After a disappointing meal several months ago, I was invited to give Hatch & Co. another try so I gathered a couple of friends and made a booking for a Saturday evening. Two of us arrived first and we were immediately taken to what the maître d' described as her favourite table. We were given menus and water almost immediately and not long afterwards were asked if we were ready to order drinks, but we declined as we were waiting for the other person. Once he arrived, it took us a while to look at menus but once we did, it was tough to decide what to order. I wasn't overly interested in ordering the dishes I found disappointing last time and was more intrigued by the shared meat plates on offer - lamb shoulder, chicken or beef fillet. Luckily my dining partners also liked to share so were up for one of them too but we struggled to decide what else to get. We weren't sure how large they were and when we inquired, it was suggested to us that just one with a few sides would be plenty and we were recommended the Beetroot Hommus with dill, pistachio, feta and woodfired flatbread ($10), and the Roasted Carrots, tahini, sunflower seeds ($9) and the Broccoli, garlic, buerre noisette ($9) to go with the Slow cooked lamb shoulder, garlic, lemon, watercress & braising jus ($65) so we decided to just go with that. Being one of those annoying people who are wheat intolerant, I asked if they had any gluten-free crackers to go with the hommus and was told that they could a gluten-free flatbread instead. But after saying that I didn't want the others to have to have that instead, I was offered the option to get one of each - win!
Given that the place was packed, I felt that it didn't take a long time for food to arrive. The Beetroot hommus arrived first and was presented attractively with the deep purple hommus contrasting against the black plates with chunks of feta and dill scattered. The piping hot fresh flatbread came in a separate bowl but only one of them initially arrived so when we asked which it was (regular/GF), investigation occurred and about ten minutes later we were delivered the gluten-free one with many apologies. Once I had my own bread to eat it with, I got stuck into the hommus and it was delicious. It was smooth and rich with the feta adding salty pops and the sprigs of dill just enhancing the flavour combination. I was really impressed by the gluten-free flatbread. It was hard to say what it was made of (buckwheat?) but it was deliciously dense with that nice chewy texture of flatbread and served piping hot - I wanted to eat all of it but resisted to make room for the rest of the meal.
Not too long after the empty plate was whisked away, our main dishes arrived. The lamb shoulder looked a little plain as one huge piece of meat on a platter with a pile of watercress and a lemon half on the side but really, it's a bit hard to make that look overly attractive. The sides arrived in separate bowls - the carrots were large wedges drizzled with tahini and sunflower seeds and the broccoli was swimming in a creamy looking sauce. We starting to dig into the lamb shoulder and it shredded away from the bone easily in large chunks. It was tender as expected and had good flavour, especially with the lemon, but I did find it a little tricky to scoop up the jus for it due to the shallow plate and thus it felt a bit plain. I would have loved something a little more sauce-y to go with it like yoghurt or a chimmichurri but honestly that's just me - my dining companions were very happy with it as it was! The roasted carrots were delicious and soft and I loved the tahini sauce that came with it. The broccoli wasn't quite what I expected - I thought it might be more of a blanched type of broccoli with some bit and lightly dressed in the buerre noisette (browned butter sauce) instead of the well cooked soft broccoli sitting in the sauce but it was delicious; just a bit too rich and creamy for us so we left most of it.
We were absolutely stuffed and didn't even manage to finish the lamb - I would say we could easily have had four people instead of three and everyone would have still left full! As a result we declined to have dessert. We remained at the table for some time and then when we decided to leave, struggled to get the attention of anyone to get the bill. The restaurant was much emptier at this point so it was a bit odd so we ended up just following another couple (who I think had the same issue) to the exit to pay. Overall I enjoyed this dinner significantly more and would recommend the Beetroot Hommus and Lamb Shoulder. Considering the amount of food that we had plus a few drinks came to just over $100, I would say it was reasonably priced too. Service was a bit up and down - it could take a while to get someone's attention but there was one great waiter who was very attentive and wanting to please and our water glasses were rarely empty. Looking forward to trying the new CBD restaurant when it opens! read more
