Nomad, Surry Hills
I have wanted to try this restaurant for a while and I have to say, I was totally and utterly impressed! Nomad opened its doors sometimes in 2013, and it is a wonderful addition to the Sydney food scene. It has fantastic food and co-owned and operated by Rebecca Littlemore and Al Yazbek and the head chef is Nathan Sasi (previously ex Rockpool, Husk (in South Carolina) and Heston Blumenthal) who is very passionate about local produce.
I love the open space, natural wood, exposed ceiling and the open kitchen. The menu is split into snacks, small plates, from the grill and wood fire, from the garden and dessert. We pretty much skipped the small plates, ordered the fried chickpeas with falafel spice which was Dragon’s favourite. She had it with rice (yes, I bring rice for her as she is truly an Asian baby and eats rice with EVERYTHING!) and absolutely loved it. It was crunchy and addictive!
We dug straight into the food girl and wood fire, starting with the wood roasted bone marrow with parsley and horseradish salad, grilled toast (AUD30). This was to0 die for! But then again, I am such a sucker for bone marrow (!) and 3 bone marrow was not enough for 5 hungry adults, especially when we ALL LOVE bone marrow! It was delicious and the horseradish salad was a wonderful complement.
Next the wood roasted pork with mustard fruit, roasted fruits, roasted pair (AUD38) – the pork was excellent, and the crackle was like music to my ears – crispy and oh so sinfully good! I could probably have eaten the whole thing myself!
The BBQ lamb rump with moroccan eggplant salad and sheep yogurt (AUD38) was a hit amongst the diners! The lamb was cooked beautifully, slightly pink and it was incredibly tender. For someone who doesn’t really like lamb this was surprisingly good!
Dragon enjoyed the BBQ half chicken with cauliflower with goats (AUD38) – it had a lovely seasoning and the chicken meat was tender. Yes, she ate a quarter of this by herself!
Last but not least, the wagyu skirt steak with butter poached radishes and gentleman’s relish (AUD39) was another favourite amongst the diners. Like the lamb, the steak was slightly pink inside was incredibly succulent and tender that one small piece was just not enough!
For dessert, we thought we would share the bunuelos – roase water and cardamon custard (4 for AUD14) and although i was slightly disappointed, as I was expecting some sort of jam lava coming out, it was still very good! and the rose water and cardamon custard was a wonderful complement.
We also ordered the dulce de leche magnum with white chocolate and almonds (AUD7). It was the tiniest magnum I have ever seen, I didn’t have any of this, but was told that it was also excellent.
Service was excellent, and the food amazingly good! I am definitely keen to go back and try other dishes on the menu and potentially order the bone marrow again! If we still lived in Surry Hills, I can envisage coming to this restaurant very often!
GA’s ratings: 8.5 / 10
16 Foster Street
Surry Hills, Sydney, 2010
Ph: +61 2 9280 3395
I swear you eat at more Sydney places than I do, and you’re not here most of the time!
lol when i come back i try and hit all the places! gained about 5kgs the last 2 – 3 weeks! lol