3-course set lunch — main + cake + drink (Chope $26)!
Cafe 3-course set lunch via Chope: pesto spaghetti with prawn tempura, a pistachio sponge cake slice, and an iced tea. $26.
Cafe lunch: 3-course set via Chope, $26. 😋
What was on the table:
- Pesto spaghetti: the noodles tossed in basil pesto, topped with two prawn tempura and a parsley sprig
- Pistachio sponge cake slice: a layered sponge with cream between the tiers, pale-green pistachio frosting, a cream rosette and a pistachio on top
- Iced tea
The Chope set deal is the cafe-lunch value play: Chope (the reservations-and-deals app) packages a casual cafe’s a la carte items into a fixed-price 3-course set, here a main, a dessert and a drink for $26, which usually undercuts ordering the same items separately. It is how the value-conscious do a sit-down cafe lunch.
The pesto spaghetti is the fusion main: a Western pesto base (basil, pine nut, parmesan, olive oil) topped with prawn tempura, the Japanese fried element on an Italian noodle. It is the kind of cross-cultural cafe dish that should not work and mostly does, the crisp tempura prawns adding texture to the herby pasta.
The pistachio sponge cake is the light dessert close: a layered sponge with cream and pistachio frosting, the nutty-floral pistachio flavour against the airy sponge. It is the gentle, not-too-heavy ending a set lunch wants, rather than a dense chocolate slab.
The set logic works because each course is light enough to flow into the next: a herby pasta, a light cake, an iced tea, a complete cafe lunch without overload.
At $26 via Chope for a 3-course cafe set, this is fair value for the deal.
Overall: 4.2 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The prawn tempura on the pesto pasta was the fun standout, the pistachio cake a light close. Chope deal made it work, would re-book.
