I have always been a huge fan of everything and anything Australian - how can you not?? There seems to have been an influx of cute trendy Australian coffee shops/bars that have popped up around the city and Two Hands is one of them. They only recently opened up for dinner, so I was super excited to give it a whirl since it's within walking distance from my office.
I'll give them props for design and decor - it's sleek, white and got beautiful pictures of the water in Australia. Love it. Next, the staff and everyone who works there seems to be from Australia and were adorable with their cute accents. Nice touch. The menu is a nice line-up of simple farm-to-table type food. Laura and I were both starving and everything sounded good, so I was super happy when she agreed to try all the small plates AND split the burger with me. Atta girl. The small plates consisted of burrata ($17), octopus ($16), squash blossoms ($14), and shrimp sliders ($14). For as long as I can remember, I've always been a big fan of Australian style burgers because they come with a fried egg and beets on them ($18) - I know, it may sound gross but it's awesome!
The small plates all came out around the same time and a few of them were indeed small. There were only 2 squash blossoms on the whole dish, which seemed a bit ridiculous for $14. However, the 1 that I did have was quite tasty since it was stuffed with goat cheese - yum! I just wished there were more of them. Next I tried the burrata which was a beautifully plated dish - very Instagram worthy. It was a large ball of burrata served with farro, asparagus, green puree, apple and coriander. I will eat burrata in any way it's served to me and not really complain - the only comment I'll make here is that it definitely needed a pinch of salt to it because it was a bit bland otherwise. The octopus was served a la plancha with chorizo, fennel and lemon puree. What few bites of octopus I did get was pretty good but it was cut up into pretty small bites that I didn't feel like there was enough of it (like the squash blossom dish). Next I tried the shrimp slider and this was actually my favorite dish of the night - it was 3 good sized whole pieces of shrimp on mini toasted brioche bread with lemon aioli and cucumber. It was a bit messy to eat because the pieces of shrimp kept sliding out of the bun but it was seasoned really well and had a hint of heat to it as well with the spiced cucumber.
All of this whet my appetite for the burger which I was super excited for. We asked for it medium rare and it was most definitely closer to medium - in fact it was cooked through way too much for my own liking. That to me is the death of any burger. Secondly, when I order a fried egg (on anything, not just a burger) I expect a fucking runny yoke - yes, I am a complete crazy person about this but it drives me up a wall when it is more like a hard boiled egg on the inside and that's sadly what it was like here. Super bummer. Plus the cheese wasn't super melty - it was kind of plopped on there as an after thought and not really incorporated on to the patty. Lastly, I was just not down with the bread. It looked like some kind of multi-grain type of bread but I found it to be super dry and ended up going Atkins style and only eating the burger. Waa waa - the meal definitely ended on a sad note.
On the positive end, the spritz drinks were delicious and the overall vibe very chill and cool. It's worth coming here for drinks and coffee but I'm not 100% sold on the food, or at least the dinner menu, just yet. The small plates are indeed small but the prices aren't - they seem more on point with big plates, so definitely stick with the happy hour meu for now. Total bill: $63/pp with tip, tax and drinks
Photo Credit: Yelp
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