Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Cuckoo Callay (Newtown)

What better way to start off the new year than cafe hopping? The first stop for the first Fat Friday of 2015 is Cuckoo Callay, located conveniently right outside Newtown station. Strangely enough, we have walked pass this place many many times but I never took notice of this place until now. 

Peanut butter and jelly shake, iced espresso

So let's go straight to the food shall we? Of course we always have to start off with a drink or a coffee. The day was particularly hot so a lot of us were very keen to sit down with a cup of cold drip coffee, unfortunately it was all gone, so some of us opted for the peanut butter and jelly shake and iced espresso instead. If you are a peanut butter and jelly fan, then this milkshake is the drink for you.

Cinderella's Breakfast: Pumpkin fritters, house cured salmon, poached egg, house made basil pesto and fresh heirloom tomatoes

For me the Cinderella's breakfast is a combination of everything you'd want to have for breakfast, cured salmon, fritters, runny poached eggs, refreshing tomatoes and aromatic pesto. Unlike common fritters such as corn or zucchini, the use of pumpkin gives more sweetness to the dish which works really well with the rest of the elements. The only let down is the cured salmon which could be cured a bit more because it didn't have much of a flavour or existence in the dish apart from providing a squishy texture.

Berets, Stars and Stripes: Brioche french toast with maple bacon, peanut caramel, whipped ricotta, cornflakes and maple syrup

When everything on the plate sounds like a part of a dessert the bacon might seem somewhat out of place, but when you have everything together in one mouthful it is a combination of balanced flavour and texture. Once you bite into the french toast you get the crunchiness of cornflakes then the fluffy brioche, the maple and bacon is a perfect harmony of sweet and savoury, the peanut caramel just gives the dish another dimension of sweet nuttiness while the light creamy ricotta helps neutralise whichever element that might be too sweet or too salty for particular taste buds.    

#Hashtag Browns 2.0: Crispy bubble and squeak hashbrown, poached egg, pea puree, marinated avocado and bacon steak

Out of all the dishes I believe this one to be the least overwhelming. The marinated avocado was a refreshing touch to the dish and runny poached egg is always good. The crispy bubble and squeak hashbrown did not impress me much as it was like mashes potato with an outer layer of fried skin, and the bacon steak wasn't too bad, but considering it's such a large piece of meat I much rather prefer them using the belly/streakier bacon with more fat to keep the meat tender and moist. 

Mother Ducker: Pulled duck, sauteed potatoes, green lentils, shallots, shaved asparagus, poached egg and chili jam

The last dish we had was a lunch item and it's a bit of a hit and miss. The combination of flavours were a little odd though still strangely tasty, however, would I have it again? Sadly, no. The amount of duck in this dish was slightly disappointing and amount of potatoes? Too much carbs!

Overall a pleasant start to the year and some pretty decent food for our first fat Friday.

Cuckoo Callay on Urbanspoon

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