Restaurant review- Peasants Feast
I recently bit the bullet and ventured out of the Eastern suburbs to Newtown to Peasants Feast. The owner is a clinical immunologist who has a well motivated nutritional philosophy.
Food type: I think the menu tried to be all things to all people- it had a lot of vegetarian dishes as well as traditional meat dishes. So I couldn't really work out whether I was in a vegetarian restaurant or a traditional wholefoods restaurant. A lot of the meat dishes contained grains (mostly the gluten free ones like rice, polenta, quinoa) or legumes (e.g. lentils) so once I eliminated those from my hit list the options were narrowed down to a few mains to select from. All ingredients are certified organic and filtered water is used. Meat source: meats are from grass-fed animals. Fats/oils: there is a total ban on processed oils and trans fats. Instead they use organic cold pressed olive oil and butter in their (low temperature) cooking. What we ordered: Mixed Tapas for entree. Crispy Pork Belly, Lamb Shank, and Hot Pot Beef Stifado for mains. Taste and presentation: all delicious Food portions: good size Atmosphere: grungy, small Price: approx $10-15 for an entree; $19 a main. Cheap as! Service: there was only 1 waiter who was (understandably) rushed off his feet and seemed borderline rude Value for money: thumbs up (putting aside atmosphere and service and focusing just on food) Large groups: I don't think they could accommodate large groups due to space constraints. Kid friendly: yes. Caution: In their desserts they use the sugar-substitute Xylitol. Proponents of Xylitol tout it as being better than sugar as its has much fewer calories and a low glycemic index so it doesn't effect insulin levels in the same way that sugar does. When I looked into Xylitol a few years back when it became popular I came to the conclusion that I would not use or recommended it because it seemed to be too processed (it's produced by hydrogenation of xylose which converts the sugar into a primary alcohol. Also, could something that white really be all that natural?!?). Having said all that this didn't stop my partner and 2 kids exerting their dessert-lovin' (Xylitol be damned) prerogative to order 3 desserts which seemed to be scoffed down in a matter of minutes. If you are keen to go I would definitely make a reservation given how small the place is. Oh, its BYO (but if you foget to BYO, like we did, there's a bottles shop nearby).
Contact details: 121A King Street, Newtow, (02) 9516 5998, www.peasantsfeast.com.au
Have you been to Peasants Feast? What did you think? If you’ve been to a great restaurant lately where consideration is given to the source and processing of their food (esp meats and fats/oils), then I’d love to hear about it. Kali Orexi (that’s Greek for Good Appetite)!!