Note: We were invited to dine in at East Row Specialty Coffee, however all opinions are my own. I’ve also been back twice to try some other dishes and paid in full.
Right on the corner of the Civic bus interchange and London Circuit is East Row Specialty Coffee. The all-day menu looks great – donut French toast, pork benedict and potato fritters are what draw my eye. There’s a display cabinet filled with sandwiches, macarons and small cakes.
We try the mango coconut smoothie ($8.50), the Immunity juice ($7.50), and a flat white. Ona coffee is served here.
The potato fritters ($18) are an eggs benedict mash up with two poached eggs and hollandaise on top of two fritters, a corn salsa, bacon and chorizo. We absolutely loved this dish. Perfect amount of salt and meat from the chorizo and bacon, fluffy well seasoned potato (I think this is mixed in with polenta) encased in crunchy a fritter, perfectly gooey poached eggs, a light hollandaise, and some freshness from the salsa. Yum!
We got a side of the beetroot salmon gravlax ($4) as well, which came out served beautifully rolled into a rose.
I tried the pumpkin gnocchi ($22) with spinach, button mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts and pecans in a blue cheese sauce. The gnocchi are nice mouthful-sized pieces with a slight char to it from being pan-fried. We were worried that the blue cheese sauce would be overpowering, however the opposite seemed to be the case. The sauce was too light on, we would hardly taste the blue cheese which made the dish a little bland even with the other elements. It could have just been because of the order of dishes we tried – we tasted the the saltier fritters and chorizo dish first.
I’m so glad we also got to try a side of chips ($4.50). I just love crunchy well seasoned chips (not soggy chips), and these met the brief. Hot, crunchy, a beautiful golden colour, and tossed through a tasty seasoning.
Some months ago, I did go in for a quick solo breakfast visit to try the donut French toast ($19). I had to get the mascarpone cream substituted for vanilla ice cream as I was pregnant at the time. Very sweet and not very filling for me – but this could be shared with another as well as a savoury dish so you get the best of both.
On a more recent outing to East Row Specialty Coffee, we ordered the fritters again since we loved it so much the first time. I also chose the pork benedict ($22) with pulled pork shoulder, poached eggs, hollandaise, chickpea and paprika dukkah, and pickled cucumber ribbon on white sourdough. I wasn’t expecting such a thick bed of sourdough but absolutely loved it. (I often find that the small English muffin halves are not carb-loaded and filling enough for me – is that just me?) There is a generous serve of slow-cooked pulled pork simmered in something delicious and tangy. The dukkah mix kind of reminds of the snack Bhuja as it has similar elements – crunchy chickpeas and paprika. This is another favourite dish that I will have to have again.
Overall, we are happy with the food and drinks ordered. It can take a little while for the food to arrive especially on a busy Saturday morning. Worth a visit if you’re ever in town but get in early! My favourite dishes are the potato fritters, and the pork benedict.
East Row Specialty Coffee
Cnr London Circuit & East Row, Sydney Building, Canberra
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