About 2 Saturdays ago, Suga faced the famous question from her other half, ‘Where should we go for lunch?’. After the usual pondering for a few minutes, I mentioned that House of Loaves was having a New York ‘Halal’ Cart-Style day at Active Home Centre. His response when he looked at the ad showing that their food ranged from $800-$1500JMD was, ‘No sah. 15 bills for food from a truck that sells in New York for $7.99US and we can still sit down and have something nice somewhere else for that price or less?!’ He suggested Café El Centro above Fromage on Hillcrest avenue where friends have been going and enjoying their food, so I agreed to go.
We arrived at about 3:30pm and we were greeted pleasantly and seated. I instantly felt cosy in the quiet, quaint atmosphere with vintage décor. I loved the use of wooden palettes for the ceiling, hanging lanterns, decorated wooden signs on the walls and wine glasses hanging from the palettes in part of the ceiling above a wine and pastry cooler. All of this was complemented by a calming colour scheme of browns, beiges and a pastel green.
There were a few diners and one of them was enjoying Pancakes and Eggs beside us because they serve American-style Breakfast all day!
My husband and I were discussing items on the menu which they seemed to have revised again including items for dinner as well. The menu had quite a range of items including Paninis, Sandwiches and Wraps, Pastas, Soup, Snapper Fillet and Shrimp dishes, Pork Chops and more. The prices quoted were tax inclusive as well.
The diner beside us overheard us trying to decide and since I mentioned that I felt for a Wrap, she said that their Chicken Roti Wrap was really good. So my husband ordered the Lamb Burger with fries, which you can get with a wheat bun ($1200JMD) and I ordered the Curried Chicken Roti Wrap with veggies on the side ($950JMD).
Our food arrived quickly and the manager, Tina Newman who took our order was very attentive. She was Professional but friendly at the same time. She gave my husband the option of having Mint jelly on the side, which she brought and I also ordered their homemade Lemonade ($300JMD) that was refreshing.
The Curried Chicken Roti Wrap was very tasty and did not kill me with pepper, it had just the right amount of spice that I enjoyed. I liked that the veggies were fresh as well.
The Lamb was tender and flavourful for the the Lamb Burger, the bun was fresh and it was appreciated that the meat filled the bun perfectly. Not many places get the meat and bun proportion right.
Even though we were sitting and chatting after our meal, our table was cleared quickly. The Chef came out and asked for our feedback, which was positive.
Tina came back over to our table and told us about their Steak night that they started on Fridays. Since Medusas is now closed, the same Chef Robin Rickhi does Steak night and I know his Steaks are succulent and he has a special marinated seasoning.
We were told they face the demand for Steak on other days so she said you can call in your order early if you wish to do so and the Chef there will whip it up for you, whether you are ordering steak or not.
The newlyweds had a delightful experience and we will return.
Café El CentroÂ
Location: 8 Hillcrest Avenue
Ph: 876-927-8415
Opening hours: 9am -10pm
Email: [email protected]