Ash Street Cellar, City

Miss M and I decide to meet up at Ash Street Cellar for an after work bite to eat. Ash Street Cellar has long been on my wishlist as I love its laneway location and the tapas style food that they serve.  If I squint I can almost imagine I'm in Melbourne...or Barcelona even!

This catch up however is not really about the food (shock horror) but more about making Miss M and I are on the same page regarding our "must see list" for New York later this month. Sqee - not long to go now.

Because the tables are so small here (reminiscent of the teeny bistros and cafes I remember from Paris where you just perch to have a nibble and a vino) and I have so many bits of paper, maps and travel books we decide to keep the ordering light - for the sake of the holiday planning.

The meal begins with a complimentary serve of warm bread with olive oil and rock salt for dipping. We are each given a piece of fociaccia topped with dried rosemary that goes perfectly with the olive oil and salt, as well as a plain piece of ciabatta style bread.  We eat our bread pretty quickly to make room on the table for the dishes to follow.

Luckily our Empanadas with salsa criolla ($5.00 each) are quite small, and tasty, and we demolish these within a few seconds.

Next up is the pork terrine with candied walnuts and served with cornichons and toasted sourdough ($21.00). I've actually tried the pork terrine on a previous visit to Ash St Cellar, as part of their March into Merivale event at Sushi Choo and it is as good as I remember. The addition of the slightly sour cornichons is a tart contrast to the fattiness of the terrine. 

Our last savoury dish is a clay pot of chorizo with baba ganoush, fresh herbs and grilled flat bread ($18.00).  The combination of chorizo and baba ganoush is not one I've had at Tapas restaurants before so perhaps the combination is unique to Ash Street Cellar? The chorizo was lovely and smokey - so flavoursome but, as is always the case with chorizo, a little oily so I feel a biit guilty devouring it. We leave one piece behind in the dish to prove we both have some self control.

We decide to end the night on a sweet note and order the deliciously naughty Alfajores with Dulce de Leche ($12.00).  Alfajores is a Spanish shortbread that we smoother with the sweet and sticky Dulce de Leche (that's caramel folks & oh my it's sinfully good)!

Of course, sitting at Ash Street Cellar I got to stare longingly across the laneway at Felix Bistro. Ten guesses where I'm off to next! Who's coming with me?

Ash Street Cellar is at 1 Ash Street, Sydney.