Benjamin on Franklin

Today on the Dining Diaries we find out that…

A bagel trumps a brioche bun when it comes to burgers
I don’t like being called “darling” by someone I don’t know, even if I am rather sweet & darling and
Sitting next to a window that looks into the kitchen is like driving past an accident – You can’t look away even though you know you may not like what you see.

Diners today we were at Benjamin on Franklin. This is not to be confused with “The Franklin Hotel” which is also on Franklin Street in the CBD.

It was a lovely warm “end of Winter” day and the Benjamin makes good use of that by having indoor, outdoor and an atrium eating area. We chose to sit in the atrium in relative comfort but still being able to see the sun outside and feel the fresh breeze tickle our skin.

It took us a little while to get to our table though because there was no staff ready to greet us as we came in and we stood around like lost sheep. Eventually I asked if we just take our own menu’s and find a table ourselves and the young girl said “Oh no darling, I’ll take those and show you to a table”. I couldn’t really blame her as she was busy behind the counter when we came in but surely they saw that we looked lost and someone could have told us that they’ll be with us in a minute? And “darling”??? Yes I’m rather sweet but unless you’re older than me or my husband, please don’t call me darling. In her defense, I’m sure she was just trying to be nice.

I loved the decor of this place – I’m not sure what it’s called but there was wooden furniture and exposed brick.

We were seated next to a window that looked into the kitchen.
At first I was really excited, but then I became a little anxious that I was going to see something I didn’t like. I didn’t have to worry though as everything was going pretty smoothly in there. In fact we saw lots of yummy food and wondered if we’d made the right choices ordering what we did! The parmigiana’s alone were massive and there were a lot of them going out! They seemed to have a really good system in there.

We started off with a duo of dips.

The menu didn’t say what they were and when they were brought to our table we weren’t told either which was a little disappointing.

I did ask when they came to take away the empty plates and was told they were roasted capsicum/semi dried tomato and a corn salsa one.

I preferred the corn salsa while hubby liked the capsicum dip so that worked out well!!

They were both really tasty and had a lovely consistency.

The bread was also warm and toasty.
A really nice way to start a meal.

There was groovy jazz music playing while we ate which also really gave the place a nice atmosphere. I was glad we’d chosen to come here today.

Now onto the mains! The menu was pretty good in this place. While they did have a lot of pub favourites, they put their own spin on things. For example, I chose to have the Corn Fritter Bagel Burger. I LOVE bagels! And yay, finally a place that will give you a burger and NOT put it in a brioche bun! I  also thought a corn fritter burger would be something a little different and interesting so that’s why I chose that.

It turned out to be a really good choice! The first picture is an overhead shot and in the second, I was trying to show the corn fritter.
If I was to say anything negative, and it’s only minor and probably personal, I found that it was difficult to eat as there were two corn fritters in there. But that is really a minor thing and ultimately I like to have more rather than less… but just be warned if you eat this, you may have to pull it apart. I LOVED the bagel. It was everything a bagel should be. This was really a pleasure to eat.

Hubby decided to go for an old favourite, Salt and Pepper Squid.

He went through a phase where he ordered this all the time but it’s now been a while…
He said everything was seasoned really nicely. That round thing on the bottom left of the photo is actually a caramelised lemon. It looked interesting on his plate but hubby said that it felt a bit slimy and that made it difficult to squeeze over his food.

All in all, I was pretty impressed with this place even if I did get called darling, and would be eager to go back and try different things off their menu. I thought the prices were reasonable, all the staff we interacted with were friendly and there was definitely good stuff happening in the kitchen!!

Have you been to Benjamin on Franklin?
What did you think?
Let me know in the comments below!!

Til next we chow.