The Baron in Castle Hill is like a breath of fresh air in the area. Good to see a place with a bit of character!

The Place

The Baron is on the outside of Castle Towers, across from the park. It’s open for breakfast and lunch every day, closing most days at 4pm, except Thursday and Friday, when it stays open for dinner and into the evening.

The industrial /retro decor looks more like Surry Hills than Castle Hill.  A pleasant change.

Menu

Here’s the current lunch menu – it changes regularly.

Good food with fresh ingredients, with a variety of options sure to suit any appetite.

Following is one side of the drinks menu.  They are also licensed, so can offer some good beers, and other alcoholic drinks, or add shots of spirits to affogato or the iced tea.

Food

The first time I tried out food at The Baron, I had the “new southern pulled pork roll”, which is slow braised bourbon and coke pork with a creamy red cabbage slaw:

That was enough to fall in love with the place.  The sweet bourbon flavours with the pork were gorgeous, accented perfectly with the slaw.  I’d happily keep going back to keep on eating this!

On my second visit I had the Ploughmans Lunch: a selection of cured meats, cheese, fresh fruit ‘n nuts and chutney.

On the board was salami, jamon, goats cheese, apple, walnuts, a tomato-based chutney, and half a dozen light wafer crackers.  While each of the elements were quality, full of wonderful flavours, just having a few light wafers was not satisfying enough for lunch.  I would have preferred a few slices of sourdough with it, and then it would have been closer to perfection.

I had to go back and prove that my original view of the cafe was correct, and this time tried the Mexican Chicken Salad: coriander, chilli, chicken, with corn, radish, cucumber & buttermilk jalapeños dressing.

As I went back to look at the salad description, I realized that I didn’t notice any coriander in there, but didn’t miss it because all the rest was so good.  The chicken was tender. There was a lot of freshly cooked corn, so it still had the crisp outside to the kernels and sweet juicy insides.  The lettuce was primarily curly endive, with a few leaves of other lettuces in there.  The cucumber and radish added more texture to the salad.  The buttermilk dressing was creamy, with black pepper adding the occasional kick.

I’m not sure why it was called a Mexican salad. It did have corn, and a lime wedge.  Maybe if there was more chilli and coriander it would seem more Mexican.

It was a tasty dish, thoroughly devoured.  I was glad I returned.

Drinks

One of the things I love at The Baron is the cold-brewed coffee, served with a huge ice-cube, so that it stays cold without watering down the coffee.

The hot black coffee is also good. I wish this photo showed the steam rising from the coffee, which was particularly hot.

The Baron also offers an iced tea with citrus and mint. A refreshing drink.

On Reflection

Despite some little imperfections I’ll still keep on going back to The Baron, because it’s interesting food, in a funky environment, and easily accessible. The pricing is reasonable.

A new menu is going to be released next weekend, and I’m sure there will be more good things. And then there is breakfast and the dinner menus to try.

It’s good to see people doing something different, and providing tasty food with quality, fresh ingredients.

Details

Here are the details about The Baron at time of posting. Please check their web site for more current details.

Web site / Facebook	http://www.whoisthebaron.com/ / https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Baron-your-local/223535157704991
Address	Shop 461, 4-16 Castle St, Castle Hill, NSW 2154
Phone	0401 498 877
Open	Monday – Wednesday 7:30am – 4pm Thursday & Friday 7:30am – 11pm Saturday & Sunday 7:30am – 4pm
Menu	Breakfast / Lunch: $5-16 Dinner: Around $11-30 See the menu for more details.

Where is your favourite industrial-feel cafe?