It’s been a very Good Food Month for me (heh heh), with breakfasts at Single Origin, Asian street food with Sydney top chefs, and crazy awesome bites at the Night Noodle Markets!
This time, it’s lunch, at yet another Surry Hills hotspot, Nomad.
Known for its cured meats, cheeses, and a ground-up approach to its menu, Nomad boasts a pedigreed head chef – who has trained at Rockpool and cooked for Heston Blumenthal – as well as foodie infrastructure like a built in cheese room.
Cheese room? Be still my beating heart.
But we were there for Good Food Month, and shall not be distracted by lingering dreams of cured meat and cheese!!
Wood-roasted snapper with wild fennel butter, spring vegetables and shanklish
For Good Food Month, they’ve put together a lunch deal: for $38, you get wood-roasted snapper with wild fennel butter, a salad of spring vegetables and shanklish, a drink (wine, beer or juice/soft drink), and coffee or tea to finish. I chose the blood orange juice, which I just assumed would come out of a bottle somewhere. Nope. When they said fresh, they meant freshly squeezed. Very cool. And very respectable.
But what about the snapper?
The wood firing gave it a lovely smokiness, and a crisp skin that stayed crispy even as the fennel butter melted. Very nicely seasoned, and even though snapper isn’t my favourite fish, I can’t fault the execution and lovely balance of flavours. The spring salad with shanklish – which is a sheep’s milk cheese rolled in a herb mix (in this case, middle eastern zaartar) – was a surprise favourite, with the creamy/crumbly cheese coating each leaf, neither overpowering nor shrinking away into the background, again speaking to the sophistication in executing balance.
The staff were very helpful, and around without being in-your-face, which speaks to the quality of service. Sad that I didn’t get a chance to try all the cured meats and cheese, but there’s always next time!
Nomad
16 Foster Street
Surry Hills, NSW 2010
Phone: 02 9280 3395
Website: http://www.restaurantnomad.com.au/
Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Good Food Month.