Kitchen by Mike CBD

It’s the pick’n’mix solution to the city’s eternal lunch conundrum

WILL YOU BE having slices of tender lamb shoulder, slow cooked in the woodfired oven and served with olive tapenade, pan juices and parsnip? Or are the sumac-rubbed roast chook segments calling your name? Followup questions involve sides. There’s a cabbage salad, upgraded from coleslaw to something autumnal with persimmon and almonds in a gently spiced chai dressing. There are also long, slippery ribbons of cucumber dressed to impress in ginger sesame and mirin. Or, if you need to get your roast dinner cravings out of the way now, order crescents of roast pumpkin, whose sweet caramelisation is balanced by a cumin-spiked yoghurt. There’s no wrong choice at Kitchen by Mike in the CBD. When the first Kitchen by Mike opened in Rosebery, the queues for a canteen lunch served by an ex-Rockpool chef were instantaneous. Next, Mike McEnearney installed the same ‘queue, choose, shuffle, pay’ system to the International Airport. And lunch is now the main game at McEnearney’s digs on Bent Street. You pick a protein (or a wrap, pizza or quiche), then two salads for $22. Eat in and tack on a side order of Champagne with no side-eye (we know your job is stressful). You can also get a takeaway, and you get a discount if you have a reusable lunchbox. Breakfast spans eight-dollar bone broth shots and pink grapefruit halves through to toasties and eggs Benedict. And they are open for dinner, but it’s a sit-down, table-service affair – the canteen convenience gets packed up at night. ELT à1 Bent St, Sydney 2000. 02 9252 5550. www.kitchenbymike.com.au. Mon-Fri 7am-3pm; 5.30pm-late; Sat 5.30-late.