Cafe Hopping

Deconstructed lamb & beef kebab with tchigurt, pine nuts, pistachios, cured lemon, watercress pesto, harissa, olive tapenade with pita bread, and a herbed sunflower seed tabouleh. A great combination of flavours and textures: the spiced meat, slight acidity from the yoghurt, and the refreshing tabouleh.

Danish loaf, bacon steak, guacamole, maple sausage, cured salmon, tater tots, mesclun salad. Overall, it’s put together pretty well. Cured salmon wasn’t too impressive, but the star would be the maple sausage. The combination of sweet and salty does work very well!

Kurobata Pork Belly, Pickled Black Fungus, Raw Quail Yolk, Soy Foam, Spring Onion, Aonori, Pork Lard. If I’m right, in place of your usual stock, the ramen stock was added when cooking the risotto. A great mix of flavours and textures. However, I felt the dish was a little too salty for me (probably because of the ramen stock that was used). The pork lard was not crispy as it had turned cold. But the star of the dish has to be the Kurobata Pork Belly. So tender, juicy, and the fat melts in your mouth.

Warm Valrhona dark chocolate lava cake. Chocolate soil. Crunchy almond nougatine. Orange-infused vanilla gelato. Cutting the cake reveals a luscious and a gooey chocolate center which then drips down to coat the gelato beneath it. The combination of hot and cold - amazing. Recommended quantity: 1 per person, because anything is good if it’s made of chocolate (good quality of course).

Sunny side up, baked beans, rosemary chicken sausage, turkey bacon, salad. It’s a decent meal, although I would have loved it if there were more mushrooms and salad. The fried egg was slightly overcooked as I could taste some burnt bits. Do check out their Muddy Espresso ($5.50) as it’s pretty good.

Cavatelli, Nduja Sausage, Red Onion, Pomodoro Fresco, Pecorino Cheese.
The ‘Nduja is a spreadable pork salumi and it has a fiery taste because of roasted hot red peppers as one of its ingredients. This dish is spicy but this is lightly countered by the tomato sauce that it is cooked in, and the Pecorino cheese adds a nice saltiness to the dish. The hollow shells of Cavatelli pasta were cooked al dente, and the shape of the pasta allows it to hold the meat sauce, which makes every mouthful a pleasurable one.

$17.90 for a full set of goodies that will definitely fill you up! Creamy scrambled eggs, bacon and sausages, hashbrown, greens, grilled tomato, and a thick piece of lightly toasted bread.

Angus sirloin, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, and cooked greens. Beef was cooked medium-rare (just the way I like it), though I thought that the fat could have been cooked more to render more of its goodness. The mashed potatoes were seasoned well and had a rustic charm to it, compared to the ‘usual’ creamy mash that you get.

Broth was garlicky in a good way, spaghetti was slightly overcooked but it wasn’t too bad. I would have loved for some bread on the side to soak up the remaining broth!

The risotto is cooked al dente thus giving it a nice bite. Squid, prawns and clams were cooked perfect. The best thing about this dish is that it does not have that fishy taste that I've experienced while having other versions of squid ink risotto/pasta. You'll get a nice citrus hit of lemon zest which does indeed elevate this dish. Oh don't forget their desserts as well! Amazing food, great service, awesome company. Definitely coming back for more. #burpple