Wednesday 3 July 2013

Mote - rhymes with boat, not foot

Another new café/bar/restaurant in Tooting to try out, and this place definitely is worth giving a go.

I went on a Saturday around lunch time and was really surprised to find that there was just one other person here, I guess the location is a bit out of the way. There would be little in the way of passing foot traffic. I expect and hope that it is popular with the hospital crowd.

Nice style, reasonably well executed (in my entirely unqualified opinion)

Baby Spiller was snoozing so I was able to relax, as suggested by the piping on the wall.

I was making chicken schnitzel for dinner so couldn't go for the house special of schnitzel. Instead I had a chicken and bacon salad with a flat white.

The menu looks pretty good, there would be a number of things I would like to try. It is order and pay at the bar, which gives it a slightly more bar/pub vibe than restaurant. You're supposed to know your table number when you order. I couldn't see my table number but figured it didn't matter as I was the only person ordering. When I got back to my table I hunted out the number, it was hidden in the pot plant.

The salad was very nice. If I could have one complaint, it would be that it was served on a plate, it probably would have been better in a bowl. But that's such a ridiculous complaint to have you can tell that it was pretty darn good, I'd definitely have it again.

I was looking forward to the coffee. They use Climpson and Son's coffee, which I am familiar with from my regular morning coffee at Local Hero in Kingston. It is very nice when done well.

Unfortunately my flat white was burnt to within an inch of its life, it was a real shame as the milk was steamed very well, maybe a bit more of a cap than flat white but nice strong steamed milk. If the coffee wasn't burnt it could have been a very good brew.

Looks fine, didn't taste the best I'm afraid.

Service was fine but given I was the only one there for most of the time it can't have been too tough on them.

I really like the fit out, it's a bit different to other venues we've got in Tooting. It does have TV's which sometimes can bring the tone down, but I don't think it did here. I liked this place a lot and hope they do well. I worry that there location is going to make it tough for them.

On the baby/child friendly front, once again I didn't have need for the baby change facilities (neither did baby Spiller) but the rest of the place seemed pretty good for those of us with little ones. Easy access and plenty of space for prams.

Scores:

Coffee
Hot: 9/13 (too hot I guess, although I'd rather that than something luke warm)
Aroma: 6/13 (you could tell it was burnt just from the small)
Flavour: 6/13 (I'd rather strong burnt than too weak)
Texture:  12/13
Presentation: 11/13

General
Service: 10/13
Food: 11/13
Atmosphere: 10/13 (I really enjoyed my own company in a nice environment)


Overall 9/13 (this blog is supposed to be about the coffee, so this had to be marked down, but I will be back and highly recommend giving it a go)


Baby/child friendly 11/13 (I think this would be a much better parent and baby venue than Gravney and Meadow but it's location probably will mean it will never reach those levels of popularity.


  Mote Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

(please note: any complaints on the title of this blog can be directed to Mrs Spiller)

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