Friday, October 15, 2010

Comfort at My Table

Comfort at My Table
http://www.comfortatmytable.com.au/



Mochi and I were long due for another catch-up over food. I first saw Comfort at My Table on Urbanspoon and clicked it because of the name. I had forgotten all about it but when I asked Mochi to pick a spot, this is where we ended up.



The little cafe serves up breakfast, brunch and lunch. It's located on Cribb St which is adjacent to Park Rd. From the street, I thought it would be small and cozy but the inside was more spacious.





This is one of those cafes where you expect the decor to be stylish, and it was. My first impression was 'this is very girly' and felt instantly awkward for my boyfriend who's as far from any projection of 'pink' and 'cute' as humanly possible. Not sure what he thought but all he said were 'these chairs could stand to be more comfortable' (a jab at the name of the cafe).


I was confused when reading the menu. I had looked online and decided on a steak sandwich and this wasn't on the sheet of paper presented to me. After inquiring, I was told that the lunch menu wasn't available on Saturday and instead, they have all day breakfast and a brunch menu.

We ordered a plate each and drinks as well.


Malted caramel milkshake

My malted caramel milkshake came first. It was something I got really excited about when I saw it on the menu and it didn't disappoint one bit. It was thick, rich and heavily malted, a bit like a caramelly malt dessert in drink form. It was so good that I ignored the food for the most part and sucked this baby up instead. By the end of the glass though, I was getting sugar head spins. This was no one's fault but my own and I'm sure it's a drink better enjoyed shared.

Soy latte

Mochi had ordered her usual of a soy latte. I forgot to ask for her opinion but she was disappointed that the pattern on the foam was of a swirl rather than a love heart. We're kidding obviously. As if we'd judge a coffee by the pattern! Unless (as she points out) the barista is a babe and we want to think he's putting hearts on for us especially.

Dutch chocolate mocha

Byron chose a dutch chocolate mocha. It looked wickedly chocolaty with syrup dribbles on the inside of the glass. I had a taste and rather than sickly fake chocolate sweetness (which is what I had imagined), it maintained a strong espresso flavor with a deep, bitter chocolaty undertone.

Blush - strawberries frappeed with cranberry and pineapple juices, topped with a scoop of sorbet

Hien's drink actually came out last but I'll include it here since we're on topic. He had chosen the comfort special called 'blush frappe'. Our waitress seemed really happy that he ordered this because she said it was awesome. When it was brought out, we were very impressed. It was a mountain of color in a long glass. Upon tasting, the spell was broken... I thought it was nice but not unlike any other juice-based frappe.

Brunch special salad

For food, Mochi had chosen a brunch salad from the special's board. It had herb-crusted chicken (a bit dry for my liking), haloumi, beetroot leaves and carrot. I thought it was a nice, fresh salad and fairly healthy too.

Country caesar - assembled with baby cos, roasted tomatoes, avocado, hot crispy bacon, grated grana parmesan and a poached egg

Hien selected the caesar salad. At first he complained that there were only 2 salad leaves but we argued that they were BIG salad leaves. Then he said that it was supposed to come with sourdough but I don't think that was on menu. Perhaps Hien was just hard to please that day... (ETA: I just read the menu I took a photo of and there is supposed to be a 'slice of leavain sourdough' so maybe he was right and they got it wrong?)

Nim's eggs - poached with bacon, pesto, banana chutney, roast tomato and sourdough

Byron and I shared a sweet and a savory. The Nim's eggs had poached eggs that in my view were SLIGHTLY overcooked. The yolk was already a bit set. The pesto was packed full of flavor and Byron was undecided about the banana chutney. It was one of the reasons he chose this dish but said he couldn't get over the fact that it was an unusual taste concept.

Waffles - with ricotta, strawberries and passionfruit curd

I had a go at the waffles. They came with passionfruit curd, fresh strawberries, syrup and what I thought was cream/ice-cream but turned out to be ricotta. I thought these waffles really needed ice-cream because though ricotta may be the healthier option, it didn't do a good job of bringing everything together.

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing

Afterwards, Mochi also got a slice of carrot cake. It was very dense and full of nuts (I definitely bit on something that wasn't a walnut) with a good degree of moisture. The cream cheese icing was nice and thick but not too sweet. I'm still more impressed by the carrot cake at Planet Matterz but this wasn't too far off the mark.


All in all, Comfort at My Table was nice if you like cute, clean, and feminine decor with healthy menu options. The food was fresh and light but didn't really stand out to me in terms of taste and creativity. It's a cafe I'd return to if I was local but probably wouldn't make the drive for to go there.

4 comments:

  1. And we all thought Hien was crazy...

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  2. Hi you, :p,
    I had a DREAM about leavain sourdough last night. No idea what it's supposed to be but in my dream it gave superhuman powers of relaxation or something like that. On a side note, Hien might still be crazy, but for other reasons.

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  3. i went to the little larder @ new farm the next day it was very nice! lets organise an outing there nxt brunch date ;) o! and it's a good thing they allow booking for weekend coz when we went the line was just never ending! :O

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  4. Hi mochi...
    I've been to Little Larder before! It was good. Try Cirque too - that's another acclaimed breakfast place (I think maybe I've already rec'd it to you). Yeh, I love breakfast/brunch though hehe... any others we can try?

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