Return to Hog’s Breath Cafe
We decided to go to Hog’s Breath Cafe (I wrote about a great lunch Jac and I had there last year). Looks like the building’s had a nice paint job since last year, hey? I really like the super-bright yellow. Left – then, Right – now.
Jac and Juji had cranberry juice. I don’t really care for it, but I think it’s a very pretty drink.
We were not reeeeeeeally starving, having recently consumed sausage, bread, juice and coffee, but we were still definitely hungry. We decided to order three dishes to share.
We had the Finger Food Combo ($19.95), which featured grilled beef skewers, vegetable spring rolls, crumbed chicken tenders and salt and pepper dusted calamari, served with two dipping sauces: Lime Sweet Chilli and Hog’s Breath Honey Mustard. Very conveniently there were three beef skewers, three spring rolls and three chicken tenders. Coincidence? I think not! :) Well done, chef.
We all looooooved the calamari, which was tender and not at all rubbery. The salt and pepper crumb coating was delicious and complemented the calamari perfectly without overwhelming it.
The calamari was especially good with the honey mustard sauce.
I loved the piggies on the cone which held the calamari.
The chicken tenders were nice and meaty.
See? Meaty.
The spring rolls were very nice too – the filling had a nice gingery sort of flavour to it.
It’s lovely to eat a vegetarian spring roll that isn’t filled with just cabbage and carrot. They even had beans in them! See the green bean?
The beef skewers were smothered in a tasty chunky tomato salsa. The beef was surprisingly (and pleasingly) tender.
We also shared a Chicken and Ranch salad ($14.50), which consisted of pieces of crumbed fried chicken breast with bacon, seasoned potato chunks and mixed salad greens, topped with Hog’s Breath Ranch dressing. The salad also features shredded cheese, but we asked for no cheese. I thought the salad had plenty of flavour and texture and really didn’t need cheese. But of course, I’m not a cheese lover. :-D
Jac was keen to try the Boss Hog Mushies ($8.50), which were fresh mushrooms dipped in a delicious crumbed coating (apparently 13 secret herbs and spices!), cooked golden brown and served with tartare sauce.
It was a huuuge serving – and the mushies were really tasty. The crumbed coating had a flavour that reminded me of KFC. It was kind of like eating KFC Popcorn Chicken, but with mushrooms rather than chicken.
Juji and Jac finished eating before I did. I kept picking. I kept saying “This will be my last mushie”, and then I’d say “Just one more… this will be my last mushie.” Hahaahahh. They were really REALLY tasty. The waitress kept wandering over to clear our table and would be just about to make her move, but then she’d see me reaching over for another mushie or another bit of salad, and wander away again. I wasn’t toying with her, honest! I just hadn’t finished yet!
Just a note: the deepfried goodies did not totally agree with no-gall-bladder-Jac. We weren’t surprised. Of course, we’ll be doing our best in general to eat well-balanced, nutritious, not so fatty stuff, but we will be experimenting a little here and there with different foods to see what her body will/will not tolerate. A couple of trips to the loo and she was fine. :) Sorry if you think that’s gross, but I know there will be readers who would be wondering how Jac’s eating is, post-surgery.