Northshore Riverside Cafe - Hamilton

At the picturesque City Cat terminal of Northshore Hamilton, a brisk walk away from the Eat Street Markets, is the Northshore Hamilton Cafe. We were pleasantly surprised to receive an invite to try out their new summer menu, right after the new year.

We arrived at the cafe at 12 for their VIP lunch.

We were warmly greeted and given seats on the VIP table where we met a number of bloggers and instagrammers.

We were hosted by Liz from Riverlife, who introduced us to their new chef, Daniel Stewart who had created the new summer menu with a focus on fresh produce.

The menu consisted of a breakfast section and a lunch section. When we asked about dinner, we were told that the evenings were mainly used for weddings and other functions, which was very fitting, with the lovely views of the scenery.

Other than the set menus, we also had a look at the daily specials, which we ordered our food from for lunch.

Before our food came though, we started with two jugs of sangria, the red one contained blueberry and thai basil, and a white one which had grapefuit and lychee. Whilst they red sangria was strong and fruity, I preferred the white one which was crisp and refreshing.

Dips For starters we had the Dips which was Turkish bread paired with basil pesto and baba ganoush. I liked the flavours of the basil pesto as the strong presence of garlic is always a positive in my books.  Whilst the taste of the baba ganoush was captivating, the texture didn't work for me. What stood out for me though was the simple yet well done Turkish bread, which was surprisingly soft on the inside, despite being thin and toasted until crispy.

For our mains we began with a Duck Burger with Cornoa. Whilst I found the concept of a duck burger to be quite novel, it was interesting to note the burger contained a grilled shredded duck breast and a beef patty. The patty itself was well flavoured and the bun was soft and nicely toasted, but we fond the duck breast to be slighly on the dry side. The choice of greens paired with Hoi Sin sauce gave it a distinctly Oriental theme to it (it reminded my companion strongly of the Vietnamese Banh Mi). I found the beer battered fries to be well done, and crispy.

The market fish of the day – Reef Shark was our second main. We are normally not a big fan of fish and chips, the reef shark caught my interest. Having tried shark in other establishments, I found this to be a lot smoother and more tender than others I've had before. What also struck me was the generosity of the portions provided, which appeared a lot larger than the mains that our other companions on the table had tried, although I would have liked more fish, given the amount of chips provided. The salad was lgiht and fresh, mixed with a light vinegarette, which added a good balance to the dish. 

 Iced Coffee Having sighted iced coffee on the menu, my companion could not resist the itch and promptly ordered one when the opportunity arose. The coffee was served in a jar with cream and a scoop of ice cream. Needless to say my companion found the coffee a satisfying addition to a hot mid summer’s day.

Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Riverlife and Northshore Riverside Cafe, but as always, our opinions are solely our own.

Price Range: $20 - $25pp

Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 7.5/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 9/10