We have been heading to Lowercase pretty often ever since Prodigal Cafe has sorta taken over some part of the operations of the cafe — the folks at Prodigal Cafe formerly from Blk 81 MacPherson Lane had been brewing cuppas at Lowercase for quite a while now, and that the Prodigal Grilled Cheese (i.e. Grilled Cheese Sandwich previously at Prodigal Cafe) has also got a place in the Hearty Mains section on the menu at Lowercase. One thing we would have to admit though — we definitely have not been ordering much of the hot food ever since the folks of Prodigal Cafe have occupied the space at Lowercase; there is a Specials section of the menu that sees a handwritten menu being slot into the regular menu that features some of their “out-of-the-ordinary creations” such as the Macedonian Malidzano Dip, EVOO Vanilla Gelato, Hummus Dip and Strawberry Lemonade — all of which not being permanent fixtures on the menu at Lowercase.
One of the Specials that really caught our attention during one of our recent visits to Lowercase would be the Fried Potatoes with Coffee Mayo — these are essentially fried potatoes (of which seemed more baked than actually fried) that is served with a generous drizzle of their house-made coffee-infused mayonnaise and some shavings of parmesan over the top. There is nothing too complicated about the Fried Potatoes with Coffee Mayo here; while the wedges of potatoes came with a chunkier bite rather than what would expect out of commercially-made fried potato wedges which are easily obtained from supermarkets, the coffee mayo was indeed the highlight here — the coffee mayo carried that slightly bitter note that one would associate with espresso, but it was especially umami and was quite a unique take to a mayonnaise that is dressed atop the potatoes which we took no time to finish. Yet another item which we found to be especially apt to be served by an establishment that is part of the third-wave coffee movement — one that is able to showcase their know-how in coffee, yet also a creative approach to how coffee can be incorporated into a food item that provides some character to the brand name itself.
Prodigal Cafe and its predecessor, Prodigal Roasters, are both establishments that are probably noted for their experimental creations in hot food way back in their day — often at times, one would be able to find some pretty unique food items which are being served on a seasonal basis, and this spirit seems to have been carried over to their operations at Lowercase. Needless to say, we are enthused with how they have since dedicated a section of their menu to include such Specials that they might offer from a time-to-time basis; a way to keep patrons and regulars excited to make a return visit whilst also having a creative outlet to whip up something that may seem to be experimental and out-of-the-box to some. We would definitely be paying a little more attention to what Lowercase has to offer in the Specials section of their menu — looking forward to what these folks would be able to create in time to come!