Weve been 3 times now, and had a fab meal each time! We were wandering around Mt Lawley the other day, wondering where to eat, thinking we should try somewhere else aside from Five, since we'd been there twice already. We wandered around and nowhere really took our fancy, so we ended up back at Five, and considering it was the first day of their new menu, it was more of a reason to go there! As previously mentioned we'd been there twice before, and we ordered similar things both times (The rare roast beef open sandwich with coleslaw and horseradish cream, and the roast field mushrooms with danish fetta - which were both so delicious!) and so a new menu was a welcome change!
Steve was pretty keen for a curry but I wasnt really feeling it as we'd had a curry at the Buddha Bar that week, so he was pleased to see red lentil dahl with raita and papadums on the menu, which we ordered. Considering we loved the roast beef open sandwich, we couldnt decide between the new menu items of the Reuben sandwich with a dollar pickle, or the roast pork open sandwich with coleslaw and apple sauce - so we ordered both. As well as a serve of chips. Yes we were feeling greedy that night!!
Red lentil dahl, with raita and pappadums
We got the raita first, and its a generous serve! We dug in, and found very quickly that 3 pappadums was not enough, if you want a bite of everything... The dahl was good when combined with the raita and crunch of the pappadum, however we found the dahl a little lacking in flavour when eaten on its own. It was nice enough, but being pretty big curry fans, we found that it was a little bit bland.
Roast pork open sandwich with coleslaw and apple sauce
The roast pork open sandwich came out next, with the Reuben. Presented the same as the old fave, the roast beef, the roast pork looked great. At first bite I thought that the pork was a bit lost with the creamy coleslaw, but when you get a bit of the sweet, sharp apple sauce, it brings out the flavour of the pork beautifully. The apple sauce for us was the best part of the dish, as it bought everything sitting on the crunchy toasted bread together. S took the third portion with gusto, he loved it, as did I!
Toasted reuben sandwich on rye, with sliced dollar pickle
The Reuben came out all toasted and jam packed full of pastrami, cheese and sauerkraut, with one of those bargain dollar pickles! I took a half and tucked in, and I really enjoyed it. It was juicy and generous, quite filling, as theres alot of bread... But I liked the bread, so I wasnt bothered by it. S on the other hand wasnt really a fan. But he can be a really weird fussy eater. One of the reasons he didnt like it, is because it was too big. When he cant pick it up and eat it without it dripping, or he has to formulate a plan of action in order to keep all elements of the sandwich together when eating it, he doesnt like it. It was just a bit too much of everything for him, and hes not a fan of sauerkraut anyway. I ended up eating most of this one. Im not too sure that Id order it again though, esp if I knew I was eating it on my own, as its rich and filling, and you really only need a half or quarter of it to get the gist, especially if youve ordered other things, like we had! That being said, if it got ordered, Id eat it without issue!
Hand cut chips with Romesco mayo (I think)
The chips are great. Theres not too much to say about good chips, we all know what they should be like. They were crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, and seasoned perfectly. The mayo it was served with was really good, and very moreish! They had, as a special one week, sweet potato chips with curry mayo, which were equally as good, fantastic in fact! I was a huge fan of those...
I dont have photos of some of the other items we've eaten, but we were happy to see that some items on the menu havent been changed! The slow roasted field mushrooms on toast with fetta has stayed, which is great as they are FANTASTIC!! We ordered them both times we visited, both times they came out just as delicious! Served on a dark grey slate as per food styling fashion, and piled high with fetta - YUM! I love them...
Another thing worth keeping on the menu was the honeyed pumpkin, ricotta and walnut salad - holy crap this is an amazing salad!! The ricotta is milky and creamy, and provides a fantastic dressing for the crunch of the walnuts and the sweet softness of the pumpkin. They had something else in the dressing which we couldnt figure out, but it was amazing. It was a standout the night we had that! Would certainly get that again... I asked the crew at Five Bar on twitter (@Five_Bar) what was in the dressing and they very graciously told me the ingredients, which was awesome of them! Another salad, which I cant remember really exactly what was in it, but it was haloumi and bulghur wheat - this is still on the menu as well, however we found it pretty bland and unexciting. I didnt really love the texture, and the halloumi, which I love, wasnt served straight away and it gets a bit rubbery, so Id give that one a miss next time.
The vibe of this place is cool and I enjoy it, however I havent been on a weekend because I dont like big crowds really. Its never been too crowded, and the worst thats happened on a week night was that we had to have a drink sat on the huge wooden boxes at the back until one came up, which was about 10mins. Ive always had great service, esp the blonde guy in the bowtie - hes a champion. Ive found that most of the staff here are really professional and friendly, always offering a smile and seem to enjoy their job!
We'll be back for sure, we've had a great success rate with their food, they have a great drinks list which suits me (a red wine drinker, who dabbles in cider) and S (a wheat beer lover, wont knock back most other beers and dabbles in cider as well). They have menu options to suit all budgets ($1 pickle?! WOO!) and a cruisy relaxed vibe which I love.
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