John Montagu — Restaurant in Sydney

Cafe John Montagu by day, Latin diner Juan Montago by night, this new entry is an offshoot of Yan Restaurant, designed to showcase the talents of their Colombian kitchen crew. The succinct menu is broadly Colombian, starting with well executed (but pricy) smoked beef empanadas ($8/each) with fresh chimmichurri and a mild chilli sauce.

Four fried plantain fritters provide a good hand-to-mouth delivery system for snapper ceviche ($16) that’s bright with lime and pineapple but wants for chilli. Chargrilled octopus ($21) in a smoky dressing is nicely contrasted with juicy red compressed watermelon. Larger dishes are best enjoyed as shared between two with a couple of sides. We had sautéed prawns ($35) in a coconut tomato sauce that really needed coconut rice ($6).

Stronger direction from the floor might have directed us away from the eggplant and plantain gratin ($14) that clashed with it, and toward the very sticky-sweet rice. Green mango salad ($13) provided a nice, fresh juxtaposition. Three milk cake ($12) is milky, creamy and so sweet I was glad we opted to share our slab (and still didn’t manage to finish it).

Juan Montago is warmly welcoming, with the chef presenting our last dish, and enquiring as to how we liked our meal. Wines, like the 2018 Patina Chardonnay ($45) from Orange NSW drink well for a reasonable price. The interior space isn’t overcrowded, with polished concrete floors and a classic striped awning,...

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...

My sister and I traveled to Australia to run the Sydney Marathon. After a couple of days of my stomach adjusting to time and travel, I wanted a nice breakfast that was clean, filling, tasty and safe for my sensitive stomach. This happened to be right around the corner from our hotel, Sydney Boulevard, so it was perfectly convenient. They were able to accommodate my non-dairy needs and the food checked off all the boxes! As a bonus, they had a green juice which was delicious! It got our day off to the right start and perfect for marathon prep week. After our shakeout run the day before the marathon, my sister and I returned to dine there again! The owner was there on the first day and was very excited that we were there and we picked this spot to enjoy our meal. He sent out a complimentary pastry, which my sister was able to enjoy, since I can't eat dairy, but was very thoughtful. Highly recommend this. I had the eggs on toast with avocado, bacon and tomatoes. I asked for egg whites only and they were able to make that...