Watts on Crown, Surry Hills

Watts on Crown hasn't really been open very long. They flung their doors open around March this year so I was very surprised to seem them offering a Travelzoo voucher not long after. The compassionate part of me hoped their business wasn't in trouble already and the tight-arse part of me jumped on that voucher so hard I nearly melted my credit card!

The voucher was too good to be true - $55 for a three course meal plus a glass of bubbles. WHAT? We choose to go for a Sunday lunch and they kindly let us book for a few days after the voucher had actually expired so we wouldn't miss out.  We arrived bang on noon so there were quite a few lazy Sunday brunchers whiling away the morning - the brunch options looked pretty good I must say. But we were here for lunch so let's get to it shall we?

Despite a few funky Chinese Masks adorning one of the walls the food at Watts on Crown is as non-Asian as it comes - it's Modern Australian at it's best I'd say (whatever that is). To kick things off  The Boy choose the Grilled Quail with chorizo, crisp basil + braised red peppers - he was swayed by the promise of tasty chorizo. Weak.  Being virtuous (and kind of...much fatter...since I started blogging) my entree was a salad with roast Jerusalem artichokes, baby beetroot, goats curd + almonds. It was light + lovely and the goats cheese was so lush and creamy.

The Boy went all out for his Sunday lunch and ordered the Roast beef with carrot + horseradish mash, greens, gravy and an ENORMOUS Yorkshire pudding. This was was his first Yorkshire pudding experience and I think he enjoyed it (I sure enjoyed the bits I nicked off his plate)! But wait, there's more! The roast came with a HUGE bowl of duck fat potatoes.  Now, I'm assuming the duck fat wasn't from a free range duck but I decided to try a tatter anyway as there's soooooo much hype about duck fat potatoes I just wanted to seize the moment. The Boy loved them - he thought it added to the potatoes, but for me = meh. The potatoes toasted the same as regular old spuds to me. My duck fat taste buds must be broken.

My lunch was substantially lighter, but I was still full by the end of the mains (not full enough to skip dessert mind you). My plate of saffron + root vegetable ravioli with almonds, parsley + Parmesan was so flavoursome, a beautiful dish. Loved the sage in this dish so much that I want to grow my own at home!

Loosen your belts - it's time for dessert! Neither of us could pass up the oozy, gooey, delicious Chocolate Fondant. The fondant was served with vanilla bean ice-cream and a crunchy yet chewy nut caramel. Delicious!

All in all a great lunch. The service was very friendly and the food thoughtful and delicious.  A great addition to the Crown Street strip.

Watts on Crown is at 368 Crown Street, Surry Hills. Phone them on 8068 0461.