After hearing about it a lot in the last few weeks and chatting with food critic Carla Grossetti on Instagram, I had to see what it was all about. “You HAVE TO get the goat curd”! I heard several times. So last night, close to the end of service, Wendell, Miss Léonore and I sat down on the French café woven chairs and ordered a selection of 4 entrées and a schmiddy of Cricketers Arms on tap.
Henrys is a new restaurant in Cronulla which is based on a sharing concept, each dish being tailored to be shared among friends. Honestly I would be happy to keep an entrée all by myself, but I haven’t tried the mains yet. I can’t tell you how big they are.
The place is named after Henry Tugwell who was Cronulla’s first Police officer in 1904. And when in 1906, the Sutherland Council became responsible for the regulation of bathing and the beach, Henry was the one on the job and on horseback. As Henrys’ website states: “No budgie smugglers for him, the attire of the day were a woollen suit, leather boots and a bowler type hat”.
Scallops (3), peas, caramelised pork jowl ($21)
Of these entrées, we first started with scallops, caramelised to perfection, the inside being warm and just slightly cooked. The pea purée and the crunchy sprouts were a match made heaven.
The decor is lovely and inviting.
Whipped Goat’s curd, almonds, truffled honey, house lavosh ($14)
This was it, the famous Henrys goat curd… I will remember this dish for a long time. The curd was smooth, fresh and not too goaty. A drizzle of truffles honey with roasted slithered almonds created a masterpiece out of something very simple. I will go back to this restaurant crawling (as we say in French) just for this dish…
Through the serving counter you can see the action taking place in the kitchen, the flames, the quick movements of the chefs and sous-chefs.
Kingfish crudo, finger lime, chives, mandarin and burnt chilli oil (19)
This was absolutely delicious. It was basically a tartare of fish with grapefruit (instead of mandarin) and finger lime. I didn’t really feel the chilli but that didn’t matter at all. The mix of very lightly bitter pink grapefruit, pine like lime caviar and fish was really a great pairing. I loved it so much I will do all I can to make it at home.
More tropical decor…
Wagyu beef carpaccio, fried egg puree, horseradish, kohlrabi ($20)
A close-up on the carpaccio. What was genius here is the idea of micro cubes of Kohlrabi which have a subtle radish/turnip/cabbage flavour and a maximum crunch. I would have preferred a sauce a bit less mayonnaisy but it was truly delicious. I could eat this dish all day…
The famous “Martinique” style wall paper, which takes you straight to Beverly Hills…
Heirloom tomatoes, green and purple basil were amazing touches of colour for that simple but delicious dish. At first I thought the yellow slices were mangos but they’re actually very sweet and smooth tomatoes…
The burrata was the smallest I’ve ever seen but I always feel a bit sick after the usual giant version. That was actually a good size for 1 person, definitely not for sharing.
The dish was nice and salty with a touch of mini capers and échalotes. The olive oil was particularly fragrant.
The food is so fresh and the sauces so simple and light that you leave the place well fed but not heavy
Take a peek at the menu…
I have already listed what I will try next: T-bone to share, the yellow fin nachos which everyone’s raving about and the burrata with prosciutto. I’ll be back soon!
NOTE: This post is not sponsored.
VISIT: Wednesday 20th April 2016 – 20:00
MORE INFO:
web
their website
Instagram
download the menus here
address
1 Ocean Grove Ave, Cronulla NSW 2230 – Australia
Ph: 9527-0305
hours
Wed – Thu: 06:00 PM – 11:45 PM
Fri – Sun: 12:00 PM – 11:45 PM
thankyou flo!
great food and your photography is stunning!
love m:)X
Thank you so much Merilyn :)