[Taipei 台北] 忠孝復興 Caldo Cafe 咖朵咖啡 舒芙蕾 抹茶熔岩蛋糕 Soufflé and Matcha Green Tea Molten Lava Cake

Classic Soufflé with Caramel sauce and Mango Sorbet

Caldo Cafe 咖朵咖啡

Address: 台北市大安區復興南路一段107巷5弄2號 (忠孝復興站)

Phone: (02) 2731 8023

Website: https://www.facebook.com/caldocafe

Date: 2014/2/23 11:00 AM

Price: 680 NT + 10% = 748 NT 

Father and Son Bonding Time

Dad has been very busy lately so I thought I would take him to a restful environment for him to relax for a bit。Caldo Cafe came to mind, because of the big popularity online。Plus, several colleagues have gone and highly recommend their coffee，souffle and molten lava cake。Once dad informed me that he was coming to Taipei to visit me，I immediately made the reservation。This place will be packed in the afternoon，and there are no time restraints on weekdays，so make sure you make the reservation early，like a couple of days before。

Places are hard to find when you are feeling tired after a busy shift in the ER and you don't have a smart phone with wifi access。Thankfully，dad knows the area pretty well，so we arrived at Caldo Cafe just a tad bit late。 

This place is not spacious，hence the importance of making reservations early

Once you open the door，the first thing you will see is the cold drip tower。The tower has three levels: the water on top，the ground coffee and the coffee collection chamber at the very bottom。Water slowly drips from the water chamber at the top into the coffee chamber, which saturates the coffee.  Then the coffee drips down into the coffee collection chamber. The process is very slow，it can take up to 12 hours。Cold drip coffee is a popular item on their menu，limited to a pot per day。

This place has a rectangular shape，the entrance on one end，and the kitchen on the other。In between are the tables and seats。We went when it just opened，so there were only a few people there，including us。After we ordered from the mneu，more and more people came in。

Coffee apparatus and ornaments

We decided to order cold drip coffee，Colombia Huila Monserrate coffee，a classic Soufflé，and a Matcha Tea Molten Lava Cake。The staff went to work immediately after taking our orders。

Cold Drip Coffee (冰滴咖啡) 150NT

My coffee of the day。Caldo Cafe's cold drip coffee has a smooth and velvety taste。It is chocolaty and nutty in flavor，and less acidic and bitter compared to the other types of coffee I have had before。I am glad that we went early。

The ice cube has a coffee bean shape，very suitable for a cup of coffee

Enjoying my cold drip coffee a sip at a time

單品 Colombia Huila Monserrate (哥倫比亞 蒙沙羅特) (150NT)

Dad wanted to try their single bean coffee，so he ordered the Colombia Huila Monserrate out of recommendation。Dad said that the coffee has a caramel  and nutty flavor，tart and silky mouthfeel，rich acidity，and a soft and balanced aroma。He liked it，but said it is a bit too acidic for him。

                            Classic Soufflé with Caramel sauce and Mango Sorbet (原味舒芙蕾) (190NT)

The Soufflé takes about 30 minutes of cooking time，but it was worth the wait。We just sipped our coffees，talked about my intern life，rotation in pediatrics，selecting a specialty，and current events。Time flied by fast and the waitress came with our classic Soufflé。

A Soufflé is said to be light，sweet or savory，made from egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites，poured into ramekins，and then baked。Every Soufflé has two components。First, there is a creme patissiere base that provides the delicious flavor，the starch that bolsters the wall，and the moisture to help it rise。Second, the egg whites that provide the lift。Soufflé is said to collapse quickly after coming out of the oven，but this one stood tall after I took a long time taking pictures。Thus, the skills and techniques of making a good Soufflé can be seen。

The instructions said to puncture the top of the Soufflé，taste the original flavor of the Soufflé，then pour in the caramel liquid sauce afterwards。Lastly，eat the Soufflé  with the mango sorbet。The Soufflé was light and fluffy，had a airy texture，and tasted slightly sweet。

Pouring in the salty caramel liquid sauce

I did not add too much at first thinking it could overpower the natural sweetness and integrity of the Soufflé。The salty caramel liquid sauce gave the Soufflé a rich flavor，I like it a lot。But after I poured in the remaining salty caramel liquid sauce，it soaked up the entire Soufflé。The latter gained too much moisture and all I could taste was the sweetness of the salty caramel。Probably because I don't like desserts that are overtly sweet，so I thought it was overwhelming。My preference is to pour a small amount of the liquid sauce，and you could enjoy both the integrity of the Soufflé and the rich flavor provided by the liquid sauce。I didn't like the combined flavor of the Soufflé and the mango sorbet though。

Matcha Green Tea Molten Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream (抹茶熔岩蛋糕) (190NT)

I was super excited for the matcha molten lava cake because most of the lava cakes out there are chocolate flavored。I haven't heard of a place besides this one that has matcha flavored lava cake。This lava cake is bigger than some of the other ones I have eaten。

My first photo in the blog! 

First time seeing a green lava cake

Got to work on my cake cutting skills~ 

It was a bit weird to see green-colored filling，but it tasted very flavorful。The filling had a rich matcha green tea flavor，very moist，not too sweet or bitter at all。Eating it with the vanilla ice cream prevents the dry and slightly astringent aftertaste of the matcha green tea。I showed this picture to a colleague afterwards and he said it looks like bilious vomiting from intussusception.....you are studying too hard, my friend...=_=

Overall:

Food:
We liked the Soufflé and the lava cake a lot. I would come back for them again，next time I would like to try the match green tea Soufflé，available only on Monday and weekends。Of the three molten lava cakes I have reviewed: Caldo Cafe has the best lava cake。

Here is the list of available flavors of Soufflé:

Monday，Saturday，Sunday 週一六日：Matcha Green Tea  Soufflé 抹茶舒芙蕾

Tuesday，Saturday，Sunday 週二六日：Oolong Tea Soufflé 米香烏龍舒芙蕾

Wednesday 週三限定：Genmaicha Brown Rice Tea Soufflé 玄米茶舒芙蕾

Thursday 週四限定：Black Tea Soufflé 紅玉紅茶舒芙蕾

Friday 週五限定：Earl Grey Tea  Soufflé 伯爵茶舒芙蕾

Environment:

The tables were very small，it was hard to move the plates around or adjust the items for taking pictures。It can get very loud when the place gets crowded because the tables are close together。Bigger tables and space between tables would be a big plus。

Service:

The service was good，the staff were polite and attentive to all the customers。They were very patient to our inquires about the menu and refilling our glasses。

Price: 
Acceptable，comparable to other dessert places in the area

Location

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