The Milk Bar By Cafe Ish: Cafe, Redfern (3 Jan 2013)

105 Regent Street, Redfern NSW 2016

https://twitter.com/MilkBar_CafeIsh

Shaking up the neighbourhood

When Cafe Ish was in Surry Hills they were famous for their crab omelette so it's good to see they've kept it on the menu after their relocation to Redfern and renaming. A push for sustainable burgers and shakes seems to now be their passion at a price that won't break the bank. You could opt for the Triple bacon cheese burger or include a Korean style topping with kim chi, chilli paste and pickled daikon but I just tried the basic Cheeseburger ($5) which comes with a beef pattie, cheese, pickles, ketchup and grilled onion. The meat is free range pasture fed, the cheese organic free range and the bun house made. It was smallish but deceptively more filling than expected and pretty tasty. The main thing I was after was to try Ais freaking awesome chicken wings ($13) using free range chicken. It had about three wings cut into nine pieces including wing tips. The vinegar and shallot sauce was very tasty but also very messy due to the abundance of sticky sauce so make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand. A finger bowl would have been handy but don't expect one. BYO moist wipes would be my recommendation. Chef and owner Josh Nicholls has been known to freely speak his mind on twitter and in person so tread lightly and don't poke the bear so to speak.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Reasonably priced menu, Free range meat, eggs, cheese and bacon, Arcade games including Pac-Man, Galaga and Donkey Kong, Lolly jars for a sugar hit, Interesting shakes and sundaes on menu

CONS: Not the easiest area to find parking, Chef's bark is as fierce as his twitter feed

MUST TRY: Ais freaking awesome chicken wings with lots of napkins, The crab omelette (signature dish)

VERDICT: A place to rekindle your child memories of burgers, shakes, arcade games and a lolly bag for the road

—

Cheeseburger: beef pattie, cheese, pickles, ketchup, grilled onion ($5) — free range pasture fed meat, organic free range cheese, house made buns, small but more filling than expected

Ais freaking awesome chicken wings: basket of free range crisp fried free range chicken wings with vinegar and shallot sauce ($13) — about 3 wings, 9 pieces including wing tips, tasty, best to share, very messy to eat makes it finger licking good

WORTH TRYING :-)

Chef and owner Josh Nicholls

Table setting 

Nice spacious wooden seating and tables at the front 

Old school bag of lollies to be had

Arcade games honour board — I was addicted to Galaga as a kid

Sugar fix assured

Retro jukebox

I bit of wayfinding signage would be handy to the toilet although I'm suspecting it might be that folded over piece of paper on the wall? 

Toilet kept tidy although has seen better days in terms of its style 

I'm suspecting these crates won't be the most comfortable seating for a long stay 

Smack bang in the middle of a major intersection

View Larger Map