Tolido’s Espresso Nook @ 462 Crawford Lane

Here lies the Espresso Nook.

Inside the nook.

View of the counter space where you can often find Douglas himself brewing up coffee orders & latte art.

All-day Breakfast & Mains menu of Tolido’s.

Here with have the starters, desserts & drinks.

Sea Salt Caramel Latte ($6)
This is one of Tolido’s specialty drinks. I was fortunate to have mine brewed by Douglas himself. Really nice latte art!
If you’ve read my previous food reviews, I would’ve always mentioned that I’m in no way a coffee connoisseur. Of course, I think I’m getting better at it, as this was the first time I could experience the acidity of the latte. I quite liked it, it was a nice perk me up sort of thing.

Bandung Ice Blended ($5.90)
Chocolate Milkshake ($5.90)
My friend & I actually hung around the cafe for a few hours and so felt thirsty for more drinks again. (It was THAT quiet & peaceful that we could do this.)
I wanted to try something different, so I went with the Bandung Ice Blended. I was worried it was going to be overly “iced”, but it was really smooth & more like a drink, which I really liked.
My friend previously had a Chocolate Ice Blended, and finally at my behest, he decided to try a milkshake this time. One sip of his milkshake, his eyes opened wide & he exclaimed “This is really good!”.

Tolido’s Truffle Fries ($10.90)
Thick-cut Fries, Premium Truffle Oil, Parmesan Cheese
I tend not to order truffle fries any more as they tend to start tasting the same but Tolido’s version looked really great & unique in a bamboo steamer. (Ah, for the sake of food photography.)
My friend mentioned that the fries were quite salty, but for some reason they were addictive. I agreed, there was something here that makes you wanting more.
(While most of their prices are low, I can’t say the same for their fries. It is average pricing among cafes though.)

Cereal Bacon Rolls ($10.90)
Cereal, Oven-Baked Pork Bacon, Wrapped around Puff Pastry, Slice of Cucumber
Do I love…
Bacon? Check. Cereal? Check. Puff pastry? Check. Price for this? Nope.
I’m a huge fan of cereal prawns and so when I saw this, I just HAD to order it. It’s the same type of cereal they use for cereal prawns. Add them to bacon? Sold. It smelled heavenly & tasted so delicious. Add this one to the guilty pleasure book.
(Of course, the price is what gets me. When I told my friend how much it was, he was stunned. That’s the huge problem with starters… always so overpriced yet so tempting. I do admit that while I loathe starter prices, till this day, I would still order them… You win this time, society!)

Rösti with Smoked Bratwurst ($16.90)
This was another thing that I wanted to try at Tolido’s. Some reviews mentioned that they were better than Marché’s. They were definitely right, it tasted really good. One of the better Röstis that I’ve had.

Smoked Salmon Carbonara ($15.90)
My friend & I actually had the overly salty Truffle Fries right before we tried the Carbonara. When we did, it was slightly off putting as it tasted quite bland in comparison to the salty fries. The upside was that I could taste that the cream sauce was better than most of the ones I’ve had, it just needed a pinch of salt to really bring it out. (Which you can do yourself with the salt shakers provided.)

Triple-Decker Gelato Pancake ($8.50)
With a scoop of Cookies & Cream Gelato & Strawberry Sauce
While I did find the taste of the pancakes to be pretty nice, I felt the presentation of the dish left much to be desired. Perhaps some icing sugar & some cut fruits around it would have made it look superb. The scoop of gelato was also kinda underwhelming, could be bigger in my book. I thought it was pretty ingenious for the cook to make a hole in the top pancake for the gelato to balance on as well. (Or is it a way to get less bang for your buck? Hmm…)
By this point, my friend & I were already pretty full and so couldn’t finish this. (What a waste!)

A pretty cool vintage tape recorder-turned planter outside the nook.