In Pictures: The Fermentation Dinner Series At High Street


Sometimes when we say “friends and family” we mean “a group of people to whom we are related and/or acquainted and with whom we will be expected to make polite conversation.” Other times we mean actual friends and family. You know who yours are. Actual friends/family have actually seen us at our actual worst. Our worst haircuts, our worst fashion decisions, and the worst culminations of our worst decision making.

I’m not sure which of the two High Street on Market is aiming for with their weekly Tuesday night “friends and family” dinner series, but I will say that the food at this 9:30pm evening meal is far better than that at most family functions, and the price just can’t be beat.

Twenty-five bucks gets you four courses plus a few extra assorted nibbles (to be washed down with house red or white for $5, or a house cocktail for $8), and Tuesday’s culmination of Amanda Feifer’s fermentation dinner series is any indication, this one is worth coming back for.

The menu, pulling inspiration from Southeast Asia’s fermentation cultures, put down foods that might surprise even seasoned sauerkraut-eaters. A chewy, pancake-battery rice and chickpea cake, tangy with fermented pineapple and the unmistakable fragrance of asafetida was full of surprises. Octopus vindaloo on curry papardelle, showered with fermented chili and curry leaf powder. Fresh peas and garlic scapes in coconut cream cooled things off in a smart twist on a raita. While every culture has got some kind of flatbread and dumpling in its back pocket, never before have I seen naan served with a hot fermented mango “sun” pickle, or fried hand pies filled with beef and gundruk–a Nepalese ferment of mustard greens.

I don’t know if High street wants to be my friend or my family, but I don’t really care as long as the Tuesday dinner invite stands. Full menu and photos below…

Naan
Mango Sun Pickles

Dhokla
Rice and Chickpea cake, Asafetida mustard glaze
tamarind sour pineapple chutney

Momo
Beef Dumpling, Gundruk, fried herbs

Octopus Vindaloo
Curry pappardelle, fermented Kashmiri chile, curry leaf powder, puffed red rice

Achaar & Chutneys
Carrot Pickles, Lemon Pickles, Pea & Garlic Scape Chutney

Elderflower Gulab Jamun
Coconut Panna Cotta & Strawberry Rhubarb Pickle

High Street On Market [Official]