The Carrington, Surry Hills

When The Boy and I visited Melbourne last year we fell in love with the quirky Pintox joint, Naked for Satan where tasty little morsels are served on bread and skewered into place with a toothpick in the fashion of eateries in Northern Spain.  Fun and yum!

When The Carrington in Surry Hills opened up its own Pintox and Tapas joint last year I began to hatch a plan to get The Boy to take me there.  To be honest, our "pre-football" ritual of burgers before each game was getting a tad...stale. I LOVE burgers, but a girl can only eat so many bugers in one year.  We needed to mix things up a bit (well I did anyway) and what better to spice things up then some tasty Pintoxs!

We're dining earlier than the folks in the nursing home would, but we have a footy game to get to. The benefit of dining at 5pm (yes, 5pm!) is that all the Surry Hills hipsters are still finishing up their brunches we get a seat no worries.  The dining room at The Carrington is at the back of the pub and it's decked out in dark, moody tones with a decidedly Spanish vibe.

We kick of our dinner with some Pintox - a Meatball Slider for The Boy and a Calamari Slider for each of us ($6.00 each).  A slider is just a mini-burger really, so I haven't escape the pre-footy burger tradition after all. But, I don't mind as the Calamari Slider is great - crispy calamari, mayo and rocket all on a soft brioche-style bun.   I'm test driving my new "second-hand" camera tonight so please forgive my wonky photos.

The Kingfish Pastrami On Rye ($4.00 each piece) is my FAVOURITE morsel of the evening. We actually came back to The Carrington after the football so I could have another slice (or two) of this, but alas the kitchen had already closed. So sad.  The Kingfish Pastrami has a peppery crust just like regular pastrami, but unlike pastrami (where the meat is much more dry) the Kingfish is deliciously moist and plump.  It sits atop of bed of creamy coleslaw which coats the inside of my mouth like butter. The slice gherkins are a great balance to fish and creamy 'slaw.

We move onto some Tapas - that's Spanish for "little dishes of food without toothpicks".  We both LOVE the Salt Roasted King Prawns ($7.50 each).  The prawns are monsters - HUGE and are deliciously charred.

Our bowl of Patatas Bravas Fries ($8.00) are pipping hot, salty and deliciously crispy.  They are accompained by a bowl of spicy Tomato Sauce which is quite addictive.  I get a greasy look from The Boy when I snaffle the last two fries in the bowl for myself. You snooze you loose.

Ever since reading about Salt Cod Fritters ($14.00) on HeNeedsFood I've really want to try them.  Of course I wasn't going to make them myself like John did for his blog - I needed someone to make them for me thank you very much.  We bite through the crunchy outer layer to reveal soft fluffy innards of mashed potato, some random vegies and lovely cod.  The flavour of my salted cod fritter is much milder than I was expecting and not salty at all - I was expecting a really strong "fishy" taste, so this was a nice surprise.

Chef Jamie Thomas kindly sends out a plate of Jalapeno and Smoked Cheddar Croquettes ($14.00) for us to try and they are devine. Deep-fried cheesy goodness is just not the domain of the Royal Easter Show you know.

I'm desperate to go back from some more of that lovely Kingfish Pastrami. Be seeing you soon Carrington!

The Carrington is at 565 Bourke Street, Surry Hills.  Phone them on 02 9360 4714 (they take bookings *happy dance*)!