COOH Alexandria | Alexandria
Alexandria is every hipster's dream. It ticks the boxes for being near cafe's, second hand shops selling "antiques" at a fraction of quadruple the price, close enough to a public transport to warrant not using it and most importantly.. the food. The Grounds of Alexandria have been front runners in the area for some time now, but slowly the likes of Gelato Messina, Sonoma Cafe, Bourke Street Bakery, Black Star Pastry and now the newly opened COOH is starting to steal some of that lime light with it's use of fresh, organic ingredients from an impressive list of local businesses.
Before visiting, we were contemplating why a cafe would even dare open a business so close (literally across the road) to the Grounds. How can it compete? Well, if anyone can do it.. let's just say COOH has it handled.
Cappuccino
Smooth, creamy and a great balance of sweet and bitter, wrapped up in a neat coffee art design.
Chai Latte
On par with the Chai Latte at Underground Espresso (which has over taken my chai latte leaderboard).
Chicken Burger
COOH's orgasmic *organic chicken burger is served on a charcoal roll and comes with marinated chicken, nitrate free bacon, cheese, rocket and avocado salsa with tzatziki. Potato and sweet potato fries are also available at an additional cost. The initial reaction was overwhelmed. The charcoal bun really gives this burger an edge visually. The first bite was the same. The bacon consumed a large portion of the bite and it alone set this burger apart from others we have tried. It was perfectly crispy, had very little oil. Some of the best bacon we have tasted and it had us questioning how it was made.. to which we were advised it was a secret. Bacon aside, this was a good first impression of COOH. The only downside to this burger was the combination of the tasty cheese, avocado and tzatziki. While all are great elements and would compliment a well marinated chicken fillet, the three together gave the burger a creamy flavour, making the cheese quite prominent and taking away from the other elements.
Grilled Ocean Trout and Soba Noodle Salad
I seem to be leaning towards ordering seafood for lunch and dinner lately. It usually is healthier and there's benefits in eating fish. The soba noodle lacked flavour on its own. It had a great combination of fresh ingredients but it needed more sauce/seasoning. The ocean trout was the star of the dish for ovious reasons. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was well cooked but not perfect. The skin was crispy and seasoned well. When everything is combined together, it was a healthy and tasty dish.
Passionfruit Cheesecake
The downside to desserts is the regret you feel afterwards. The unnecessary fat, the indigestible amounts of sugar and the bloated stomach. If that pretty much describes every dessert ever, then COOH's gluten free, raw, vegan desserts are what you need in your life. The cake was moist and had a strong coconut flavour throughout, leaving a subtle sweetness that compliments the passion-fruit well. The lemon curd was extremely sour, so it helped balance the sweetness of the passion-fruit. Just make sure to not go overboard with the lemon curd! We were hesitant at first because there was no way we could possibly eat dessert after all that food, but with the cake being so light in texture, we could have eaten more. No bloated feeling!
Thank you COOH for inviting us to dine with you. The staff were pleasant throughout the entire experience and you could see that they were attentive to all tables. It is nice to see a well oiled machine operate! Make sure to book in advance! There is ample seating capacity, however it seemed quite full during our visit. It also is a perfect venue for special occasions and events!
You can devour over these cookies...
Until next time :)