My friend Yaz and I caught up over breakfast the other day at Shouk Cafe- the latest edition to the Paddington cafe scene. Perched just off Given's Terrace this cute little cafe sits in a renovated Queenslander that is decorated with wooden floorboards, mosaic tiling and bentwood chairs. Although it tries very hard to live up to it's callcard of having Middle Eastern influence, truth be told, the only influence it had were on their tile selection and a few ingredients on their dishes (ie goats cheese, dukkah, cumin and artichokes). Perhaps it was more apt to describe it as a Modern Australia with a dash of Middle Eastern vibe? Nonetheless I'm being rather picky. It was a remarkable experience as the staff were lovely, the food fantastic and the ambiance great.
We were waited to the seating area at the back. There were open glass windows which allowed warm winter's sun to light the room while the diners could overlook the hills of Paddington. The staff were very attentive and professional.
We both ordered a mocha - two super silky Veneziano mugs. Yaz ordered the Latke Stack (Polish potato pancake stack with leg ham creme fraiche, dill and pickled red onions) and I ordered Eggs Benedict (eggs benedict with smoked salmon on toasted challah with sumac peppered hollandaise and garlic buttered braised kale). I thoroughly enjoyed my eggs benedict although would have personally preferred to have been even a bit more runny! The garlic kale was fantastic (cue in reference to recent trend of superfood) and fresh especially on top of the challah. I must make a special note on the presentation which was immaculate and clean. If there was such things as fine dining in the world of cafes, this would be it.
I thoroughly enjoyed my dining experience at Shouk Cafe and would definitely here again!
Total money spent = $21
No comments:
Post a Comment