Arras Too | Oysters & Oxtail

This is going to be a short post after my last mammoth one but I simply have to write something about the delicious lunch I had on Thursday. My colleague Ann and I walked into the city for a spot of shopping on Kent Street, and I remembered there was a place in nearby Clarence Street that I’d been really wanting to go to. Arras Too is a barely more than a hole-in-the-wall with a few tables outside on the street, next door to its big brother Arras restaurant, a fine diner which moved here from Walsh Bay. The Clarence Street address is the same site that used to be occupied by Becasse and its baby version Plan B, before their ill-fated move to Westfield. But, enough of restaurant relocations!

Arras Too has good coffee and a great selection of gourmet sandwiches, salads, pork pies, sausage rolls and a few sweet treats like brownies and custard tarts. But the reason we’ve come here is for the Scotch eggs. Boy howdy, do I love a Scotch egg! When I was back in the Isle of Man visiting family recently I had one for lunch every single day. They’re not readily available in Sydney, as far as I can make out, so I had to get my fill back in Blighty. So, you can imagine my delight on hearing from a friend a while ago that Arras Too (which, as you might have supposed, is run by a British couple) not only had Scotch eggs, but they were homemade, and they were the bomb!

We have a Scotch egg each and split a roasted vegetable, bean and feta salad. I cut my Scotch egg in half with a sense of eager anticipation… it looks magnificent! The egg has a beautiful, moist, dark-yellow yolk, the sausage meat is wonderfully seasoned and oniony, and the crumb on the outside is crisp and crunchy. Homemade Scotch eggs are so superior to shop-bought ones! It’s safe to say I’m very happy at this point and know that Arras Too and I will become firm friends. The salad is really good too and the whole thing comes to under $16 for the two of us – and we’re full for the rest of the afternoon!