I first ventured into John Monagu in pursuit of brunch on a particularly dreary morning in Sydney. I actually found this place on Yelp, locating it within the maps section; eliminating other possible options like Bills. After establishing it's proximity to my hotel, I decided to wander down from Kings Cross in the rain.
Originally named after 'THE' John Montagu, who claimed to have invented the sandwich back in the late 1700s, this place pumps out some pretty serious brunch options & some pretty wicked sandwiches.
I've since eaten here twice & on both occasions found myself gushing to friends afterwards about how much I loved the food. The menu is extremely creative & the food, pornography to the eye. I'm also led to believe that the coffee here is king, although not being a coffee expert myself, I cannot confirm or deny.
On both occasions my friend & I ordered the 'Beef Cheek Sandwich', consisting of carefully cooked 12 hour beef cheeks, cheddar, horseradish, spanish onion, rocket, house glaze on sourdough ($17) & the very yummy 'Truffled Coddled Egg' ($3).
Months later, my friend hasn't stopped raving about the speciality Vitamin B Soda here (Berocca, sparkling OJ, lime, mint) & I'm yet to stop obsessing over the house-cured salmon, avocado, vichyssoise, nori salmon roe on cream cheese rye toast ($16). The food here is really something special.
My only complaint was unfortunately finding the front of house staff rushed & disinterested. On both visits, I found it difficult to get their attention (ie: a request for a carafe of water) & when I did, everything just felt a bit brash & a bit of an effort.
Despite the lacklustre service, I will be back. read more