Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Cali Cafe @ Park Avenue Hotel Rochester

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Nestled within Park Avenue Hotel at Rochester is a Californian style cafe called Cali Cafe. The cafe seems rather quiet on a Friday evening. Hidden away from the main dining scene of Rochester Park, it seems like a nice quiet place for a peaceful dinner.

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Boosters Juices 4/5

We started our dinner with some boosters juices which were freshly squeezed. I had the Summer Cooler ($7.50) which is a melange of watermelon, orange and lemon. A refreshing drink for the humid Singapore weather. My partner went for the Detoxnic ($7.50) a concoction of celery, apple and orange that is great for cleansing and immune system.

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Napa Caesar Salad 3.5/5

The Napa Caesar Salad ($11.90) comes with crunchy romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, peaches and egg served with lemon custard dressing. It was a decent plate of salad with a sweet, fruity finishing. While it is nice, I doubt it can be considered a caesar salad with it fruity interpretation. One can also choose to add on grilled chicken, crispy bacon or smoked salmon at an addition cost.

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Pan Seared Salmon 3/5

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Pan Seared Salmon 3/5

The Pan Seared Salmon ($28.50) is topped with mushroom sauce and served with potato puree and seasonal vegetables. I am not a big fan of pairing salmon with mushroom sauce. I always felt that salmon goes well with a creamy sauce instead. The salmon was also slightly over. Nevertheless the huge salmon fillet is pretty generous in servicing.

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El Camino Chicken Thigh 3.5/5

I was expecting a whole piece of chicken thigh for the El Camino Chicken Thigh ($23.50) but instead it turned out to be more like a piece of chicken chop. The baked chicken thigh was marinated with honey and whole grain mustard, served with creamy mashed potato and sauteed vegetables. A flavourful, moist and tender piece of chicken thigh.

Overall I think Cali Cafe serves decent cafe food but not to the mark of restaurant quality yet. That makes the restaurant pricing it is charging very sensitive. I also observed that the service is not very organised and some of the staffs need to be sent for more training. It can be quite a frustrating experience when the staff has to return to you a couple of times to reconfirm your order, customers waiting in vain to be served and food needs to be brought to the counter to reconfirm with supervisor before being served to table.


Cali Cafe
Park Avenue Hotel
The Rochester
31 Rochester Drive
#01-01
Singapore 138637
Website: http://www.cali.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cali-Cafe-Bar/425415427577547
Nearest MRT: Buona Vista (CC Line, EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 630am - 10pm

Direction: 
1) Alight at Buona Vista MRT station. Take Exit A or C. Walk towards Star Vista. Turn left onto Rochester Drive. Walk to the end of Rochester Drive. Turn left onto Rochester Park. Walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes. [Map]

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