An article in last week's Epicure caught my eye- it was a story about Cafe Rosamond and how Thursday evenings are special. Special because it wasn't like any other evening, or any other weekend. No, Thursdays are their
dessert-only evenings! :) Dessert maestro Pierre Roelofs creates a new menu each week so no two weeks are the same. This is dangerous, because it means I have something to look forward to each week, only that it really isn't that practical (or healthy!) for me to be ingesting so many sweet dishes in such a short span of time.
It's a cosy little cafe situated just off Smith Street. I was puzzled whist walking along Smith Street because I couldn't locate a 191 anywhere- when on a whim I just looked into the laneway between two blocks and there it was- Cafe Rosamond nicely tucked into the side of the building. Having heard that the place didn't take bookings I thought it would be a good idea to arrive at around 7.30-8pm (I'd had an early dinner with the boy) and not have to wait too long to be seated. I was wrong, there was already a waiting list and we only got a table around 9pm. Maybe I just picked a wrong week to go, I mean, the place was just featured in Epicure two days ago! Good thing was that once you left your name on the list, you're free to go do whatever to kill time and the lovely staff keep you in mind by calling you to let you know how long more you have to wait.
You have a choice of a one, two or three-course degustation ($20, $30 and $40), and the boy and I picked the three-course degustation to share.
#7 in the series- salted chocolate fudge pudding. I regret not buying a packet, oh well, maybe next time when it's closer to winter. I can imagine whipping this up as a comforting snack when the weather turns colder.
Test tube ($9 each)- filled with raspberry jelly and custard. Fun, but taste-wise it was nothing special. I couldn't even get it all out at once haha.
Look how pretty it looks. Caramelised peach, blackberry and tea. I couldn't remember what the rest of the ingredients were. There were also a couple of pieces of something that resembled cake, and something else that tasted like cream cheese. I didn't think this was too special, having had better desserts elsewhere.
This, however, I absolutely loved! I have to warn you though that this is an acquired taste. You need to like (on their own) rose, turkish delight and musk sticks to be able to enjoy this. The boy didn't like this very much, which suited me just fine because it meant I could have everything to myself! Hee. I believe the ingredients included a delightfully refreshing grapefuit sorbet, lychee (maybe?), rose-flavoured ice-cream, turkish delight and musk pieces.
Grape, olive oil, walnuts....this reminds me a lot of carrot cake as it also has some cream cheese-like ingredient. Not a fan, unfortunately.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with the night's menu because I expected greater things or had higher expectations, or maybe the courses served weren't suited to my tastebuds as I like to be a bit more adventurous. Having said that, knowing that the menu changes every week is enough to tempt me to give it a second chance.
