Review: The Fern

4 Pitt Street
Redfern

p: 83990070

Brunch
Tues - Sun: 8am - 3pm
Dinner
Thurs - Sat: 6pm - 10pm

Squeak has long regretted moving away from her beloved Redfern. Even before it became 'up and coming' she had seen its potential and always enjoyed the village vibe along with its proximity to all things Surry Hills! The Fern is just one place that has tapped into the potential of the 'fern along with  Pitt Street Diner, Patagonian Toothfish, Dryland Bar, Baffi & Mo and Eathouse Diner. The Fern is perhaps a little removed from the rest of these, being closer to Cleveland Street, but, being set a little back from the street in a lovely old terrace house makes for a charming setting for a spot of Sunday brekkie.

Squeak and I waddle on in a little earlier than usual on this fine Sunday morn and are quickly impressed with the fit out of The Fern. It is quirky, colourful and cool. We snare a booth that provides endless reading material with comics papering the walls around us.

The menu is relatively small and certainly is focused on brunch - hence the inclusion of a cheeseburger which, while tempting, didn't seem quite appropriate for us to order at 9 o'clock in the morning. We need to try and maintain some semblance of restraint.

Squeak orders the Pancakes with Pear and Butterscotch sauce. These sound very good indeed. When they arrive, Squeak is certainly overwhelmed by the size of the pancakes, but disappointed by the pear element. She had expected perhaps poached pear, and had certainly expected a greater quantity of the fruit than the few slivers that are actually there. She does enjoy the flavours of the pancakes, the crunchy 'crumble like' topping is also sweet and the butterscotch sauce is delicious.  There just isn't enough of the sauce to carry through to the end of the pancakes which, ultimately, renders them dry and impossible to finish.

I order the 'Hangover Cure' which involves house made baked beans, fried egg and slow cooked pork belly atop toast. Yummo!! When it arrives, I will be honest and say that I feel it is a little small. I did expect two slices of toast or two eggs at least. The toast that is there, really isn't toasted either, it seems like it has just been flipped on a grill - so it is a bit soft and 'bready'.

The pork itself though, is truly delicious, and the beans have great flavour. Everything is seasoned well and I do enjoy it a lot. As Sunday brunch does tend to form our main meal of the day, I did have to snaffle some dry leftover pancake from Squeak's plate though to keep me satiated for the rest of the day. 

We then both order extra coffees (which are good, incidentally) and lazily read over the papers, feverishly worrying about how many cents the cost of our breakfast will increase under the new carbon tax!!

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