Though moving to Western Sydney has greatly limited our pegfeed options, Gladesville’s Cafe Elation had been kept in the back of my mind as a sort of consolation prize to the loss of easy access to high-feed areas. Cafe Elation’s core offering of what is essentially Asian Fusion Brunch fit well with this blog’s focus, and so the 25 minute drive down A3 was made.
The Pork Belly Poke Bowl with Slow Egg ($21) was an unfortunate let down. The execution of such a poke bowl with meat rather than raw fish was far more like a bibimbap than a poke bowl. The carrot, kimchi, cucumber, cabbage and enoki mixed with the quinoa, brown rice and gochujang in exactly the same way a bibimbap would, though we felt that it was too wet. We like our bibimbap dry and crispy, served in a claypot, and felt that though this was a bibimbap was all but in name the texture and consistency of it left something to be desired. We were also disappointed by the pork belly, as we had expected cubes but instead got strips. I think we were just envisioning something completely different to what we got.
The Eel on Egg ($24) was actually quite good. Though the serving size of the omelette, eel and nori could have been larger, the taste and contrasting mouthfeels of these elements were quite pleasing. The crispy nori was a particular delight, followed by the delicate French omelette. The soy glazed eel wasn’t as oily and melt-in-your-mouth as the eel that we had had the previous day at Hukuya, but still up to standard. Quinoa and brown rice once again made an appearance – ingredients that I don’t usually expect or like in Asian dining, where white rice reigns supreme.
For drinks we had a fairly run-of-the-mill soy cappuccino ($5) and an Iced Choco Meme ($8). The meme was ordered based on name alone, and I was not at all expecting this huge monstrosity of whipped cream and chocolate and sesame flavours. I also didn’t expect for our waitress to pronounce it “me-me”, which is the memey way to pronounce meme.
VERDICT A hit and miss 3.75 Asian brunch affair. I wouldn’t go too far out of your way, unless you’re also going to the Ryde City Council public toilets that are helpfully co-located.
Cafe Elation
226 Victoria Rd, Gladesville NSW 2111
02) 8592 7188