I love brunch and the weekend just wouldn’t be complete without it! I finally tried Tolido’s Espresso Nook this week – I’ve been wanting to check them out for a while. A nook is a corner or recess, especially one offering seclusion or security. It has a very different meaning in the urban dictionary though, which I won’t be going into..

The restaurant looked really cute and quaint from the outside. It’s really popular and there was a queue so we had to wait for 10 minutes which wasn’t too bad. There is an outdoor seating area but it was way too hot for me to sit outside.

The interior of the restaurant is cosy and fun and the staff seem to be really happy and enjoy working there. The menu features a lot of dishes that have local influences. They are well known for their coffee and latte art done by Douglas Tan, the head barista and owner of the cafe. Given the crazy hot weather we ordered the ice-blended Bandung ($6) and the shaken ice lemon tea ($4) and they were both good and refreshing.

We had the rosti with smoked salmon ($20.90) and you can pair it with cheesy sausage ($14.90) or smoked bratwurst ($16.90) instead. It was crispy on the outside and soft and tasty once you took a bite. However the smoked salmon that came with dill wasn’t the freshest. It also came with a sunny side up egg. The dish was not bad, but nothing special.

We also had the Spagetti Vongole ($17). It was done al dente, the sauce was good and the rocket leaves complemented the pasta and white wine sauce perfectly. The clams however were a bit rubbery and felt over-cooked. It was good, but again not wow.

For dessert we had the Pandan Pancakes ($11) which is one of the most popular dishes there. They looked really pretty and was a lovely shade of mint green. The pancakes also came with a generous scoop of vanilla ice-cream and Gula Melaka sauce which really complemented it perfectly.  (This really reminded me of the pandan Mooncake I had last week it also had Gula Melaka filling lol) They were real soft and fluffy, really well made and definitely lived up to the hype!

Overall, it was a good brunch and the atmosphere was really lively, definitely a fun way to start your day in the weekend. However the food wasn’t exactly to die for. I would probably only come back for the pancakes and not the mains. 6/10!

Block 462 Crawford Lane #01-63

Singapore 190462

Tel: 66480178

Opening hours: Tuesday to Thursday 9:30am – 7:00pm | Friday to Saturday 9:30am – 10:00pm | Sunday 9:00am – 6:30pm