Rosie's cafe / Coffee & Brunch — Restaurant in Hội An

I was finishing up my back workout (inspired by Mike Israetel) when my stomach began to rumble. My appetite was open to anything, I was ravenous I just needed to satisfy my hunger hitting my anabolic window and macronutrient intake. Now Hoi An is a wonderland of street food, shopping and tourist traps or the one trinity. I may add that I walked past plentiful cafes and restaurants but none that could cure my interests…except for Rosie’s cafe. Google maps was utilised during my venture. To think it was right next to the gym in which I was hitting personal records was nothing more than a blessing.

12:55pm I waltz into the fine establishment, I may add that this is Vietnam and I am one to experience the diversity of which the country offers within their home cooked meals. I was surprised to see that Rosie did offer this idea of freshness, the establishment failed to encapsulate the Vietnamese culture. Instead it presents itself as an indie styled cafe I could find in the popular streets of Melbourne. As I mentioned previously I was in layman’s terms starving.

Despite my psychological distress to indulge in abundance of food, the cafe had a niche menu. I ordered the chick burrito bowl and the mango magic smoothie. For a brief second upon ordering my lunch I felt like I was back home. No not Melbourne, but the crowded roads of Newcastle, the indie kids reading there pretentious books on the introduction to feminism by Sarah Gamble, septum piercings and hemp tote bags. My bearings were lost, I was confused, dazed, had there been something in the water? The air? In fact it was the atmosphere. Rosie’s cafe was a place of family and community. I did quite in fact feel like at home…But as I said, I am in another country I would like to feel some culture sphere. But I was more than happy to let this one slide. The food tasted so fresh and clean, whatever was in that Greek yoghurt had me on the verge of climax. Nearly as euphoric as my 6 hand massage last night (they were also quite “friendly”). The mango magic was delicious and was the cherry on top to satisfy my hunger. I need not to mention the price because I thought it was fair, I was more than happy to pay $13 for my meal. I may come back prior to my departure. Maybe order the rainbow salad to fit in with the crowd back on...

I came here for lunch and ordered myself the avocado on toast with poached eggs and the hangover juice with extra ginger. After my meal I also ordered the coconut matcha latte with less to no sugar.

The avocado on toast looked beautiful and appealing but l missed something in flavour? The dish was good, all ingredients were fresh and the poached eggs were good, yet there was just that little bit of extra missing? That little extra I have had on avocado on toast in different places. Nonetheless, it was a nice dish and the portion size was very generous!

The juice for which I asked an extra ginger shot had the same situation going on as the meal. It was nice, but lacking the punch you normally get with juices? It reminded me of a very watered down juice.

The coconut matcha latte I ordered with less sugar (less condensed milk) and was still extremely sweet. I assume they use the sweetened matcha instead of ceremony or traditional unsweetened grade. The coconut ice-cream and the matcha was an amazing combination though. If you like sweet matcha, this is definitely a drink worth trying. If you are not the biggest sweet tooth but do love your matcha, you might have to ask for no sugar or go somewhere else.

The service at this place is really kind and attentive and they are quick to respond. Food and drinks also come out quite promptly after ordering and they keep the place real tidy at all times.

They have two little dogs walking around which are very friendly and do not disturb you at all.

Overall a good experience, I would recommend this cafe, yet there is room for the tiniest bit of spiced...

Maybe the issue came from my expectations or that it was just a bad day, because 4.8 with 1000+ reviews is amazing, but honestly I was really disappointed by the quality of the food. It was simply tasteless. On the other hand the place was really cute, the food beautifully presented (perfect for Instagram…) and the staff really nice. But I feel like this is just a western tourist trap and I am not so sure that the ladies actually know how to cook. I had a spiced latte, and indeed it was very spicy, way too much turmeric and just a total fail, I should stop trying new drinks maybe. I usually don’t like sweet drinks so I never ask for sugar but here I did (spoiler: it didn’t make it taste better). To eat, I had the basil pesto sourdough with avocado and it was not better. None of the ingredients matched properly, it was not seasoned at all so it was very plain and sad. The pesto was very strong and paired with the bitterness of the kale it was not nice. Also the poached egg tasted like water… At the end I wanted water to clear the spices from the latte but they ran out (what kind of place doesn’t have drinking water…?) Anyway I could keep going but to do short, I didn’t like it. Thankfully it appears like most of the other people who came here had different...