Henri Marc, Penrith
Caramel on toast ($4.50). Say whaaaaat? Just look at it. Gaze at its beauty and rejoice in happiness that Henri Marc (438 High St, Penrith) has brought this creation to the lucky peeps out west. A fat slice of sourdough is drowned in the most incredible salted caramel sauce and it was just so delicious that it just blew my mind. And seriously only four and a half smackerooneys? Totally worth the trek guys! I am totally in love with this place!
I first heard rumblings about a sexy new cafe from Mike Eggert and after a quick google search I was drawn to the beautiful photos over on tea-vie.com. My first visit to Henri Marc was with Ramen Raff for a long overdue catchup and then because I was dying to try more of the menu I dragged Noods along over the weekend hehe so don’t freak out that this post has heaps of food 😛
On my first visit I was intrigued by the Rabbit Hole Organic tea ($4.50). I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of tea, I mean, I’ll drink it and oddly I prefer drinking tea if I’m eating cheese but yeah I just couldn’t resist ordering the Banana Split tea and freakily it smelled exactly like perfectly ripened bananas with a hint of vanilla! Noods tried the Licorice Allsorts tea and while he loved the smell he thought it tasted a little too much like Sambuca and had to order the Salted Caramel Milkshake ($7) which I immediately fell in love with and ended up sneakily downing the contents.
Duck eggs, prosciutto and toast ($10). Tee hee the eggs are looking at meee! I much prefer the taste of a duck egg to a normal hen egg as it’s richer and creamier and made for the perfect breakfast slathered onto the buttered sourdough. Oh and that prosciutto baked to a crisp pretty much disappeared within seconds and I may have asked for another slice to nibble on later..
Egg and Bacon ($12). Gooey eggs + crispy bacon = amazing. Together forever! And much <3 to the sourdough bread that Henri Marc sources from Bakehouse On Wentworth in the Blue Mountains.
The Braised Brisket Roll, Mustard, Pickles ($13.50) was stuffed full of smoky juice dripping meaty goodness and it was all kinds of tasty though I kinda wished for a bit more fat because hey once you’ve tried Texan brisket you just don’t go back man!
We couldn’t resist the Roast Pork Belly, Apple & Cabbage Slaw ($16) which was beyootiful! The tile of crackling could have been a bit more cracklier but other than that it was pretty close to perfect with tender meat alternating with thin layers of delectable creamy fat.
Market fish, Chorizo Puree, Pickled Celery, Farro ($17). The fish of the day was sea mullet and it was phenomenal. Several bites later and the crispy skin fish with flakey flesh is destroyed and sitting happily in our stomaches. Noods loved the Chorizo puree but did say the amount under the fish slightly overpowered the delicate fish and I normally hate celery because I think it tastes like sadness but pickling them had me happily munching away.
A basket filled with sugar crusted donuts was sitting in direct line of sight on the counter and proved to be too much of a temptation at only $1 each. $1 each yo!! There is always room for fried dough! Freshly baked, these babies were light and was perfect to mop up any caramel sauce remnants.
Absolutely loved Henri Marc! From the quirky Surry Hills feel layout, to the down to earth and friendly service and of course the amazing food at ridiculously good prices, I know I will be back as soon as possible before word gets out and there’s queues around the block!