York Trading & Co

UPDATE 5/05/15 - York Trading Co in Macquarie Centre has since closed 
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York Trading & Co is a little bar and restaurant that's opened within the new section of Macquarie Centre. It is the baby brother of the York Street, Sydney restaurant.
It sits next to David Jones and a tucked away from hustle and bustle of the main dining floor and food court so it really feels like a bar and restaurant in its own right - you'll forget you're even in a shopping centre!

The restaurant is designed both for the take away lovers and for the sit in customers with a coffee bar sitting at the front.

When we first approached the place, it looked so empty we thought they were still closed or weren't serving breakfast. Apparently, they're just not a popular breakfast venue (yet). It was definitely spacious but this highlighted the lack of other diners. On the plus side, it caters to mums with prams perfectly.




After the emptiness, the next thing I noticed was the variety of their menu, they had an array of very unique foods that you would never find in just a little shopping centre cafe like porchetta sandwiches or Argentine beef ribs. They also host champagne nights, oyster and wine specials and wine tasting nights.
It seemed like a little piece of the city was sitting in a quiet corner of Macquarie Centre.


First impressions about the service weren't great as the waitress who greeted us on arrival seemed very disinterested and bored and didn't even return to take our order. We later were served by a different waiter who approached us with a smile and didn't need a pen or paper for any of our orders which was quite impressive.




We were a little disappointed upon seeing the Campos bean logo (not exactly my favorite) but we continued to order our morning coffees. In my experience, Campos gets burnt quite easily and can taste bitter and harsh but the barista however treated it with love and care and we were pleasantly surprised with the taste. It's not exactly a 'deal breaker' but they didn't have any syrups on offer which these days, is quite uncommon and could be a deterrent. The food took a very long time to come (considering we were just about the only diners there), we had already finished our coffees and were chatting before it was finally served. And given how long we waited, the food's arrival was quite underwhelming.

Italian Omelette: Prosciutto, Fontina, Tomato, Salsa verde


The Italian Omelette had good authentic flavors and fresh ingredients throughout the dish, but it was quite dry and a little bit more salsa verde would have added some moisture as the rocket and the saltiness from the prosciutto and cheese really dried your taste buds. It was quite filling and I couldn't quite finish it in the end.

The Royale. Cured Salmon, Toasted Croissant, Poached Egg, Bérnaise, Baby Spinach


The cured salmon was fresh and nicely balanced with the sauce made to a perfect consistency and the dill fragrant throughout the dish. The wilted spinach was brought later with very little explanation as to why it was isolated from the dish. We were left wondering if the kitchen had forgotten to add it to the dish or if they intentionally served it separately.

The Royale. Shaved Ham off the bone, Toasted Croissant, Poached Egg, Bérnaise, Baby Spinach


The alternative was also good however lacked the fragrance that the dill offered in the cured salmon. Both had nicely poached eggs, I was hesitant at first seeing some hard yolk but later smiled at the glowing ooze a bit further in. However I felt that the croissant was over-toasted and dry with both the dishes.



Don't expect cafe prices though. The costing mirrors city prices and sounds about right for a restaurant, that being said however it's reasonable for the kind of quality of ingredients that they are using. Cured salmon and fontina don't come cheap!



Overall I'm a little on the fence with this one, I didn't dislike my experience but it wasn't very memorable one either. I am intrigued to try this place again when it settles in a little more and it gets the ball rolling for one of their champagne nights or wine nights. It'd also be interesting to see what its York Street store is like and their popularity.

Until then, this is all I can tell you about York Trading & Co...for now



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