The Rochdale

If anything, Rochdale Road is an address that isn’t particularly synonymous with cafes all these while — so it is pretty surprising to hear about the new The Rochdale which is located at 19 Rochdale Road when se had came across their social media pages whilst scrolling around the phone one day. It does seem that another cafe had sat within the same premises that The Rochdale is situated at — The Rochdale took over the now-defunct Anduri Cafe & Bistro, which had occupied the space in 2021. It is not difficult to actually locate The Rochdale from afar; the design language of the space can be described as nothing short from whimsical with its pink facade from the outside. Moving into the space, the theme of whimsical decor continues — the entire space is being decked in pink with the windows even adorned with iridescent decals; the metallic tables coming with oddly-shaped legs though the dining chairs are a little bit more normal being black cushioned seating. We did notice one of their staff wearing a polo shirt with the “CAVA” branding — this seemingly refers to CAVA at Jalan Gelenggang in Sembawang Hills; whilst we did not ask or verify with the staff on whether they are actually related to CAVA, there are much likeness between the two establishments especially when it came to their offerings. The menu comprises of items segregated into categories such as that of The Bagels, Light Bites, The Classics, The Sides, and Pastas — they also do serve a small variety of cakes as well which are showcased in the display chiller at the counter as well. Serving up specialty coffee, their coffee menu mainly comprises of espresso-based coffee brewed using beans roasted by Hook Coffee (pretty much the same as CAVA) — these are categorised as “Classics” on the menu, as well as special concoctions that are listed in the “Specialty Coffee” section of the beverage menu. For those who are looking for non-coffee beverages, there is also fruit teas and juices offered as well.

Skimming through the items which they have to offer on the menu, the Prawn Katsu Sando does seem to stand out — perhaps because of our love for deep-fried prawn cutlets in general. The Prawn Katsu Sando is described on the menu to come with elements such as toasted bread, crispy prawn katsu, ego mayo, shredded cabbage and fresh dill cheese spread. We felt that the Prawn Katsu Sando wasn’t their strongest item on the menu — on first look, we felt that there was an excessive amount of mayonnaise that was drizzled over the top; it does seem that the mayonnaise is added for a visual factor but we felt that it pretty much clouded much of the flavours of the other elements in the Sando from the start. Otherwise, the entire Sando was fairly decent; we did feel that the crispy prawn katsu itself came with quite a bit of filler within – it does lack chunky bits of prawn and had a consistent texture throughout, though we do applaud on how the crispy prawn katsu does not come feeling particularly greasy so that is something we found that credit should be given when it is due. There wasn’t much that we can really comment on the egg mayonnaise; we do note chunky bits of egg within the egg mayonnaise, but much of its flavours weee already masked from the excessive drizzle of mayonnaise on the top of the Sando — the same can be said about the fresh dill cheese spread as well. The shredded cabbage helps to add a refreshing crunch that provided a break to the other elements, though we didn’t quite like the toasted bread that came with this one — the toasted bread felt rather dry and dense despite all the mayonnaise drenched atop of it; so much that we actually ended up leaving some parts of the toasted bread alone eventually.

Having tried a few items at The Rochdale, we found our experience at The Rochdale being pretty average at best — apart from the Prawn Katsu Sando, we had also given the Chorizo Bolognese with Parmesan a try; this item features pasta “tossed in home-made chorizo spiced beef bolognese sauce”. We felt that the Chorizo Bolognese with Parmesan fared slightly better than the Prawn Katsu Sando; itself being an item that is easier to execute, the pasta came with a tangy tomato-based sauce with a bit of meatiness coming from the minced chorizo that is mixed within — the pasta also done al-dente as well. That being said, the Chorizo Bolognese with Parmesan still falls short of feeling a bit more refined — something that specialty coffee joints have been aiming to achieve for the items that they are serving up these days to give things a bit of an artisanal touch. Between the Dalgona Coffee and the Orange Black that we had opted for, the latter was our preferred cuppa — the infusion of orange definitely provided a zingy, citrusy note that went well with the light fruitiness of the Long Black that serves as its base. Overall, The Rochdale’s items does feel like it would do just well enough for those who are not picky with their food — their offerings do feel a little bit run-of-the-mill, while more discerning tastebuds might actually find their items a little lacking. Prices of the mains at The Rochdale ranges from $11 to $20 — the lowest-priced items coming from the Light Bites section of the menu which includes the Sando priced between $12 and $13, while the priciest items in the menu at $20 would be the Rochdale’s Big Breakfast and Fried Chicken with Waffle from the “The Classics” section of the menu. Whilst not being a place that we will rush back for a return visit, it does seem like a decent spot for those looking for somewhere quiet to hang with a whimsical environment — The Rochdale is most certainly able to impress when it comes to that!