Cooh – Alexandria

Bianca: During my intense healthy eating phase, Cooh in Alexandria would have made a regular appearance in my cafe rotation. The food is geared towards ‘clean’ and ‘healthy’. There is a lot of gluten-free, kale, buckwheat, vegan being bandied about on the menu. But it’s not all scary.

Alejandro and I set out for a mid-week lunch date after I took an entire day off work just to get my hair did, priorities! We were particularly keen to try the buckwheat pancakes but once the lunch menu kicks in, they cannot accommodate breakfast requests. Just means we’ll have to return.

We started with two crushies as an alternative to coffee (because quite frankly these days we drink far too much). Alex with the Immune $8 and myself with a passion-fruit based crushie.

To nibble on alongside our lunch we got a serving of both Potato and Sweet Potato chips with Vegan aioli $8. If you’re expecting crispy fluffy potatoes you’re probably going to be disappointed. These reminded us of our nonno’s fried chips. They usually make a rare appearance at his house but try stopping at just one. They were both seasoned extremely well and incredibly moreish. Most surprising of all was that delicious aioli. I would not have guessed it was vegan AT ALL.

The Bruschetta –w/heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, pesto & balsamic on sourdough $16. Is a great little starter or a good lighter option. The tomatoes were perfectly plump and seasoned well with a slight sweetness. The pesto was a nice addition to soften the bread up and to add another flavour element. And who can turn down creamy buffalo mozzarella?

I’m a big fan of fritters and will usually order them when I see them on a menu. The Zucchini Buckwheat Fritters –w/ tomato relish and bacon $16. Some of the lightest fritters I’ve come across, I’d almost say they were ‘pancakey’ in consistency. I also appreciated the unadvertised guacamole on the plate because avocado truly makes everything better. Whist the tomato relish was acceptably tasty something sharp and creamy like an aioli might have made a better substitute. As well as serving it on the side, as the relish did soften the fritters. This was a standout for me.

Alex has a bit of an obsession with lamb salads at the moment. So the Moroccan Lamb & Quinoa Salad was a no brainer. With Chermoula marinated lamb, sweet potato, currants, coriander, caramelised onions, cherry tomatoes and mint yoghurt $20. This is a great example of huge salads done right. The lamb was a perfect medium rare. With sweetness from the currants and tartness from the yoghurt. A hearty and generous salad.

The decor was classy but the food served was a little bit of a contrast to what you would expect. But we can’t wait to go back for the pancakes!

Bianca

Photos by Alex

*For Food’s Sake dined as guests of Cooh. But all opinions are our own and independent.