Left of Field

I was in the area so decided to try this relatively new brunch place (opened for just over a month I think). The location under some apartments isn't bad with river views, but currently there's a lot of construction so views are a bit limited. Decided to sit inside, and luckily it wasn't stuff or too packed.

love the modern but chic industrial feel

kitchen

easter sweet treats

Botanical cold pressed green juice-$7.50

It is more on the expensive side for the price, but this green juice was delicious. Not too sweet and not too much of that weird vegetable after taste. Super refreshing on a hot day. Regular coffee was $3.80, more than the average $3.50. It was a bit watery and too hot for my liking ):

The most disappointing thing was waiting for the food, 30mins for just 2 dishes, one which is technically premade apart from the egg. Normally I wait for all the food to come before starting on the drinks since it looks better in photos. Waited so long that the coffee art sank and disappeared, and it didn't help that we were in a rush to go other places. The table of 4 next to us sat later than us but got their food around the same time. They only have 2 chefs working, with quite a lot of seats inside and out, so maybe that's why. Service was really friendly, if only the food came quicker.

Hotcakes with caramelised banana, earl grey custard and maple popcorn-$16

so fluffy (but not even)

Anything with tea infused instantly draws my attention. Loved how it was stacked high with fresh fruits scattered. I thought it would be drowning in the custard, but it was only the top layer, and some drizzled towards the edges, but there was definitely not enough custard for all 3 pieces, only the first piece has custard. Literally had to scrape the plate for the other 2 pieces. The earl grey flavour has a super subtle after taste, I was hoping it would be a good hit of tea, after reading other people's reviews. I think my plate had minimal custard since other people's photos on instagram had a generous servings of custard around the whole base of the plate, plus the 2nd and 3rd hotcake also had custard. Other people's photos on Zomato had literally a pool of custard on their plate. Not a good thing serving minimal custard, especially to a person who loves their sweets and desserts.

I really do feel ripped off with less since I came all this way basically to try it. Maybe I came on a bad day..? The hotcakes itself weren't too buttery or dense and super fluffy. The dish was surprisingly not sweet, even with the maple popcorn (I guess there wasn't much maple to begin with). Loved how they used fresh berries, but there were only 3 pieces of banana...The waiter and owner asked if everything was good, which I replied yes, but it's not like I can ask for more custard or return the dish since it's not a fine dining place and they can just add some extra to the pancakes. I hindsight, I should have given my honest opinion at that time, but didn't, so I guess that's where blogging comes in...

Tl;dr-not enough custard and it didn't have much flavour.

Gin & juniper cured ocean trout on grilled rye, poached egg, fennel salad and yuzu foam-$19

The trout was cured beautifully, not too acidic yet still fresh. However, couldn't really taste the gin/juniper flavour, it was just cured like it had been seasoned, but not really salty. Egg was poached nicely, but my egg and hence the dish lacked the height compared to other people's. Also, I had less trout on my plate compared to others. A bit more salad with the creaminess from the fennel would have helped balanced the dish more. Didn't see or taste the yuzu foam, which I was looking forward to. The rye was definitely over toasted, since the edges were black and super hard to cut into. I hate wasting food so will always try my best to eat it. Ended up using my hands, but the thicker ends of the toast was just too hard to chew without fearing that you're teeth would crack. The rye was also super thin, which may have contributed to it being over toasted.

Overall, the waiters were friendly and loved the decor and super spacious inside, but personally I think my dishes lacked inconsistency with other people's especially for the long wait for only 2 dishes ): I guess there's always room for improvement...