[invite] Bianca: We instantly fell in love with the fit-out and decor at Dove at Dover cafe. I admit, most of the Eastern Suburbs is unchartered territory for me but step directly outside the cafe and you’re welcomed by a beautiful vista out across Sydney Harbour.
They have recently undergone a complete refurb and it’s easy to see why it would be such a busy little hotspot on the weekend. Marble tables, prominent whites and flowers at each table (it’s the simple things).
Starting with coffee’s, my Skim Capp $4 perfectly balanced. Mum was quite taken with her Skim Mocha $4.5 so much so, it disappeared before I could snap a photo.
Whenever I recruit mum guaranteed the meal will lean more towards the sweets, we’re a bad influence on each other.
We started with the Corny Benny – Corn fritters, zucchini, eggplant, sweet crispy bacon, spinach, fried enoki, 2 poached eggs, hollandaise & avocado hummus & dukkah $20 + Falafel $6. Across all the dishes the plating was quite stunning, minus the bacon this would make quite the vego feast. This was a perfect example of each ingredient executed perfectly, the fried enoki was a stroke of genius.
The dilemma of the century having to choose between the Matcha pancakes and the Banana protein pancakes. But the Green Tea Matcha Pancakes -w/ coconut ice-cream, seasonal berries & organic maple syrup $16 just made the cut. The matcha flavouring was rather muted (good thing for us, as we’re not huge fans) the texture of the pancakes were fluffy and light towards the centre of the pancake stack but got a little denser closer to the edges. The sharpness of the berry compote cut through the sweetness and a perfect amount of syrup and ice-cream to really tie everything together.
My original plan was to tackle both pancake dishes but we were both intrigued by the French Toast. Cornflake crusted French Toast- w/ caramelised banana, mix berries, berry coulis, cinnamon ricotta honey & butterscotch sauce $16. So re-reading the menu description whilst writing this post made, me realise why this dish wasn’t so successful… but I’ll get to that in a second. There was a lot going on! I adored the crispy, nuttiness of the cornflakes, the French toast still remaining moist on the inside. I liked the variation of fruit but felt the citrus element was out of place. But this dish SERIOUSLY lacked a sauce… which I then realised….. they most likely forgot the butterscotch sauce. By that point I no longer had a menu in front of me to refer back to. As it was, it wasn’t a successful dish. With some refinement, this could really be one of those signature dishes, I didn’t feel the OTT amount of cornflakes was necessary as it really hid the main star!
And to break up the sweetness just a lil ol bowl of Potato Wedges $8. Crispy and seasoned well.
I banned mum from ordering the Acai Bowl, so instead, she opted for the Acai Smoothie $10. Probably one of the better variations I’ve come across, no lie… she picked a spoon up to scoop up every remaining oat. She loved it. I was curious by the Rose Latte $5 but despite being pretty as a picture, it really wasn’t to my tastes.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed our meal at Dove at Dover, if I was a local I could see myself coming back on the reg. I’ve made it a point to organise a re-visit come summer-time, an outdoor table and THAT view!
Bianca
http://doveatdovercafe.business.site/
*For Food’s Sake dined as guests of Dove at Dover.
The plating there is quite mad! I’m not sure if it’s too much or right?
That seriously just looks like a huge pile of cornflakes and some fruit. The description sounds super decadent though. The matcha pancakes are a pretty sight but this seems to be a trend as of late. I’m missing a good old school stack with maple syrup and ice cream, the essentials.
Pancakes on the Rocks Sam? I was surprised by how much I enjoyed them when I went!! 🙂 – B