Bombe Alaska is making a comeback. That’s a bold statement, but once you’ve tried the piece de resistance of Flour Drum’s dinner menu, you won’t disagree. Perfect swirls of meringue, just lightly charred from the touch of a blow torch, flickering with purple flame from a steady stream of flambé – this is the stuff sweat dreams are made of. Literally. For the owners of Flour Drum, it’s the culmination of three long years of planning. And they’ve got the olives to prove it.
Victor Li and Christopher Heaps bought barrels of olives three years ago, but they held off opening the doors of their cosy King Street cafe until they had the menu just right. Famous for breakfasts and baked goods, Flour Drum already has the winning formula when it comes to daytime dining so it’s no surprise they wanted to take their time when it comes to nights.
Opening up in evenings Thursday to Saturday at the moment, they say they’re still figuring out a few things, but we’d say they’ve hit the high notes already. Like their daytime menu, dinner dances across the globe, pulling in dishes from far and wide. Start your meal with housemade bread and a giant spoonful of creamy salmon rilette, or crunchy fried BBQ duck and shitake mushroom wontons. The beetroot and goats cheese terrine is a vegetarian’s dream, served with a generous handful of walnuts and more of that beautiful, warm bread. Larger dishes also bring flavours from all four corners of the world – the jumbo lamb shank served with carrot, peas and mashed potato changed our opinion of meat and three veg forevermore, while slow cooked pork ragu and pappardelle is perfect for the very hungry, the generous plate of pasta has quite the chilli kick too. Try grilled salmon or Chinese spiced pork belly, or even good old meatballs and spaghetti. Chef John Ageletos, who has Bourke St Bakery and Sydney Opera House on his CV, certainly knows how to do comfort food, and we aren’t complaining.
Pair your meals with the changing ‘featured wines’ that Christopher takes pride in sourcing – at the moment he’s playing around with some pretty spectacular vegan wines. The team at Flour Drum want to make sure everyone, regardless of appetite or dietary requirements, feels at home.
And that takes us back to dessert. Flour Drum’s pastry cabinet is always jam packed with homemade goodies – their famous giant cookies take up a fair bit of space, but there’s also chunky slices of Rocky Road, enormous melting moments and towering slices of cake. The overflow goes into the window front, luring in passerby with the promise of a sweet treat. When you’re famous for cookies, why the Bomb Aslaka? It’s a complicated dish, an outside layer of gooey meringue covering a dome of chocolate ice cream that sits on a base of cake. It turns out this was the first dessert Victor had when he arrived in the country. It’s a sentimental touch and we’re swooning, because as soon as the flame dies out, we’re digging our spoons straight through the meringue and scooping up the ice cream. Just as quickly devoured is Flour Drum’s dessert cookie. Cooked and served in a skillet, a molten choc chip cookie is covered in Nutella and creme brulee icing. Straight from the oven, it’s a game changer.
Flour Drum hasn’t been open for dinner long, but the place is already packed, so we say run, don’t walk, and definitely save room for dessert.
Flour Drum Newtown
531 King St, Newton
Opening hours:
Mon – Fri: 7am – 4pm
Sat/Sun: 8am – 4pm
Thurs, Fri, Sat dinner: 6pm – 11pm
https://flourdrum.com.au/
