$10 Jatz cracker at fine dine restaurant divides the internet

Customers have taken offence to the cost of a Kiln restaurant dish, notably a Jatz cracker (two crackers) topped with smoked butter and anchovy.

The cost for the entree: $10.

Kiln is part of the Ace Hotel on Foy Street in Surry Hills and describes itself as “rooted in contemporary Australian cuisine”.

It pays homage to Italian, Japanese and Southeast Asian cuisine, with the kitchen run by celebrated chef Mitch Orr, who is described as having an “innovative-yet-unpretentious approach to cooking, taking dishes in novel directions and gleefully destroying the high-low dining dichotomy”.

A Jatz cracker would probably fit that bill, however social media users haven’t been kind.

“Lost for words,” one Reddit user posted after a waiter at Kiln recommended it.

“I don’t want to blame the victim, but I have to know why you ordered it,” one user asked.

“I questioned the waitress and said I have Jatz at home. She informed me it definitely was great and worth it,” they explained.

“I would have ordered it out of morbid curiosity, too,” another wrote.

One Reddit user referred to the dish as peak Sydney.

“Peak Sydney isn’t offering a pair of Jatz crackers for $10. Peak Sydney is PAYING $10 for a pair of Jatz crackers,” they said.

“SMH (shake my head): millennials can’t afford to buy houses in Sydney because they spend all of their money on anchovies on Jatz,” joked another.

“Wow they really used Jatz lmao.”

The comments were relentless, with one saying, “A little bit of anchovy goes a long way, I wouldn’t use one of those on 2 pizzas.”

Given the reasonable cost of other items on Kiln’s entree menu, the jatz question seems reasonable.

Dishes include “grilled lion’s mane mushroom, wasabi leaf” ($16) and “grilled baby abalone, marigold salsa” ($20).

There was some support for the dish.

“Remember you’re not paying $10 just for a dish. The new Kiln space is one of the nicest restaurant setups in Sydney,” a second wrote.

“It’s the atmosphere and staff you’re really paying for.

“The salty anchovy cuts through the smoked butter so well,” one visitor to Kiln wrote on Instagram.

Jonathan Jackson - 9-2-23