Overdoughs, the bakery offshoot of Artichoke Cafe, has launched a simple but absolutely delicious lunch menu! Extremely pleased to drop by for a tasting after the wonderful meal we had at Artichoke a few weeks ago.
Located at Sculpture Square and sharing the same space as Artichoke, the lunch menu is available for takeaway or to be enjoyed at the alfresco area, in the midst of Artichoke’s edible garden.
A perfect thirst quencher is the homemade mint & basil lemonade ($3.50), so refreshing! The herbs are freshly plucked from the edible garden above!
How lunch works (12-2pm, weekdays):
1. Choose a base: pita bread, nacho chips, or spiced rice infused with cumin, turmeric and peppered with currants
2. Choose the fillings: Lebanese roast chicken ($8.50) marinated in yoghurt and spices, gluten-free flourless Turkish beef meatballs ($9), or garlic mushrooms ($8) for vegetarians
What brings it all together are the exotic sauces: toum (hot garlic sauce), zhug (green chilli sauce), ezme (Turkish tomato salsa), and tahini (roasted sesame sauce). I was initially skeptical about mingling so many sauces together but it works! The folks at Overdoughs know their stuff.
Creamy hummus ($2.50) is my favourite! Get extra Arabic bread to mop up the chickpea spread!
More of the addictive garlic mushrooms! Locally grown by Kin Yan Agriculture, the mix ranges from meaty abalone or golden oyster mushrooms to the delicate willow variety, depending on what’s fresh that day.
We were supposed to be only tasting Overdoughs’ menu but owner Bjorn kindly fed us more food, awesomeeeee!
Scrambled eggs and maple glazed bacon chop is a present classic at brunch. Basically heart attack on a plate, super thick and fat bacon chop is what you get!
Smoked salmon with beetroot tzatziki on za’atar toast looks so beautiful! Top marks for presentation. If you like your food colourful and flavourful, Artichoke is where you want to be!
After all that savoury food, it’s time for a lot of sugar!
Lemon/passionfruit meringue tarts have been done to death recently so Overdoughs’ soursop meringue tart ($5.40) is a welcome change. That said, I prefer the boring lemon/passionfruit combi since the tanginess is more distinct and pronounced. I like sour>sweet desserts!
If you think a meringue tart was all we had, guess again. Like I said, Bjorn loves to feed his guests great food and the platter of sweets he brought out had us ooh-ing and aah-ing! Such an impressive and gorgeous plate of calories, don’t you agree?
Walnut baklava, fig chutney & pistachio baklava, cashew baklava, ‘traditional’ baklava, chocolate & almond baklava, orange almond meal tea cake, snickers tart, roasted banana muffin (prices range from $5.40 to $6.40)… Overwhelmed, in a happy way!
Baklavas are grossly sweet by nature so I can’t fault the phyllo pastries for being so sweet (and slightly oily). Credits to Overdoughs for taming the sweetness to suit the local palate!
Flourless orange cake with mascarpone cheese is the most conventional item on the platter and that’s easy to love.
Snickers tart is literally that, snickers in tart form: layers of peanut butter nougatine, salted caramel and peanut brittle within a cornflake crust! Isn’t that brilliant? I wish I could have it all but it’s so rich that while the heart is willing, the tummy surrendered after a couple of bites.
The best surprise is the banana muffin! Now, I generally don’t like bananas or muffins but this hearty cake with roasted banana chunks, fresh blueberries and sticky marshmallow streusel is soooo good! I certainly don’t mind having this for breakfast or tea on an indulgent day!
My special thanks to Stefanie from Ate Integrated Communications for the invitation, and to owners Bjorn and Roxanne for the warm hospitality!
Overdoughs / Artichoke Café & Bar
161 Middle Road
6336 6946
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