Orto Trading Co.

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

With a bit of rummaging you can find a good gluten free breakfast and Orto Trading Co., has one of the best.

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May 24, 2012 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  10      Value  9     

Enjoyed a lovely meal here, the food was gorgeous. We shared the crispy pork hock, delicious! The side carrot mash and glazed brussels yum yum yum!

Will be back. Highly recommended.

May 24, 2012 

7.3 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  4     

I used to like this place but now it’s become ‘House Of The $38 Main Course’. Their food is not worth $38. Their cocktails are also top dollar. And $16 desserts made it easy to say no. I ordered one of two dishes that were around $29. What arrived amounted to a very meagre chicken salad. Yes. The food here is well made, with interesting ideas. But it is also precious and ungenerous. There’s a note of café food about it. On a Tuesday night they were doing a very good business so they’ve found their (well heeled) clientele. But I won’t be going back.

May 02, 2012 

9.3 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  10      Value  9     

I wanna know how they managed to turn such an ugly building into such a pleasant space. I wanna know how the high ceilings don't create bad acoustics. I wanna know how come the asparagus tastes so good (truffle oil, I suspect). I wanna know how they manage to get the coffee so good when the focus is actually food. I wanna eat here again.

Mar 18, 2012 

7.8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  7      Value  6     

Had breakfast here last weekend and it was such a peaceful, pleasant experience. I had the trout, salsa brekkie which is normally a little out of my price range for breakfast ($21) but wow was it good and although I can't spend that every week, it was worth it, so full of flavour and fresh.

As for the place itself I think we ended up sitting there for nearly an hour, Paul Simons and The Smiths playing, weekend papers, attentive but relaxed service. Ahhh Ortos thanks for that lazy Sunday morning in the sun!

Feb 18, 2012 

8 Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Came to Orto for dinner on a Friday night, we were early for our booking but the lovely Hostess seated us at the bar so we could enjoy a cocktail while waiting for our table. The restaurant wasn't quite what I had pictured, I think I had imagined something with dim lighting, not such a high ceiling, and, perhaps, a more rustic vibe to match the "garden" image. But the venue was charming nonetheless, with a very clean kitchen you can see right into!

The lavender cocktail I ordered was a treat, creamy, smooth and gently perfumed. My partner enjoyed a mint julep that was everything it should be, although I thought it was quite expensive. We shared a bottle of wine, a Riesling I think, that was very satisfactory.

Prawn bisque was the starter special so my partner ordered that and enjoyed it immensely. I began with a "bite" of peach and mozzarella which made for a beautiful combination. For mains I had the beetroot carpaccio which was interesting, done so that it retained crunch almost as though it were pickled.

The flavours were excellent: fresh, zesty and surprising. My partner had the trout wellington, which he liked, but I found to be a bit on the bland side. The potato salad as a side was a nice (and substantial) addition, done exactly the way that I make my own potato salad. Sadly we were too full for dessert, but extremely satisfied all the same.

Would love to come back and try new things, glad to see that with the nice range of starters, sides and bites a shared meal with friends here could be very reasonably priced.

Feb 07, 2012 

7.5 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  7     

Came here on a saturday for brunch. Its a light bright space inside and out with long wooden tables and ample outside seating. The place is buzzing the whole entire time we're there with mostly groups gathering for birthdays or special occasions. If you arrive at 11.30, you get to order from the delicious breakfast or casual lunch menu.

Service was friendly, prices for brunch were reasonable and similar to most cafes or maybe a couple of dollars more, however, well worth paying for creative food that is beautifully presented.

Their juices, were refreshing and a perfect pick me up. Their wagyu burger is generous and comes with onion rings, though beware the onion seems to be marinated in vinegar so tasty but not for everyone. The breakfast platter is vegetarian $14 but is beautiful to look at and eat, comes with soldiers, eggs, ricotta and muesli, if you want some meat then go ahead and order one of their sides.

Potato rosti had a beautiful mixture of mushrooms, with perfectly cooked eggs and a tart hollandaise sauce, I ordered some gin and tonic trout which went beautifully with it.

All in all, a great place to gather with your friends, enjoy great food with a glass or two of wine.

Dec 17, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  8     

Really enjoyed our lazy midweek lunch here.

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Nov 06, 2011 

6.5 Recommended

Food  5      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  6     

Nice little place tucked away in Surry Hills - good venue and great service. The food was OK, but no more, twice cooked beef had lost it's 'beef' taste, and tasted more of pepper and he grilling - which was nice enough, but seemed a shame. Duck was quite fatty and 'slimy'...

Oct 15, 2011 

5 Average

Food  7      Ambience  5      Service  4      Value  4     

Booked a table on a Friday night at 8 pm, and arrived full of high expectations. The place was packed and we were asked to sit outside on a wall and wait for our table. It was a little chilly and starting to rain, so we weren't particularly impressed.

We were seated inside near the kitchen which was very bright so not a particularly atmospheric spot. We ordered some deep-fried cauliflower to start with which was delicious, and we were also given some truffle popcorn to snack on. We had two other starters which were good, but not great.

Then we waited. And waited. And waited. Crowds of people got served and we got nothing. We asked for some more popcorn.

At around 10.15 pm we said we were ready to leave, and were assured our mains were coming with the excuse "there's been a problem in the kitchen, and we need to serve the tables outside first, as those tables need to be vacated by 10".

At 10.30 the tables outside were still happily eating and drinking, and we finished our meals, grumpy and disappointed.

Staff comped our wine, and apologised, but it was obvious they are booking far too many tables for a very small kitchen. Greedy and ultimately will backfire if our night was anything to go by.

Sep 21, 2011