The Fold Cafe, Dulwich Hill

The Fold Cafe is a newly opened cafe in Dulwich Hill. It's best described as Modern Sri Lankan meets cafe fusion which is very unique. As I enter at 10am, there's a steady stream of people who are take-away coffee customers with a cheeky pastry.

It's a cold winter's day as I enter the Fold Cafe.  The Fold Cafe has socially distanced tables which is good to see. For the avid coffee drinker, you may be pleased to hear that the Fold Cafe serves up little marionette coffee.

I am a chai latte drinker while Mr Weekend Food Escapes likes a hot chocolate. I sip my masala chai tea latte ($4) which has nice spiced flavours that linger on the palette. I nibble on my mini cookie for a nice sugary hit. Mr Weekend Food Escapes enjoys a double sugary hit from the hot chocolate ($4.50) and mini cookie. How comforting for a cold winter's morning.

By recommendation of the owners, I try their signature dish.
APPA-APPA is their signature dish of one egg hopper, two plain hoppers, lunu miris, seeni sambol with your choice of 
- red lentil curry $22
- free range chicken curry $24

For those who are well travelled and familiar with Sri Lankan cuisine, you would know that Hoppers are bowl-shaped pancakes generally made from rice flour and coconut milk. They are savoury in flavour and generally are cooked so they are thicker at the bottom and crispy on the edges.

Mr Weekend Food Escapes loads up the hopper with the lunu miris (which is a spicy sauce) which is like fine salsa in texture and seeni sambol (caramelised onion relish) into the egg hopper with some of the chicken curry. He really enjoys everything together.  This is definitely a unique dish that you would not typically find in a cafe. If you don't want anything too exotic, there are other options that are more typical of cafe food like french toast or an omelette.

Also by recommendation, I also order the Hopper Benedict ($17.50) has poached eggs, sweet paparika hollandaise served in a hooper or sourdough with your option of 
 - grilled ham and pancetta crumble or
- spinach, herb roasted mushrooms and crispy kale

I choose the grilled ham and pancetta crumble option. The eggs are perfectly poached and there's a nice drizzle of that hollandaise sauce that covers the eggs. There's also cherry tomatoes that sit on the ham. This is a nice fusion of a traditional cafe favourite served in the hooper shell. You also have your choice of sourdough bread if that's your preference.

If you are looking for a smaller snack, The Fold Cafe has other house made treats such as the Pork Sausage ($6.50) which has flakey pastry and a mild spiced pork mince filling. I coat my sausage roll with tomato sauce and enjoy.

I was also very tempted by the Almond croissant ($6.50) which has lots of almond flakes topped with icing sugar. As i am dining in, the croissant is cut in half, lightly grilled with butter. As I bite into the flakey croissant, I get a nice injection of sweetness and crunch from the almond croissant.

Summary: Overall, new cafe The Fold Cafe is a unique cafe experience with your choice of traditional cafe favourites or you can enjoy dishes with Sri Lankan flavours. I love seeing more diversity in the Sydney food scene.

Price: Lunch mains vary from $15 to $24

Location: 402 New Canterbury Rd, Dulwich Hill

Opening Hours: 
Open Daily Monday to Friday 7:30am to 4pm
Weekends 8am to 4pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.