One William…two William…Three Williams!
Tucked away on Elizabeth Street in Redfern, basically underground, lies Three Williams – a cafe that is already popular for its narnies, shakes and brioche french toast.
DS and I were invited along to try out their new lunch menu – with the promise that they’ll open up in the evenings in the coming months too!
We started with some fun drinks and nibblies – the Super smoothie – kale, apricot, apple, LSA, banana, ginger, cinnamon (dairy free) ($8) was really yum as far as green juices go. I think it’s the cinnamon that really gives it that extra kick and it was quite a sweet juice. The Seasonal house made soda ($12 for a jug) is also a treat and beautifully presented. I forget exactly what was in ours, but no doubt yours will be different anyways!
Then onto some Crispy school prawns ($8) – the dilemma is always, to eat the head or not? I ate the head on my first prawn but there was just a few too many spikey bits that I’d probably advise against it!
The narnies are of course a highlight at Three Williams. Just as an aside – how great is na’an bread anyways?! We got to try two sorts: the vegetarian Wild mushrooms, baby spinach, truffle balsamic, stracchino cheese sauce & parmesan ($15) (which I actually preferred – there is definitely still an inner vegetarian lurking within me!) and the Herb rubbed free range roast duck narnie with roast pears, rocket, apple balsamic & aioli ($16).
Two salads to follow: Organic tofu, charred broccolini, roasted almonds, Japanese seaweed & fresh peas ($15) and Grilled Atlantic octopus, savoy cabbage, chilli, radish, preserved lemon, hazelnuts & jalapeno dressing ($17) both of which work lovely with a side. The tofu one was particularly interesting and definitely the definition of ‘fusion’ – haven’t really seen broccolini, almonds and seaweed in a dish together before!
We were then served some of the meatier dishes. While the Rangers Valley mbs 7+ wagyu steak with red wine butter & chips ($19) really was very good, there’s something unappealing about having a pink-ish disc of sauce melting on top of your steak…it kind of looks raw and uncooked and not very tempting at all! The Slow roasted free range pork loin, caramelized apple sauce, cherry tomato & black pudding ($18) was definitely a highlight! Such tasty pork and black pudding is tops in any dish (well…just about any).
The Pan seared market fish with pea puree, broad beans & snow pea tendrils ($20) was one of the most beautifully presented dishes of the night, in my opinion! I love the way the little snow pea tendrils fall across the dish, and brightness of the green.
[For those of you wondering, my marble phone cover is from Nunuco Design Company, a cute little design company from Finland. The marble pattern is actually painted on!]
And finally – the highlight for many! – the Crunchy brioche French toast, caramel bananas, hazelnuts & Belgian chocolate ($16). Pretty epic kind of French toast, but a bit much even for me. I found the dish quite dry and overly sweet. Basically, bananas turn sweet when you grill/bake them anyways, so they really don’t need to be covered in a layer of caramel…bit of overkill for me! Otherwise I love the concept, but probably prefer the subtle flavours in the Little Lost Bread from Devon Cafe.
Three Williams
613 Elizabeth Street
Redfern
http://www.threewilliams.com/
https://www.facebook.com/threewilliamscafe
Disclaimer: talk&spoon and DS ate as guests at Three Williams, with thanks to Alana and George at Wasamedia.