Coffee Quest #7: Pikuniku
Recently opened cafe Pikuniku is currently exploding with customers as it's the latest to be on the fusion cafe trend. People really love their Japanese blend dishes, and I went with my partner to check it out.
They use Be Specialty beans (who recently had their logo changed). I got my usual flat white, and my partner got hers with oat milk.
It's a dark and burnt blend. It almost reminds me of what children think coffee tastes like--a bitter drink that makes you go "ewgh!" after you drink it. My partner enjoys dark roasts, so she was fine with it, but I felt there was very little interesting flavour to be had. The aroma is also your regular chocolate and malt, so it's nothing special to write home about.
That being said, Pikuniku isn't famous for their coffee, but their food.
1. Miso Hollandaise Eggs Benedict (on Croquettes) with Pork Belly
Extremely expensive for what you're getting. Also, I'm personally not a big eater so this dish was enough to fill me up, but I want to stress that this is quite small in comparison to other eggs benedicts. And if you're going to charge me this price for this fusion dish, you'll need to actually justify it. Unfortunately, the miso hollandaise did not taste of miso. The poached eggs could be better. And replacing a nice muffin/sourdough/potato gratin with cheap japanese fried croquettes might fool someone new, but I've lived in Japan before and this was altogether disappointing.
Pork belly was okay. Parts of it was soft, other parts felt too tough and stringy. I personally would've braised it longer.
Here's a cross section if you don't know what a croquette is. It's basically deep fried mash potatoes with something extra mixed in (corn and peas in this case).
2. Eggs Your Way
Compared to Fields Cafe's excellent fusion chilli scrambled egg dish, this one was just scrambled eggs on a sourdough. My partner remarked that this was also the smallest sourdough slice she's had for this kind of dish (indeed, most things in Pikuniku seem to be smaller despite their high price), it also didn't smell or taste that nice. The tomato relish lacked standout notes.
So the food wasn't very great, however, I did quite enjoy their pastries.
3. Mango Jam and Vanilla Cruffin
Surprise! This croissant muffin had a very nice texture variation, with the outside being delightfully crispy (although coated in too much sugar). A nice mango jam filled out the inside, and it was fun to spread it over the sliced cruffin pieces. The person at the counter advised us to heat it up, and my partner really enjoyed it. This one felt different and distinct enough from the other (notably less interesting) cruffins I had.
4. Supreme Pistachio Roll
This one is served cold. After I cut it, my partner poked at the pastry and said "does it feel dry to you?" I agreed, however, biting into it proved a different story. Certainly, the texture feels dry when you slice it with a knife, but the inside was still nice and moist.
They gave a generous bunch of pistachio chunks, but I felt weren't very fresh. They lacked crunch and had lost most of their flavour. The raspberry candy bits gave a fresh fruity spark when I encountered them. The interior is piped with pistachio cream which isn't very sweet and allows everything else their chance to shine. While I enjoyed it, I'm not sure I would have it again. It's a novelty item, for sure.
Overall Thoughts
It's too hyped up. Especially given that you have to line up to get in, and the place is overwhelmingly jam-packed and loud. Pikuniku's venue used to be a quiet florist shop before they went out of business, and now the cafe itself doesn't feel like it was built to handle this amount of people nor noise.
The fusion food is also underwhelming. Sure, for some it might be the only place they can get omurice, but my partner's sister who had it said it wasn't that great either. I'd give this place a skip given the effort and money you'll have to spend just to get something average back.
Still, the japanophile audience is going to find heaps to love here, and I wish them all the best.