I have an unquenchable thirst for travel. I don’t know if it is my constant involvement with the world of social media, following awe inspiring accounts or the fact that I have this insatiable appetite to try as many foods as possible.
I can go down the rabbit hole that is Instagram for hours on end admiring the talented creatives that share their world of food from all over the world.
One particular place that has piqued my interest to visit is Melbourne Australia. The restaurateurs, food photographers and bloggers coming out of that corner of the world are mind blowing and constantly feed my creative process.
Aussies are constantly pushing boundaries with food and their unique cultural fusion of east meets west can be likened to an artists ever evolving muse.
Having said that, you can only imagine how happy I was to find Jarryds eatery in Sea Point.
A spot owned by two Aussie brothers Jarryd and Ariel, who, not only take their food seriously but their coffee even more so.
They have brought their food knowledge and inspiration right to our doorstep and with their attentive service and perfect coffee they have a recipe for success.
The space is unassuming from the outside. Marked by a simple board bearing the name JARRYDS, you might miss this spot if you don’t know what you are looking for.
The first thing that suggested I was about to experience something great was the interior. The space is minimal and elegant with a masculine touch of dark surfaces and wood. As you enter you are greeted by a bustling barista station and soft lighting that compliments the space.
I usually visit Jarryds for their out of this world breakfasts. Scratch your South African scrambled eggs and bacon and welcome smashed Avo with corn fritters, poached eggs and banana bread with espresso butter and quinoa breakfasts bowls.
On this occasion however, I decided to give their dinner and cocktail menu a go and I wasn’t disappointed.
For those of you that have visited for breakfast, it's time you pop in for dinner. For those of you that haven't been as yet for either, best you do.
Jarryd's is open for dinner seating Tuesday-Sunday with the average spend of R250 per person depending on how many cocktails you decide to sip on.
The menu is inspirational and reads as a what's hot on the international food scene with an Aussie brothers twist. It is unpretentious yet elevated bistro food that will leave you with a hankering for more.
I worked my way through the menu and explored all the flavours and influences.
There are the stock standard crowd favourites, such as cheeseburgers (which are a must) and slow cooked juicy lamb shanks but then the quirkiness of Jarryds really starts to shine through and you'll find the less obvious pulled pork buns, beef tacos and vegetarian lasagne.
The pork buns and the beef tacos are my personal favourite; the buns immediately took me on a journey to Asia. I closed my eyes and saw myself standing in a little eatery across the continents. I am all about ordering two starters and sharing them or having them both as a meal (why not.) You can clearly see that the Asian influence in Australia has resulted in a perfect symmetry in the dishes. The flavours are balanced and the meat is tender and juicy. It is about the little touches and the sesame crusted fresh lime to squeeze over the taco meat perfectly cuts the flavour and offers the dish its final touch in achieving a perfectly rounded flavour balance. I paired my food with a delightful Gin Fizz that had a little of New York in it. The tacos are soft and the beef is tender, lashed with sour cream and salsa - they had me at hello.
The menu is constantly under scrutiny from the brothers, as they want to keep things fresh which is a major draw card. I love an evolving menu with new ideas that stops a regular spot from becoming mundane. The soft shell crab burger was something that I haven't experienced before and I could picture it being served at a beach spot in Bali. The crunch was perfect and the red cabbage it was served with offered that sublime freshness.
Jarryd and Ariel hold themselves to a high standard. If you want to be the best then you need to constantly push yourself on an international level to achieve it. With every bite I was experiencing a different cultural influence that they have made their own. With Indonesia, Mexico and New York under my taste belt where was I off to next?
The perfect ending to my meal was something that appeared deceivingly close to a cappuccino, but turned out to be a light and airy hazelnut mousse, amoretti crumb, salted caramel ice cream and Italian meringue. Things are not always as they appear. I jetted off to Italy with the first mouthful and sharing with my partner wasn’t an option!
The dessert left me with the realization that if you close your eyes and savour what you are eating at that very moment, you can find yourself anywhere in the world.
I was grateful to the eatery for that very experience as it somehow momentarily quenched my thirst for travel. After all who doesn’t want to see the world in one spot from the comfort of your own seat while enjoying utterly delicious food?
Wanderlust cured. For now.
-Melissa
*This blog post is sponsored by Jarryds all opinions are my own.