Love the old school stuff? Funky decor? Fabulous food and brilliant, friendly service?
Then you need to haul ass and make your way out to Aunty Jack's.
We were actually keen for another round at Basil Nut but we were 7 minutes late and they had closed for the afternoon. Having only the vegemite & cheese sandwiches and guava for breakfast yesterday there was no way I was going to wait til 5pm for them to open. So we wondered down the road, albeit a tad dejected (I really did want that eggplant and duck curry again) but destiny had other plans, much much better plans.
Aunty Jack's
I remembered seeing Aunty Jack's posts on Facebook and thought, wait a minute, these guys should be here somewhere. And sure enough there were only 100m from where we currently were!
Howzat for the universe answering a hungry pregnant lady's wish?
We walked the short 100m down the main stretch of Katoomba and reached our destination before we knew it. We looked around, and around, but couldn't find it even though Google map insisted we were there. 🤨
Then we looked across the road and down and spotted it tucked away under ground level.
Immediately as you walk down to the entrance you notice the decor and the abundance of personality in the place.
From the collection of dial up phones.
Who remembers these?!! And who remembers getting a number wrong and having to do the whole rigmarole all over again?
To the old games for kids of all ages to enjoy.
And the collection of lampshades in the far corner.
It was just a magical retro fabulous place to be in.
Even the well stocked bar had a nostalgic feel to it.
Aunty Jack's ain't no cookie cutter restaurant. Sure from first glance it looks like a diner from some American show, but when you look closer the charm of the place is very retro Australian.
Retro Aussie with a decidedly homey feel to it. As if I really did have an Aunty Jack and this is her crib.
Obviously they have the feel down to a T but did their food measure up to the expectation the venue built up?
Food, glorious food.
In terms of menu options they had decent variety and definitely something for everyone, even the vegans out there.
The Beverages menu however... Now that thing was THICK... You can tell Aunty Jack liked to get her drank onnn!
Unfortunately for me there were no mocktails.
11 weeks in to my pregnancy and I sure am missing my odd glass of red.... Someone gimme a mocktail!
BUT, big but, and probably mine, they had milkshakes, spiders and iced coffees.
We both decided to go down the iced coffee route seeing that we both had a rough night's sleep and were zombied out.
The iced coffee ended up being a solid decision that gave us that little kick we needed to continue on.
The trio of dips was also a solid choice 👌
Seriously delicious, we should have gotten 1 each.
For "mains" we decided to go with burgers, both with loaded fries. Sure there was the salad options but... 🙄 I wasn't feeling all salady. I wanted something big and filling that would reduce me to a comatose state by the time I was done and that was definitely the burger WITH the loaded fries.
Itty Bitty Schnitty Burger
Fried buttermilk chicken tenders with coleslaw, mayo and pickles.
Mine. All mine. See those loaded fries?
Why do they call it loaded fries? Cos its stacked with bacon bits, cheese sauce and vegan gravy.
Yes, I said Vegan Gravy.
At first glance I thought, is this even enough food? But then I got digging and I shit you not, those chips seemed on crack and bottomless. As for that burger, it had texture & flavour plus and was deliciously never ending.
I actually didn't finish my food.
Little Bo Peep
Lamb and Rosemary pattie with tzatziki, olive tapenade, Spanish onion and iceberg lettuce
In the burger battle Hubby reckons mine was heaps better than his. I personally don't know since I didn't try his but judging by how he chowed down more on his fries than his burger I would say he wasn't 100% on it.
Now.. Would we go back??
I'm actually considering going back today. As in right now!
But we're currently discussing food options and Cheesesteak Factory is being thrown around as a serious contender, if anything just for the thickshakes and onion rings.
Milkshakes aren't Thickshakes. Just sayin....
Well.. Food is calling and we have decisions to make so I better get going.
Wherever you are I hope you're having a great Friday!