Avocado lovers can rejoice with the opening of Avobar at the new K11 MUSEA shopping mall. The restaurant is the first international extension for the brand outside London. The all-day eatery features a casual menu headlined by avocado, the golden child of Instagram superfood glory.
We recently sat down to taste what all the hype is about.
The smashed chilli avo ($118) is a simple construct of roasted sweet potato “toast”, avocado and coconut labneh. No surprises here in the flavour profile aside from a slight burn from the chilli.
The ultimate avo toast ($118) is a deconstructed sourdough avocado toast featuring a melange of sliced avocado, guacamole, poached egg and avocado chilli lime jam. The egg is stained yellow owing to the poaching process in turmeric water. The jam stood out as a favourite since it tasted more unique than the usual avocado, whether sliced or smashed.
An Instagram darling, the avo bun burger ($148) is essentially a patty of mashed sweet potato and lentil sandwiched between an entire sliced avocado along with a hefty amount of coconut herb dressing. Eating this proved to be problematic as there was no way we could hold the slippery avocado halves like a burger and bite down. The burger was interesting for a couple of bites, but the monotonous combination of the avocado and sweet potato grew tiresome quickly. Averaging 300 calories in just the avocado halves alone, not accounting for the energy-dense sweet potato patty and rich coconut dressing, we would rather have had a satisfying Shake Shack hamburger at 385 calories with all the bells and whistles.
The mushroom risotto ($168) with miso-marinated black cod, avocado foam and truffle oil was good, although the avocado foam didn’t add any flavour to the already rich dish.
The chocolate avo brownie ($54) was moist and punctuated by cubes of avocado. The avocado itself, however, was overkill; it didn’t add any extra flavour but did give lots of extra calories.
Verdict
This is what hype tastes like. We like the concept of a plant-focused restaurant, but we found the menu items at Avobar full of catchphrase ingredients that are currently in vogue on social media. Instead of lining up for a seat, you might as well go buy an avocado, cut it in half and eat it with a roast sweet potato to get the same effect. It’s important to take into account that fat is fat, and despite avocados being labelled as “good fat”, they have the same effect on your waistline. Sorry to burst that bubble, folks!
Shop B201–4, B2/F, K11 MUSEA, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Rd, TST, no phone
This write-up is based on a complimentary media tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed here represent the author’s.
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