Must visit: Hamilton's Hayes Common eatery

Must visit: Hamilton’s Hayes Common eatery

Hayes Common serve fresh, contemporary cuisine with an emphasis on sharing plates served in a subtly renovated vintage building near the Hamilton riverside

Rachel Dobbs

There’s a distinct hum coming from the Hamilton food scene, and it’s loudest in Hamilton East. A new wave of progressive, artisanal businesses is happening here, the newest of which is the brilliant Hayes Common eatery.

Cafe by day, restaurant by night, Hayes Common delights with its rustic interior design, the vintage and industrial fit-out warmed by the use of soft hues, tactile fabrics and handcrafted ceramics.

In the evenings, the dining MO is to feast, to order several of the menu’s sharing plates and sit down to a foodie banquet full of diverse flavours and textures.

Owners Lisa and Brent Quarrie, both chefs by trade (and owners of Hamilton’s award-winning The River Kitchen), have consciously kept the menu approachable but adventurous. Think gastro-pub goodness, but with an intrepid twist or two. You expect a damn good steak, but what you might not expect is an aged wagu rump served with sesame, edamame, black beans and ‘butter of the gods’ smoked bone marrow. It’s next level.

The beverage menu is an impressive, populous roster of independents and artisans, with local brewery Good George the exclusive on-tap choice. If you’d rather teetotal, Hayes Common does delicious house-made sodas, too.

Enjoy your brew with something – correction – many things from the excellent Bites menu. Choices include aged cheddar croquettes, fried cauliflower with labne, a wicked pork belly bun with golden sauerkraut and sticky sauce, or crispy chicken wings begging for a good dunking in their punchy tamarind jam.

There are scores of choices between morning and afternoon. For breakfast, try the vanilla pancake, which is oven-baked into a pillowy bowl that holds heapings of seasonal fruit, passionfruit curd and lime syrup. Or go big with brunch: The Commoner boasts two eggs, bacon, merguez sausage, potato rosti, roast mushrooms and house relish atop toasted sourdough.

This winter’s day menu includes a braised beef and kimchi pie, a smoked fish scotch egg (there goes those adventurous twists again), and a superb Reuben sarnie with beef brisket, gooey gruyère, cress, pickles and sriracha mayo. The Hayes Common hospitality extends to the littlest diners, too, with a kids’ menu that goes well beyond the basics.