Charlyn's Milk Bar (启奥城)

The area behind Buona Vista seems to be rather happening for the cafe scene lately, especially with many fanciful concepts opening within walking distance from each other that targets the office workers in the area. Charlyn’s Milk Bar is a two-month old bistro operated by an Australian that shares its space with Palate Sensations Cooking School. The “milk bar” is a term more on the shop itself; a corner space shop that sells food in Australia. The menu items includes main courses, sandwiches, cakes and other bakes as well.

I was in luck that day when I visited as they were serving a special of Chicken Corden Bleu ($8.00), a favourite dish of mine and we had the last one before they ran out. It came with a choice of sides; potatoes or vegetables which they ran out of the latter as well. The breaded chicken was crispy but a tad dry for the meat, though not really bothersome in any way. They could have been a bit more generous with the amount of cheese however, as only one half that we cut had cheese flowing while the other seemed completely devoid of it. We did appreciate that they had used high quality ham for this dish though. The side of grilled potatoes were wonderful; seasoned with butter and rosemary, it was flavourful, soft but crisp on the exterior.

Since it was a milk bar, we decided to try their bakes. Unfortunately, both the recommended Lamington and Tiramisus were not available for the day and we went for the Cinnamon Roll ($3.00). Sticky buns coated with gooey cinnamon on the inside and condensed milk on the outside, the spiced sweetness was not too overwhelming and in fact just nice without that burning sensation to the throat.

I asked the cashier if he had any idea on the coffee blend used here, which he had no clue of but assured me that the boss was particular with the beans she use. The Americano ($3.00) was splendid, as it carried a full body that was rather acidic; a signature of Americano. A butter cookie comes at the side, though it was not really much to mention.