Hammer and Tong (brunch take 2)

After a blasphemous dinner at beloved Hammer and Tong, we returned, to scrub the memory from our minds and surround ourselves in delicious brunch food (it worked). Despite going on a public holiday early morning, we were seated relatively quickly, though the lack of menus slowed our ordering down a tad.

First to arrive was the tried and true Breakfast Ramen (62c hens egg, bacon, oyster mushroom, spring onion, bacon dashi $15), it was delicious as usual. The beautifully fatty bacon paired with the cooked-to-perfection ramen noodles was fantastic.

Next up was the Duck Egg (oyster mushrooms, truffle butter, snow pea tendrils, fontina briont soldiers $18) another repeat, but so thrilling to see that Hammer & Tong can reproduce their dishes beautifully. This tasted wonderful yet again, with the rich truffle butter showing through the buttery briont soldiers. The oyster mushrooms were meaty enough to not require meat!

The Corn & Zucchini Fritters, avocado manchego, spinach, chilli tomato relish, poached egg ($17) were quite disappointing for me. The fritters weren't fried well, so didn't have a crispy exterior. The skin really tasted like the insides, which were slightly bland and didn't have a tasty kick like most other corn fritters I've tried. The poached egg was done very well, and the relish and avocado manchego was a nice addition, but unfortunately didn't save this dish for me.

Similarly the Buttermilk Lamb, goats cheese, onion rings, eucalyptus & apple gel, frisse ($22) was a little dry, and had a slightly strange presentation squished into lamb blocks. They did try to make things interesting with the addition of onion rings (fried well, but not anything spectacular) and the eucalyptus & apple gel which was surprisingly sweet but didn't particularly complement the lamb. The goats cheese was the best part of dish, milky creamy and with a generous dollop in the middle of the plate. It tasted amazing, and not too ‘cheesy’, quite light in fact, but again it felt out of place.

The hot chocolate was great! It came in a tall glass and was sufficiently chocolate-y and not bitter to drink, would definitely order it again.

TL;DR I will return to Hammer & Tong till I've conquered their whole menu!