Dose Espresso, Willoughby (19 October 2014)

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Dose Espresso ... the epitomy of the lower North Shore. A blend between posh and hipster, suited to young familes. Is this the next great find?

I was tipped off they do the best coffee around. Lorie and I however are not coffee people. I turned up for brunch off the back of a 30km morning run, looking for an honest, well-priced and generous feed.

Rustic, open table courtyard ... translation 'I live on the North Shore and love it' 

The counter has a great range of pre-prepared sandwiches, salads and a mix of decadent carb/butter-laden goodies. The breakfast menu is not out-of-this-world; an assortment of toasts with spreads, porridge (or variations), egg dishes and a salad.

Being a bean-fan, my eyes were drawn to chickpeas and red beans on soughdough toast with a double poached egg. At $17, I was expecting a pretty hearty meal.

Sadly what I received was two nicely toasted but thin slices dipped in a child-size bowl of watery beans (in tomato sauce). Dish lacked size, seasoning and spice not to mention the bread does not absorb flavour well if the sauce base is too watery. Not sure why the lemon is there, nor why they felt it necessary to slather the dish in sour-cream. Who puts sour-cream with tomato beans?

The salsa-looking substance sung a nice red colour. That's the nicest thing I can say about that.


Mixed beans with poached eggs - $17
While I sulked about my lost $17 (imagine how many cheap eats that is worth in Hunter Arcade), Lorie picked away at her Yallah eggs. No idea what the name means but there is clearly a Middle-Eastern theme at play.

Dish one-liner - toasted turkish bread with poorly seasoned scrambled egg plus two dips of hummus and tzatziki. Add the some olives and a rocket leaf and call it a house special.

I ended up nibbling sadly on the last two turkish bread pieces. Lorie wasn't too keen on the dish either, and this is coming from a woman with very low (food) standards.

Yallah eggs - $15
I was too deflated to try 'the best coffee in Sydney' and did not stick around. Amazing how a place like this can be so popular. Chatswood and Willoughby fundamentally lack quality brunch venues - real heartbreak.

Won't be returning here again. I'd rather go to Bakers Delight, buy some bread, microwave some eggs and eat breakfast in bed in my PJs.

Food - 4/10 - poorly seasoned, uninteresting menu. Where's the baked eggs?
Value - 3/10 - servings much too small for the price.
Other - 5/10 - nice, quaint little setting and good for families. Service nothing special.
Overall - 4/10 - conceptual points for the hypothetically amazing coffee.

Hey, at least Lorie seemed happy to spend some quality time - that's worth its weight in gold.

Happy wife, happy life
Dose Espresso
6/187-191 High St
Willoughby NSW 2068

Dose Espresso on Urbanspoon

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