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SYDNEY | Cafe Oratnek is a cute little 25 seat cafe housed in a former terrace house residence in Redfern. It’s owned by chef Kentaro “Kenny” Takayama (ex Bills, Darlinghurst), who set out to open a cafe that espoused simplicity, quality and authenticity – qualities Kenny tries to adhere to in his own life. The space is rustic, homely and light filled, opening up to the flower and herb filled courtyard out the front.
The menu is recognisably that of an Australian cafe, with very strong Japanese influences. Everything is made in-house where possible, and the menu is dictated by what’s fresh, in season, and good. The ochazuke – a grilled rice ball with your choice of either zuke tuna or hot smoked salmon, topped with nori, arare, and chicken jasmine dashi is fantastic, as is the kobe hayashi rice with wagyu beef, onion, mushroom, cheese, demi-glace.
Oratnek also does one of the best katsu sandos we’ve had in Australia. It features 200g of tonkatsu (crumbed and deep fried pork cutlet), along with cabbage, tonkatsu sauce, and that sweet mustard you find everywhere in Japan but seems so hard to come across in Australia. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, try the matcha french toast with banana chips, coconut, strawberries, and matcha ganache.
For drinks it’s an assortment of filter and espresso based coffees along with hot and cold teas, juices, sodas, and shakes, and a few Japanese beers and Australian wines.
We approached Oratnek expecting an Australian menu with Japanese influences, but what we got was more a Japanese menu with Australian influences. The result, a truly unique Sydney cafe that offers dishes you won’t find elsewhere and that warrants return visits.
Cafe Oratnek
4 Pitt Street
Redfern
New South Wales 2016
Australia
Telephone: (02) 8394 9550
E-mail: [email protected]
Website
Open
Mon – Fri: 7:00am to 4:00pm
Sat – Sun: 8:00am to 4:00pm