Twelve, Newtown
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
When you're sitting home with nothing to do for the day, what do you resort to? Reading? Listening to music? Catching up on your favourite TV show? Being on holidays with lots of spare time, I started watching Gossip Girl recently and managed to finish the first season on DVD this week. It was a good way to spend my time, but when a beautiful day calls from outside, sometimes sitting holed up in front of a TV just doesn't cut it. Cue an outing!
On a bright, sunny Saturday when we had nothing to do we decided to go out to Newtown for a wander and to have lunch. Being the hipster suburb that it is, there's no shortage of good eateries in the area, lined up side by side along King Street.Twelve is nestled among them, occupying almost two shopfront lengths with its open-air seating and dark, subtle decor. The signage oozes the air of a funky, seaside cafe.
Inside the furnishing and lighting is just as hip, with one wall transformed into a blackboard listing the daily specials and wine selection which can be seen from on the street. Bare lightbulbs hang from the ceiling, strung onto red wire that provides entertainment to the eye, and potted plants hang from posts by the entrance.
We were drawn to the restaurant by the lunch special blackboard outside which detailed an all day breakfast menu and lunch special burgers at $8 each. But upon sitting down, we were presented with an exciting menu that was even more expansive and drool-worthy than we'd originally thought. As well as the all day breakfast, there were burgers, salads, pastas, quesadillas and pizzas. How on earth were we going to choose?
Lunch special: Beef Burger with cheese ($8.00) and chips (+$4)
GG's choice was easy - she felt like a burger. And with the enticing lunch special, the choice of a beef burger was made much easier alongside some chips which were crunchy and fluffy on the inside. Just how all good chips should be. The burger was nested inside a soft, lightly toasted damper bun, with the beef patty flavoursome and moist.
twelve pizza ($12 regular/$20 large)
The twelve pizza sounded absolutely delicious, so we had to try it. Mum and I shared the large size comfortably, and on it was a fruits-of-the-sea medley of marinated octopus, mussels, prawns, squid and zucchini, as well as a touch of chilli. I'm usually not a big fan of chilli on pizza, but the little hint of hotness that came at the end of the bite was just perfect. The dough was homemade and of a good thickness - not thin or crispy, but not heavy and doughy - and it wasn't too cheesy or oily either.
What a seafood-packed piece of pizza!
Prawn linguine ($18)
Carrying on with the seafood theme, CK ordered a prawn linguine with bocconcini, spinach and oven-dried tomato. Although it came on the menu with chilli, she asked for it without. The cheese hard melted from the residual heat to make little cheesy clumps, with the tomato juices forming the base of a thin sauce and the pasta itself light and refreshing. It would've been better with the chilli, though.
Seafood risotto ($20)
Dad had the seafood risotto which we shared with our pizza. This, unlike many other risottos, was not heavy at all and had a lovely rich tomato flavour. Studded with peas, mussels, calamari, prawns, scallops and just cooked fish, it was a beautiful risotto.
The service was friendly and attentive and walking past taking a peek at other patrons eating their lovely lunches, it looked as if everything on the menu would be delicious. The table next to us were sharing the pancakes with berry compote. Drool. Waiting outside for Dad, we took a look at the list of cakes and homemade goods available from the kitchen and our mouths began to water - we'll definitely be remembering twelve for a breakfast or afternoon tea one day!
Website:
http://www.twelvenewtown.com.au/
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