I was lucky enough over my long weekend here in Australia to attend the newly opened Don Taco. This little kitchen is found at Redfern Surf Club, which for anyone unfamiliar with Sydney is ironic because Redfern’s inner west location is anything but close to the beach. Redfern Surf Club is as ironic as you would think when you get inside, with a very grungy hipster vibe, including an old-school set tv, fairy lights, and even a stuffed bin chicken (commonly known outside of Australia as an ibis). It’s hard to even find this place, as the outside of the building has some old upside down ‘Grill King’ home, which I assume suggests its historic roots.
This location is where the boys from Ume burger, a Japanese burger restaurant in Sydney, have opened up their next adventure, Don Taco. Opening just last Friday, they are very much in their early days of operation. Redfern Surf Club is a very fitting home for the restaurant serving up fusion Japanese and Tex-Mex food, as it’s all kind of a jumble, but somehow it all fits together.
It’s a pretty limited menu, but what is there packs a punch. We each got the Taco bowls (one with beef and one with 3 bean chilli), which was basically if sushi met a burrito bowl. The dish felt mostly Mexican, but with the addition of sushi rice and some Japanese flavourings, but was delicious, and suprisingly filling for the bargain amount of $12. We also got a share of beef and chilli tacos. The beef was the star for the tacos, and was pretty much the taco bowl but with a soft shell taco instead of rice. It was also good, but the Japanese flavours didn’t really come through.
As for Redfern Social Club itself. It is a place that is hard to categorise, and don’t be honest I don’t think they want to be categorised. You walk in and you are met with a wide audience of patrons, from large groups having a Sunday arvo sesh, to older families, to women meeting up for a drink, to a few couples who were probably just there for the food (like us). One thing that really suprised me was most people were sitting up at the bar, voluntarily. I find that the bar is often the last place everyone wants to sit, but there was plenty of chairs available and the patrons still chose to sit there, which lets you see the friendly vibes they are serving up there. The drinks were decently priced and great too. There are only a couple of tap beers, but a wide range of craft and normal beers as well. I tried a Sourpuss beer, as well as the Local Grifter Pale Ale, whilst my boyfriend tried the other tap beers. Our favourite was the on tap Cucumber kolsch by C-Brook. It was so different, and yet so delicious and refreshing. I am just kicking myself that I didn’t try one of their instagram-worth cocktails, but I know that we will be back there again because we loved the place.
Good location with good vibes, fantastic staff, good drinks at affordable prices, and delicious food. The only thing that could make this place better is if they offered a trivia night.
I give Don Taco and Redfern Social Club 8/10.
A Turtle Stranger 