Winter feast and drinky poos at Mad Cow

I'm not usually a bread photo kind of gal but that gorgeous paddleboard demands otherwise!

Well it's crazy but true, Mad Cow and I speak the same language. And by that I mean drinky poos.

Now I will never use that foul baby-language out in public but shamefully at home drinky poo is part of my vocabulary. But it appears that Merivale has deemed it cool enough to rename their wine list as such. My street cred has now been redeemed.

Even my two lovely dinner companions found it highly amusing when I held up the menu and said, "look! They call it drinky poos!".

Baby language is now Merivale cool

This New York style grill is situated at the end of the sublime looking Ivy Bar. Ivy may be poser central on the weekend but on the weeknights, it looks like a fabulous place for after-work drinks. Mad Cow is gorgeously decked out in sunny yellow, vintage white and some truly amazing deco items (the lamp, the chandelier!). Too bad you wouldn't be able to fully appreciate it under the dim yellow lighting that I dislike so much. Sophisticated yes, in true Merivale style, but it's the odd piece of whimsy that makes Mad Cow. From their cute cow motif clipboard menus to the daggy carnations on the table.

Daggy but cool - table top carnations

Important details out of the way, our waiter promptly introduces himself as 33 and single (and apparently loves to dance). Cheeky bugger. But at least he does his job very well in looking after us between the odd cheeky barb and attentive top ups of water. Love it.

Two courses for the Winter Feasts are $35 with an extra course for another $10. The other two ladies decided on a main and dessert while I opted for an entree and main seeing as the third cheese dessert was none too appealing. To make up for the lack of dessert, I chose mine off their standard a la carte menu.


I started off first with my lonely entree of Chickpea, lentil and smoked pork soup with harissa while the other two happily snacked on the bread (no sneaky extra charge thank goodness) but of course they were glad to help me with my soup. Woe of woes, the entree had a lot of potential but tonight it tasted rather watery and bland. Nothing that a healthy dose of salt and pepper can't fix but it still was missing a strong, punchy flavour.

Chickpea, lentil and smoked pork soup with harissa

Unlike some other Winter Feasts, the serving sizes at Mad Cow looked far more substantial. The Roger Valley wagyu rump was a decent piece of meat but looked like the plate needed something more than a tiny bowl of BBQ sauce. As Steph noted, it's a lot of cow and no veges! But oh mercy, the wagyu was devilishly pink and incredibly tender and juicy.

Roger Valley wagyu rump tri tip steak with BBQ sauce

Tickled pink and juicy

The tomato braised veal shank made for a perfect winter fodder especially when served with crowd pleasing polenta and gremolata. There was a strong overtone of lemon to it which gave it a refreshing zing to a normally stodgy dish.

Braised Veal Shank with polenta and gremolata

Is it any surprise I launched myself at the seafood dish? And luckily I did after considering the fourth option of risotto. The ocean trout was perfectly cooked and the skin lightly crisped and eaten with what I believed to be a parsnip mash. The quinelle of what appeared to be salsa verde also proved a worthy accompaniment and I was licking every single drop off my knife. The fish was also served with an olive caper tomato salsa but did I notice? Not really because I was too busy licking my salsa verde.

Crispy skinned ocean trout with olive caper tomato salsa

At this stage we were reaching our threshold but there is that strange contraption we call the dessert stomach, which needs to be filled. And Mad Cow did well to satisfy our sweet tooths!

Looks like a delicious velvet cushion...

Roasted Peanut ice cream with a honeycomb chunk

As soon as my a la carte dessert of Valrhona Chocolate Fondant with Honeycomb Soil hit the table, the immediate aroma of the velvety fondant took us over and we were utterly beside ourselves. We continued with the sexy gasps and moans when I broke open the fondant to reveal the pouring magma of oozy chocolate. The dessert was also served with a roasted peanut icecream which had to be plated separately so nut-allergic Steph could enjoy the dessert.

A successful chocolate au fondant!

You'd think a luscious chocolate dessert would win hands down but a bowl of poached quince, cinnamon cream and hazelnut biscotti had me convinced otherwise. Then there was a third contender - honey baked pears, honey ice cream and a honey wafer. A triple honey assault that sent me into pleasure overload. It took a lot of serious taste testing but I concluded the honey pears to be my favourite of the night. An ice cream maker is now officially at the top of my list so I can recreate the honey ice cream at home and eat in embarrassingly large amounts!

Poached quince, cinnamon cream and hazelnut biscotti

Honey baked pears, honey ice cream and honey wafer

Merivale's Winter Feast is ending soon with the last dying days of winter so hurry and book yourself in. I wholeheartedly recommend Mad Cow if only for the desserts alone! Not only that, the meals were generous portions and for once we left a Winter Feast full to the brim and deeply satisfied.

I spent the whole dinner wondering how to stash that lamp in my bag!


Mad Cow

Lvl 1, Ivy Complex (at the end of Ivy Bar)
330 George Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Reservations: (02) 9240 3000

Merivale Winter Feasts are available Mon-Fri 12-2pm and 6-8pm. Mad Cow is $35 for two courses plus a glass of wine or James Squire beer ($45 for three courses). Merivale Winter Feasts ends 31st August. Bookings are essential.