I wanted to start a new section dedicated just to food and restaurant reviews but I’m not entirely sure how to do this. You’d think that by creating a page, you could create multiple postings under that. Alas! That is not to be.
Since I could remember I’ve always had a weakness for food. Not many people I know don’t. We all have our cravings from time to time but the thing that sucks me in most is breakfast.
Today, I went to a fairly new establishment called Goat House – Cafe Roastery (which spellcheck is kindly telling me isn’t even a word). I wouldn’t say it’s brand new, they’ve been there for a while but their latest renovation, which includes an outdoor dining area, is seemingly drawing in the crowds. I gave it a go a few weeks ago and I’d have to say it was fairly average – to my disappointment. But I always have this rule to give the place at least two or three go’s before making my final judgement.
So here goes!
Atmosphere – 3.5/5
Nice laid-back, casual ambience to the restaurant. Lots of different areas to choose seating from – covered backyard with A/C, main indoor area and of course the newly renovated outdoor dining deck, which is a huge hit especially during the warmer days. Quite enjoyed the jazzy background tunes they were playing towards the end of my stay as well. The whole cafe itself is quite well presented. I think you could kinda see how and where the old woodfire oven for the pizza would’ve been if the cafe hadn’t been taken over. As you walk in, the kitchen is quite neatly tucked away towards your right while there’s a main bar area towards the centre of the restaurant. towards the left, there’s also an in-house coffee bean roasting “station” sorta thing. Feels like they couldn’t quite decide on the final idea of the restaurant/cafe and decided to keep all the features. The staff were quick to greet you upon arrival and let you choose your own seat – a bit daunting if you can’t decide between the many areas.
Finding a quite seat in the backyard, and even before I could settle in, I was asked if I’d like a drink to start with. A little bit sneaky if you ask me. Considering they had a menu of various types of coffees/beans and teas to offer, they’re quick to get you a familiar drink before you really get a chance to look at the menu, so if you wanted to try something new, you’d have to order another one. (Funny enough, I remember specifically falling into this trap the first time I dined here and ended up having to roll home with a tummy full of liquid cos I wanted to try one of their teas.)
Food – 2.5/5
To satisfy my grumbling stomach, I ordered their Goat House Big Breakfast with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. The juice was delicious! To the point where I ordered another glass. I’m not a big OJ fan but this was thick, and pulpy and sweet, just the way I liked it.
Seeing as I couldn’t finish the Big Brekkie before, I decided to miss out on their toast, which I still struggled at the end but still managed to get through it.
The meal itself, for $18, consisted of:
- Two eggs cooked to your choice (scrambled for me!)
- Hash brown (more like mash potato patty on steroids)
- Half a grilled tomato (deliciously juicy and sweet)
- A generous portion of bacon rashers
- Spinach and mushroom mix
- A slice of toast
Fairly standard price for an average meal. The thing that I was most unhappy about was the way the spinach and mushrooms were done and presented. The first mouthful, was extravagant. It was buttery and smooth, and the mushrooms especially just melted in your mouth. But the more you ate it, the more you notice, how salty it is – to the point where you can’t have it by themselves anymore, you just have to eat it with something a bit blander, like the hash brown or the scrambled eggs for instance. Additionally, all the buttery grease leftover from the mushroom and spinach soaked through to my scrambled eggs and too up a large third of my plate at least. Likewise with the bacon. The oil dripping from my bacon was a bit excessive and turned me off a bit.
This is where the scrambled eggs and hash brown came in handy to soak up the excess grease and salt.
I have to admit, being a very big fan of hash browns, when I saw the size of mine I was pretty excited. Until I saw it was mostly just plain mash with no extra seasoning crumbed and made into a patty. Yes it’s still delicious, but given the size of it, would’ve been pretty boring to eat it on its own.
So as a whole, I’d have to say, it would be a great meal if you complement several things on your dishes at once. But I think I like to eat things separately sometimes. Again, biggest turn off was all the greasy leftovers left on my plate after I had demolished the meal. Being my second visit, I’d have to say, I probably wouldn’t be in a rush to return. However, it’d be a great place to meet up with some friends to share some laughs over a bite.
Overall, I’d give it about 2.5/5.
HangryPancreas 