Yay or nay: Veganism

Sunday's Cafe (100% Vegan) | Auber Eats Food Review 

Immediately, as the restaurant came into view, we were met with a warm yellow house with festive decorations for the new year. The restaurant's color gave it a homey feeling, a sense of warmth. Inside, the design was modern, with a mix of brutalism. The walls were painted half blue and half gray, with various paintings and items as decorations. The setting of the restaurant was a warm yellow light, connoting a similar feeling to the front.As it was our first time eating 100% vegan food, we decided to choose three dishes.

Appetizer - Rosemary sea salt fries $3.5

The appetizer we chose was vegan fries, which was an error on our part, as we realised today that vegan fries are just good old regular fries. However, the ‘Rosemary Sea Salt Fries’ was a misleading title as there were no ‘chopped rosemary sprigs’ to be seen. They were crispy and decent, but you can’t really go wrong with frying potatoes. As we ate, we wondered to ourselves if this platter of fried goodness was handmade or simply dunked in a frying pan as the shape of the fries were “too perfect”. It is certainly not the epitome of vegan food, so we will gladly move on to reviewing the more exciting vegan foods.

Main - Classic nom pang $5.5

For our main, we opted for the ‘Classic Nom Pang’, a recommendation directly from the famous vegan we all know–Mr. Gary McCluskey. Resembling a vegan banh mi, the nom pang was filled with pickled vegetables, fried tofu, and kroeung grilled mushrooms.

The baguette was fluffy and sourced from the French bakery ‘Taties’, which explains the great quality. Furthermore, the kroeung grilled mushrooms were flavorful and aromatic, however, the rest of the nom pang was rather lackluster (and lacking salt) unless compensated with a mountain load of vegan chili sauce. It was only later that we realized that our sandwich didn’t include the handmade patè that we were eager to try and compare to the real one. For 5.5USD, this was a disappointing realization, to say the least.

Dessert - Coconut pandan waffle $6

Despite our seemingly underwhelming experience that caused a $15 dent in our wallets, we refused to give up and decided to try the highly recommended desserts by Mr. McCluskey. Although he specifically mentioned his must-try, the ‘Sunday’s Sundae’, we decided against it as it cost the same price ($6) as the following item on the menu, which includes two scoops on a whole waffle. This was where everything tilted on its axis (no hyperbole). Being one of the items on the menu that was entirely accurate to its description, the warm, crispy, and fluffy pandan waffle with coconut chunks perfectly complemented the cold and creamy homemade coconut ice cream. It should be noted that this coconut ice cream topped with toasted coconut was sublime and was the key factor in changing our perspective and experience. We might be biased as we have a deep love for all coconut-flavored things, but this dairy-free ice cream was made to perfection. Additionally, this is a major plus for lactose intolerant people (as most Asians are); it is a rare occasion to not have to worry about getting a stomach ache after eating ice cream.

All that being said, we would come back again just to get a taste of that scrumptious waffle and also to try their sticky fried cauliflower bites that caught my attention. Sunday’s Cafe has a welcoming atmosphere and positive ambience and is overall a great place to start if you’re curious about vegan food. Even as a non-vegan, I can see why people frequent this spot. Written by Chloe Auber and Pheanaka Sok