The Sunburnt Cow

Here's something to sweeten the start of the workweek. On Mondays, cocktails are only $5 at The Sunburnt Cow, a four-year-old Aussie restaurant/bar. The whimsical, tropical drinks are enough to brighten the most severe Monday funk. (They are also strong enough to make you forget how much you are eating!)

A friend and I visited the Cow last night, and it was impossible not to fall in love with the straight-out-of-Cavemen decor, the jovial staff and the $16 three-course "counter menu."

We started with drinks (of course)...mango-infused vodka with pineapple and the signature Sunburnt - fresh strawberries blended with passionfruit tequila. The effects started to kick in after a salad of greens, red onions, cherry tomatoes and blackberries, and a bowl of calamari sprinkled with diced kiwi (yes, kiwi) and jalapeno dip. (The dip was rather mild; I like to be stung! but the calamari were nice and tender.)

My friend had initially decided upon the roo bangers and mash (yes, real kangaroo!) but changed her mind when Karen, our delightful server, recommmended the mutton stew. This hearty dish ended up being our favorite of the evening. It contained carrots so sweet and soft we thought they were yams, caramelized onions, cubed potatoes, a rich, meaty sauce enhanced with red wine, and mutton that melted in one's mouth like butter... the perfect comforting winter stew.

Unfortunately for me, I was getting rather sloshed -it doesn't take much. But I still enjoyed my fish burger - a white-fleshed barramundi filet, moist inside its thick coating of beer batter - and a pile of hand-cut fries. (There are other burgers too...chicken schnitzel, lamb, veggie, and a sky-high beef burger topped with bacon, cheese, egg, pineapple and beetroot.)

The dessert menu contained three items: pavlova, sticky date pudding and "Lamingtons" coconut chocolate sponge cake cubes. We ordered the latter two. The warm date pudding was like eating pure caramel, and it was great with the strong coffee. (The coffee! I wasn't expecting such good coffee. "Coffee is a big thing in Melbourne and Sydney," explained Karen.) We thought the other dessert was reminiscent of a Mounds bar. I had to take the remainder home for my companion, whose sweet tooth actually exceeds mine.

Although I am feeling the results of my Monday excess on this Tuesday morning, there's always Wednesday...

The Sunburnt Cow: 137 Avenue C, (212) 529-0005. Check the Website for upcoming events, including a wild, two-restaurant party with a bus shuttling between The Sunburnt Cow and sister establishment Bondi Road on November 29.