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2013-03-09
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I would say the owner of the cafe was quite bold in choosing the name of this cafe. 'Dead' and 'end'- not something very fortune or positive from the Chinese perspective. This tranquil cafe was located at the end of a lane in the mid-level. It was painted in soft white colour. It was semi-open and hence good ventilation was maintained. They did not open the outdoor seating area today. Not far from the cafe was another wall painted in white with some flowers around it. Beams of sunlight gently fi
Food
Deadend stack on A.O.P. $140
The smell of baked cheddar raised my appetite. The sandwich was not huge, but was very satisfactory. Again, my friends and I were busy taking photo, and the waitress kindly suggested us 'Fai d sic la'. The bread was still crispy despite the juice of the meat. The roasted beef tenderloin was thick and delicious- succulent, meaty, tender and rightly grilled. The cheddar melted on the smoked bacon, and went perfect with the beef. The heaviness of the sandwich was balanced by rockets (my fav veggie) and honey mustard. The onion and tomato were sweet and juicy. This whole thing was yummy. The sandwich was served together with tomato soup and potato. The soup was served in a small bowl- and we were perplexed with it at first. We were not sure if it was soup or sauce for the potato/burger- hence we really asked the waitress, who replied that the bowl served three purposes: you could treat it as tomato soup, a sauce for potato, or you could dip the bread into it. As a soup, it had a rich taste of tomato; but too sour for me. In spite of its richness, it was a bit too watery to treat it as sauce for the potato. The potato was seasoned with herbs and salt, and tasted good with or without the soup.
Warm Chocolate Cake $80
We ordered two desserts. The waitress introduced each of them when they were served. There were many items on this plate of chocolate cake, and I appreciated each of them.The chocolate cake was warm, dense and moist with a rich chocolate taste- exactly my favourite type of cake.
I always avoid mousse/ ganache like of sweet- I am sick of eating a paste of sugar. But this dark chocolate ganache was nice. It was bittersweet, and went well with the cake.
If I remembered correctly, the chocolate ice cream and the pear sorbet were both house-made. The chocolate ice cream was fine. The pear sorbet was lightly sweetened and refreshing. Pistachios were sprinkled over the ice cream and sorbet.
The pear at the side had been soaked in lemon syrup (One could see thin slices of lemon skin. Presumably the lemon syrup was also house made?). It was again refreshing and juicy, and it awakened my tastebud from the richness of choc. Some pear juice immersed in part of the chocolate cake. Equally good.
The pistachio biscotti was again house-made. (The waitress said every bread they served was house-baked). It was light and crispy.
Baked apple tart with house made vanilla ice cream $70
Its apple tart attracted quite some positive comments in various social media. The waitress explained that the tart was served with salted caramel sauce, and we should eat the tart together with the frosted fresh mint, of which I initially thought was for decorative purpose. The combo of apple, cinnamon, caramel and mint was harmoniously impeccable- each of those had a characteristic taste, and surprisingly matched with each other. The texture was further diversified by the almonds. Its house made icecream was fine and smooth. My friends J, M and I concurred that this was the best apple tart that we have tried. Beverages
Cappuccino $35 (right) Macchiato $25 (left)
The drinks were served in turquoise cups.I ordered cappuccino, which was frothy and aromatic.
The macchiato was finished within 2 slips by J. (I suppose the latte art could have been drawn more beautifully despite the small amount of milk?)
Chocolat Chaud $45
(ops I forgot to take a picture of it)
The hot chocolate was served separately with cream and sparkling water. Having scooped the cream into the chocolate, M commented that the beverage was nice, except that it was a bit too bitter. Noticing that M did not finish her chocolate, the waitress politely and humbly asked why, and offered to add some milk into the cup to dilute and soften the denseness of the chocolate. Not sure about the result of such dilution; yet the waitress was indeed thoughtful.
Again, we had no idea how the sparkling water worked with the chocolate. The waiter replied that the sparkling water served the purpose of clearing the throat, and M said it worked.
Overall comment/ Next?
As mentioned above, the cafe was painted in white, giving a sense of cleanliness. However probably because it was semi-open, there were some annoying insects flying around, landing on some unfinished dishes. But I suppose nothing much could be done?
To sum up, Cafe Deadend gave me a satisfying afternoon. One could easily tell that the food had been delicately prepared. I came here with quite high expectation (due to the overwhelming proportion of 'likes' in various social media), and it did not disappoint me. Indeed it exceeded my expectation. I will definitely be back. Just hope that it would extend its working hours.
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