Delicious Entrees @ Hatch & Co Garden City (photo @neelsmcgee)
is a cafe/bistro style restaurant that takes the art of sharing to a whole new level. The venue is divided across three popular locations including; Gasworks Newstead, Westfield Garden City and Post Office Square CBD. I had the fortunate experience to heading to the Westfield Garden City location (as it was close to my work) to see what everyone was raving about.
Situated in the new Westfield GC hub, adorned in Scandinavian-style interiors with an open kitchen and walls of greenery to connect indoor and outdoor dining spaces is
Hatch & Co. Nestled in the centre of the outdoor man-made water display and large enough to accommodate close to (what looks to be) 100 people in one sitting, it is definitely a venue that cannot be missed.
With simplistic design does not come simplistic food. Priding itself on its share plates and delicious fresh honest food, the menu draws inspiration from traditional cooking styles such as slow cooking to enhance and further create that rustic, home-style food that many Australians absolutely adore. Using fresh local and sustainable produce
Hatch & Co skilfully crafts hearty mains, flavoursome pizzas and generous share plates. An additional bonus is the extensive beer, wine and cocktail list which complements most of the items on the menu.
Upon arriving at the bistro I was welcomed by the waitstaff who lead us to our table outside. My part of three had booked for 3pm on a Friday and as you can imagine it was quite dead, so we took this opportunity to feel like VIP and were hoping the friendly service and attention continued.
Pork shoulder steak, crispy skin, celery & walnut puree, cider jus @ Hatch & Co Garden City (photo by Praneel Lal)
After deliberating over the menu we decided to select the Crowded House wine for the afternoon along with some delectable selections from the 'Snacking' menu. The winners included:
Chicken wings with chilli, lime, green onion, Beetroot hommus feta, dill, housemade flatbread, Crispy prawns with basil and lemon, and chips with chilli salt and aioli.
The items did take around 15 minutes to come out, which wasn't too much of an issue for our party as we were happy to take some time out and admire the new surroundings and finished developments of Westfield Garden City.
I was quite excited about the Beetroot hommus dip, which I heard very good reviews about, it was supposed to be a great blend of flavours and hence my enthusiasm. The items came out one by one to cover our table and were each delicious in their own rite. the prawns, although small in size, were crunchy and paired great with the basil and lemon dressing. The chips, easy to make and hard to fault. The wings were one of the standout items with their sticky chilli jam that surprisingly had little mess factor. Finally, the dip with the blend of feta and pistachio (a unique combination) worked brilliantly with the warm flatbread.
Brie cheese cake, raspberry ice cream @ Hatch & Co Garden City (photo by Praneel Lal)
The main for the evening was the
Pork shoulder steak and crispy skin with celery and walnut puree and cider jus. This was a let down. I am sorry, but giving someone pork scratchings instead of crispy pork skin is an absolute no no. It really brought what would have been a great dish down. We were all very disappointed as we were all hanging out for the crackling. The only positive feedback was that the appearance of the dish was appealing.
Chocolate brownie, white chocolate ice cream, popping candy @ Hatch & Co Garden City (Photo by Praneel Lal)
The desserts luckily lifted our spirits a tad, the
Chocolate brownie with white chocolate ice-cream and popping candy was a hit as was the
Brie cheescake and raspberry ice-cream was a knockout! So creamy an smooth, with the perfect biscuit base finished off effortlessly with a light crumble.
Overall I wouldn't go there for anything other than their famous sharing boards and possibly the Valley location may provide a more accountable experience for customers.
