sure did!
We arrived hungry and excited at the prospect’s their lunch menu had to offer.
We ordered;
Two Iced Coffees ($5.00 each)
I really loved their iced coffee. No mucking around with whipped cream or ice cream… just coffee, milk and ice. I really loved that they had a large sphere of ice. This made the drink perfectly cold (a common gripe of mine when it comes to cafe iced coffees – it’s not cold enough, or the ice melts). I took the above photo before stirring.
Sticky Pork Belly & Kimuchi Fried Rice ($21.00)
As you know, when you are dining out with your partner at a new place there is an unofficial competition of “who’s meal is better”, in this case, I think my wife’s dish of the Sticky Pork Belly was the star of the show. The pork belly was incredible. Outstanding flavour that not only ticked all the boxes, but also managed to give me slight impressions of american BBQ pork ribs (perhaps it’s the crispy charred goodness). The rest of the meal was quite good. The Kimchi fried rice was quite good. Both my wife and I enjoyed it. I should note that whilst it was very good, it doesn’t beat my Kimchi Fried Rice recipe (to be shared at a later date). What a tease.
I was very excited that I was “gifted” some to enjoy;
Okonomiyaki Fritters, cabbage, corn, zucchini, kimuchi, cheese, napoli sauce ($16.00)
I picked the Okonomiyaki fritters because it sounded really interesting and I love Okonomiyaki… and fritters.. and basically everything that was listed on the menu. The dish that came out was great, and not something I’ve had before. 6 individual portions of fritter, which were light/fried perfectly, topped with tomato sauce and then melted cheese. It was like Japanese parmigiana.
PROS:
– That pork belly….
– Iced Coffees = 100%
– Gorgeous interior/atmosphere.
– Very friendly and attentive staff.
CONS:
– Didn’t get to have a katsu sandwich (next time!).
– High-tables w/ stools are too high for comfort.
OVERALL:
We both really loved Oratnek and will definitely be back. I must try one of those katsu sandwiches! They looked really good.
Details:
Cafe Oratnek
4 Pitt Street, Redfern, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8065 4625
Opening hours:
Monday to Saturday 7am-4pm
Sunday 8am-4pm
Website: http://www.oratnek.com.au/
Filed under: Review Tagged: Cafe, Fusion, Japanese, katsu, Redfern, Review