Curing our Ills with Mushrooms at Sapore Espresso Bar, Belmont
Posted by | Categories: Breakfast/Brunch, Featured, Modern Australian, Perth, Restaurants
The Boy and I were struck down with the killer Flu of the Year this month and it completely knocked the stuffing out of us. Everything became a huge effort and suffice to say life wasn’t much fun. At the tail end of our sickness we decided to cheer ourselves up and head out to the Avon Valley for the Toodyay Food Festival. Toodyay is roughly an hour’s drive from our house and when we got about half way both of us became overwhelmingly tired and nauseous.
It took about five minutes of us whingeing to each other before we realised the insanity of what we were trying to do. Walking around a food festival when I could barely stand up followed by another hours drive home sounded more like torture than enjoyment. We agreed this idea was a little ambitious and turned the car back around. As we headed home I realised we had nothing in the fridge because I had originally anticipated we would be stuffing our faces at the festival. We took a detour through Belmont and landed at Sapore Espresso.
I was no stranger to the tasty creations of this humble café having followed them on social media for some time. I had yet to actually set foot in the venue however as I tend to be a bit overly loyal to my Vic Park stomping ground. I was to find that this was a poor judgement as Sapore definitely is a winner, even for a gluten intolerant like me.
Fresh juice ($5.90) orange, carrot and celery with added spinach
Regrettably my flu-stomach wasn’t up for a coffee. Sapore serve Fiori coffee which I am quite partial to as it is a tasty brew however this may be a good reason to return and sample their breakfast menu at a later date 😉 We started off with a cleansing freshly made juice of orange, carrot and celery. I asked for added greens into mine in the grim hope it would fix all my ills. Whilst it didn’t cure me I definitely felt a small increment better.
Wild mushroom bruschetta ($17.50, GF, V)
There is no hiding my obsession with mushrooms. I am sure it is this high level of addiction that has earned me the role as one of the official bloggers for the Mushroom Mania promotions three years running. It is easy to write about something I love.
Sapore’s trio of sautéed mushrooms was filled with an abundance of enoki, King oyster and field mushrooms, just like I make at home but enhanced by the fact that I didn’t have to lift a finger to prepare it. I loved the fleshy texture of the King oysters with the near crunchiness of the enoki. Served with tangy goats cheese and drizzled in truffle oil I was certain THIS was the medicine I needed.
It was not a problem to make this dish gluten free and I appreciated that the chef recognised how small gluten free bread is and gave me three pieces instead of the expected two. A bargain really when you consider the price.
Chicken mushroom risotto with mascarpone ($21.90, GF)
The Boy needed a similarly medicinal meal and ordered the heart-warming daily special; a creamy chicken risotto with mushrooms and mascarpone.
Whilst the Boy will rarely will eat meat, given how unwell he had been that week he felt he needed some protein to help him recover. It was the first decent meal we could hold down in days and it hit the spot right on the mark for both of us.
Salted caramel macaron (GF)
My regular readers will already know that I struggle to hold myself back from turning every meal into a multi-course bonanza. This time round however my delicate stomach submitted to the Boy’s pleas to restrain myself. I still needed to end on something sweet and the perfect way to do this was with a home-made macaron. Sapore change their macaron flavours regularly and the flavour of the day for our visit was salted caramel. It had excellent texture with a pronounced salty aftertaste. I wished I had room for more.
Cupcakes on the counter (not GF)
Sapore Espresso was something of a hidden gem to me. It is easy as a Vic Park resident to give preference to our local options and overlook those that are off the popular café strip but still nearby. This is definitely a place worth trekking over the train tracks for and I look forward to returning there to sample their breakfast.
Chompchomp planned for this meal to be sponsored by the Australian Mushroom Growers Association as part of her role in the Mushroom Mania campaign however she did not come prepared with her pre-paid VISA cards. She ended up paying for the meal in full herself. A shame because it really was a mushroom feast, however not to worry. It has left more money in the Mushroom Mania kitty for her to fund not one but two mushroom degos! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more details on these two incredible meals… Sapore Espresso Bar Opposite Belmont Forum, 275 Belmont Avenue, Belmont WA 6105 | 0410 572 066 | saporeespressobar.com.au 
