Cafe Landwer is the place to go if you’re looking for Mediterranean food with a twist of Italian. Most known for their amazing coffee roast selection and quirky restaurant design, I decided to go and try the restaurant for myself.

My brother and friends decided to go for brunch at Cafe Landwer on a Saturday afternoon. When arriving we were automatically surprised by the festive and loud environment the restaurant gave off. The entire restaurant was completely full of laughter with a line trailing out the door. As we got closer to the front we were greeted by a lovely hostess who told us the wait was going to be over an hour. After hearing many great reviews we decided we would wait and look at the tremendously long menu they had to offer us.

Finally we got seated after approximately waiting for 45 minutes in a booth closer to the back of the restaurant. Since it was a nice sunny day we were also offered to sit outside in the patio area but we decided on sitting inside. We were quickly greeted by a waiter who offered us drinks and gave us time to look at the menu. After ordering a Nutella Shake we waited patiently for our food. The wait was not long considering the restaurant did not stop the hustle the entire time I was there.

I decided on the Halloumi Shakshouka – this classic Mediterranean dish which is also a fan favourite at Cafe Landwer. Essentially it is tomato sauce filled with a variety of spices such as chili, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, etc. and dipped with multigrain or white bread (you decide). The one I chose also included Halloumi cheese which is fried curds of cheese and spinach which really amped up a some what basic dish. I really enjoyed the flavours the cheese and spinach gave the tomato sauce because the tomato sauce is sweet but the cheese made the dish very savoury and since it was fried it added a lot of texture. To my surprise there was also an egg inside this dish. The egg yolk was very satisfying to dip into and added an extra texture to the dish which made it very interesting.

This dish to me really showed a lot about the culture because it gave me a lot of flavour and spices I wouldn’t normally try or taste. It was also a really fun dish to share and experience because of all the flavours you could play around with. There were many side dishes that also allowed you to clean your palette or change it up.

The presentation itself was phenomenal. The dish was served in a skillet on a wooden tray alongside the other dishes. The tray was lined with the classic red and white checkered sheet and everything else was very vintage, from the glasses to the utensils used.

I would definitely recommend going to Cafe Landwer with your friends and family as the overall experience was an absolute joy. I would love to go back and try all the other dishes they have to offer and experience more of the Mediterranean culture. For all the vegans/vegetarians out there, don’t worry as they have many options for you!!!