Saturday morning, wandering down Byres Road in search of substance, Kirsty and I paused at Matilda's because CAKE. Could we really have CAKE for breakfast?
Turns out we didn't need to as they offer breakfast rolls all day so we could have a proper breakfast and then stay for CAKE. I should point out that Kirsty and I like CAKE. We like CAKE a lot.
Matilda's is more patisserie than bakery though and some of the creations on offer had my mouth watering before we even sat down. As I perused the selection a woman was ordering a few of this, some of that, and part of me did consider doing the same when we left, a take home selection of delectable delicacies, why not?! Sense prevailed, alas, with my waistline reminding me that eating all the CAKES was maybe not the wisest decision. Oh well, guess I'll just need to go back again!
We ordered our breakfast rolls, tea and a cappuccino and sat down. The drinks arrived promptly and our breakfast rolls soon after. Kirsty opted for bacon which looked almost crispy (bar one section of fat) and it was only when the roll and sausage was put down in front of me that I realised they meant link sausage, not square.
Both were served in fresh white bap which was lovely, but I do wish places serving link sausage would cut them open prior to serving. As it was, because I wasn't supplied with a knife, I had two sausages and a LOT of roll. Still, they were tasty enough but nothing special.
I must mention my cappuccino. The coffee was ok, I wasn't expecting much more than that, but almost spoiled by the use of chocolate syrup and chocolate flakes on top, meaning I ended up with something more akin to a mocha than a cappuccino. A light dusting of cocoa powder really is all that's needed.
We paused after that and considered the wondrous sweet creations and eventually I plumped for a French Brest - a circle of choux pastry topped with a thick piping of caramel and flaked toasted almonds, filled with chocolate cream, cream and a fresh strawberries. Kirsty opted for the passionfruit tart, topped with passionfruit meringue - a wonderful swirl of pink meringue atop a bright passionfruit curd in a well cooked tart base.
The French Brest was good, although the choux pastry was a little overdone so almost crispy make it a challenge to dissect into bite sized chunks, and the passionfruit curd was a little too overpowering for the size of the tart but we made our best efforts and polished it all off pretty well!
With such a selection of sweets, cakes and pastries on offer I'd go back, and their savoury menu will definitely make it somewhere I'll look to for a quick lunch, or takeaway.
However I'm not sure it'd be top of my list, not yet. read more