Southern Cross Garden Bar Restaurant
Reviews · · · ·Rating: 2
We ate lunch here in April 2023.
Pita bread and hummus
Fondue and pretzels
Salt and pepper squid
Polenta chips
Korean fried chicken
Last time we ate here, we described the service as “Capital S Speedy”. Something has changed, as this time we waited 20 minutes for four drinks and the restaurant was <20% full.
The fondue was sensational. Plenty of it, warm, good texture, with a wee kick of spice. The accompanying pretzels were pretty good, although describing them as ‘giant’ was an over-statement. Also, the whole thing was a rip off considering separately on the menu you could purchase just the bowl of fondue for $4, which means we were paying $18 for two medium sized pretzels and some salad. Nonetheless, it was the tastiest thing we ate.
A close second was the pita bread and hummus. Unlike at Parrotdog, the pitas weren’t overcooked and the hummus was flavourful and delicious. Also doing fairly well was the Korean fried chicken. It was spicy and juicy, and hit the notes you’d expect. Could’ve done with more dipping sauce.
At the bottom of the list was the squid and the polenta chips. We love polenta chips, but these ones were dry as a bone. The squid was bizarre. It wasn’t rings, instead it almost looked like a chopped up churro. It was batter with a stick of squid through the middle. It was chewy. And the flavouring wasn’t salt-and-peppery either.