The Local Mbassy, Ultimo – Rating: 20/25

The Local Mbassy

This corner café has only been open for about four months but because it’s doing so many things right, it will be staying around for a long time! Sure that could have been my concluding line but my breakfast was so enjoyable that I just had to get that off of my chest.

The interior is inspired. Reminiscent of a steampunk version of The Incredible Machine with pipes, levers and cogs, I found myself drifting into an imaginary world where balls and springs were interacting in a continuous, mesmerising display of kinetics.

Service was absolutely spot on throughout the visit. Friendly and professional staff were always on hand and Marcus behind the counter really put some character and personality to the place.

Bear in mind that because of a brand new menu at TLM, this review should be taken as a guide of the sort of flavours and quality that you can expect.

Flat white

English Breakfast

Expertly brewed Campos coffee ($3.50) available in all of the usual forms plus affogato ($4) and piccolo ($3). Whatever you choose, you will no doubt enjoy it.

On the cold beverage side of things, the choice is large although most of them are bottled. When it comes to housemade, there are offerings such as cherry pistachio (organic goji berries, vanilla extract and blended with ice, $7.50), strawberry banana & flax (fresh strawberries, banana, flax seed blended with ice and yoghurt, $7.50) and cocoa espresso (cocoa nibs and Campos espresso blended with milk and ice cream, $7.50).

Breakfast burger

The special of the day was a breakfast burger loaded with bacon, egg, housemade relish and hashbrown. The buns itself was on the larger side but it compressed well so it didn’t get in the way too much of the delightful flavours within. This was also proof that hashbrowns should be used more often in bacon and egg rolls! The egg wasn’t cooked through which is exactly how I like it and the bacon was plentiful.

Shakshuka

There are two shakshuka ($17) dishes available. The vegetarian option contains eggplant, zucchini, potato rosti, poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce. I’m not sure why poached eggs are put into a baked dish and my questions have as yet gone unanswered. Most likely they simply mean poached in the sauce as it’s all baked…

Anyway, my guest chose the other option with baked beans, bacon and poached eggs in sweet paprika sauce. We were both slightly underwhelmed with this dish. We kept taking bites expecting more than what we were getting. There was so much more spice that could have been added to enhance the depth and the bacon just seemed to get lost in the flavour of the sauce unfortunately. The toast on the side was a staple and much needed addition as it allowed all of the sauce to be soaked up nicely.

Red velvet pancakes

Probably the main reason that we visited was to sample the red velvet pancakes ($15.50) but I have to say that the best part about them was also the most unexpected. Basil! Basil? Yes basil complimented the strawberry flavours so well. The wonderfully presented tower of decadence definitely didn’t last long at our table and I recommend that you try it!

Cinnamon cronut

A whole assortment of cronuts and baked goods are on offer at the counter but one crucial mistake in my opinion is storing these scrumptious items out in the open. Because of this, our cinnamon cronut was unfortunately quite dry and definitely not what we were expecting as we bit into it.

So there were one or two things that I’d change, big deal! Overall, I was extremely pleased with my visit to The Local Mbassy. You’re made to feel welcome and the flavours from the kitchen really are the business. There’s little point in going through other menu items of a past menu so you’ll just have to drop in to see what’s currently on offer.

Taste:
Presentation:
Service:
Atmosphere:
Value: