We had an early finish on a Thursday so we decided to try this new cafe in Port Melbourne. This place is perhaps known for their raindrop cakes. I was told they are the first and probably the only place that does it. I had heard of raindrop cakes before, apparently it’s some new thing that originated from the New York City food scene; New Yorkers would line up to see what the fuss was all about. They are also inspired and influenced by Japanese mochi. We got there and were surprised it’s actually tucked right under an apartment building; certainly not the usual location you’d find a cafe!
Raindrop cakes
Tokyo Express – Brown sugar, grounded soy bean
Matcha Lover – Green tea, roasted pistachio
Rating: 3.5/5
Really wobbly but once the wooden spoon got in there it’s actually got a nice solid jelly texture. It really needed the flavours from the sauce though, as it’s pretty flavorless on its own. We both liked the Tokyo Express better as the brown sugar and soy bean made for a nice flavour combination and gave the raindrop the subtle sweetness it really needed. The Matcha Lover had an average green tea taste, nothing too intense, but I didn’t think it paired well with the flavourless raindrop; also I thought the crashed pistachio could be roasted as they were a bit bland. Overall it wasn’t as impressive as the Tokyo Express.
Prawn croquettes – Scallops, cracker, avo purée, tartare dressing, poached egg hollandaise & black sesame seeds
Rating: 4/5
Nicely seared scallops, not the most juicy but still pretty nice; crackers a bit stale, probably store bought; prawn croquettes had a nice even crumbed coating and the mashed potato was pretty creamy although I thought it could have used a bit more seasoning, the prawn meat was diced up and stuffed in the croquettes. Nice but not the explosion of flavour I was hoping for. Standard poached egg and hollandaise, with barely seen black sesame seeds. The avo purée provided a good balance to the slightly heavy croquettes.
Matcha hotcakes – Berry compote, honeycomb, vanilla mascapone, red bean crème & crashed pistachio
Rating: 3.5/5
The hot cakes themselves were average, the berry compote probably took over the already rather missing matcha in the hotcakes. The hotcakes were also missing just a tiny bit of crunch on the outside. That said, it certainly wasn’t a bad dish and I enjoyed the vanilla mascarpone also the serving was rather generous.
This place apparently also does a limited yumcha menu (most if not all staff members are Asians, despite the cafe bearing a French name). It’s a good place if you are around the area and wanted a casual brunch but I probably won’t be in a hurry to go back.
Food: 7.5/10
Value: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Cafe Lafayette
55 Beach Street, Port Melbourne VIC 3207
(03) 9078 9808
