Milk Bar by Cafe Ish, Redfern

Previously famous for their all you can ribtacular special on Wednesdays, Cafe Ish has since departed and made way towards Redfern. What it promises is a classic Australian and American selection of delights with an asian twist. Keen to try out this, I headed down to Redfern on my first break of the week. 

It has the whole authentic milk bar vibe going on, burgers and milk shakes on the pass, red neon lights, juke box and a pacman gaming machine to boot.

Orient express 7

I'm going to say it right here and now; their milk shakes are just brilliant and probably the best I've ever had in a long long while. I don't think anyone else brings as much quirky originality and deliciousness to their shakes as Milk Bar does. You get that creamy, airy and fragrant green tea foam without all the bitterness and underneath lies stewed adzuki beans which look taste like something akin to raisins and it's just gorgeous. 

Cheeseburger 5

At 5 bucks a pop, the serving size can be a bit mean but what it lacks in size, it makes up in flavour. The patty could be more tender but there's no denying that the delicious combination of tart pickles, patty and ketchup is really good.

Basket of fries w tomato sauce and wasabi mayo 8

The wasabi flavour was lost with me but they went down quickly. Too quickly infact... Where did they all go.

Vege Sambo 9.5

Roasting the sweet potato enhances their sweetness and a sugary syrup results from it. The sandwich was falling apart by the time I got it and the bread just didn't have the right texture but one bite and it's hard to not get smitten. The balance was just right with the feta surprisingly passive in it's saltiness and it's creaminess works classically well with the peppery rocket.

Ais freaking awesome chicken wings w crab sauce 13

And then came along their piece de resistance, their famous chicken wings. I'm nit picking but they could have been a little more plumper, but they come generously slathered in their crab sauce which is a wicked concoction of soy sauce, ginger, chilli, sambal and spring onions and it had me oddly smelling my fingers hours afterwards.

The Crab Omelette 24

There's something magical that happens when shellfish hits eggs and that was the case here. You know it's their signature when the article The precedes it. It's quite a huge portion and you'd expect so, dressed in the aforementioned sambal sauce with all their lovely textures.

PBJ

Again known for their wacky shakes, it still left me thinking about Peanut Butter and Jelly. It oddly does work, at least to me, and it's very intriguing because I've never had that combination before.

While some may find the environment quite hectic, the waitress's bubbly and energetic character exudes an endearing and humorous warmth to the diner; single handedly capable of running the front house dashing from one end to the other gracefully. Milk Bar by Cafe Ish is the modern day milk bar gen Y never had. All that's missing is the Marilyn Monroe look alike and a 50s Sinatra soundtrack playing loudly but I guess that's what the juke box is for. Until next time.


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Posted in: Chicken Wings, crab, green tea, hamburger, milk bar, Milk Shake, redfern, sandwich