The kick in the cup

Do you crave an English breakfast with steaming hot coffee late at night? Perhaps a juicy steak early in the morning is more your thing? No matter what time of day you visit, the Coffee Club on Ekamai Road welcomes you with your favourite meal prepared to perfection.

A coffeehouse-style cafe chain from Australia, the Coffee Club boasts 270 stores outlets in Australia, New Zealand, Egypt and China and Thailand, where it’s under the control of Minor Food Group. After the successful openings of four branches in Phuket and Pattaya, the Coffee Club has now arrived in Bangkok with a new restaurant on the ground floor of Major Cineplex Ekamai.

“The Coffee Club was started by three businessmen who could nowhere to get a good cup of coffee late at night. The first store opened in Brisbane more than 20 years ago offering coffee then an expanded menu and full table service,” says Minor Group’s public relations manager Ardhawadee Jiramaneekul.

The glass-wrapped cafe adorned with dark oak furniture is a relaxing place where you can sip a cup of excellent coffee and look out over bustling Sukhumvit Road. It can accommodate about 80 people and serves everything from all-day breakfasts, sandwiches and pastas, to salads and grills, Thai delicacies and sweet treats. WiFi is free, making it a tempting place to linger and work. 

“While the Big Breakfast featuring chipolata sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and toast is almost synonymous with Coffee Club in Australia, the Eggs Benedict is probably the most popular dish here,” she says. 

The Egg Benedict offers toasted Turkish bread topped with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and your choice of ham, bacon or spinach and mushroom for Bt220 or Bt260 with smoked salmon. If that’s not enough, you can add other options such as hash browns, chips, mushrooms and wilted spinach for Bt60.

Early birds can start their day with the Breakfast Wrap (Bt190), pita bread that’s filled with bacon, scramble egg, mixed lettuce, sliced tomato, Spanish onion and cheese with barbecue sauce and salad on the side.

For a lighter meal, try Caesar Salad for Bt170 with cos lettuce, bacon, Turkish bread, croutons and parmesan cheese tossed with the house’s Caesar dressing then finished with a warm poached egg and anchovies. It’s light and non-creamy so sure to please the Thai palate. 

Meat eaters will enjoy the Petite Mignon with Garlic Prawns (Bt590) featuring beef medallion cut from strip loin and tenderloin and grilled to your preference, from rare to well done, and all stages in between. The filet mignon is served on a bed of mashed potato and topped with grilled prawn together with grilled asparagus and honey carrots. 

If beef is not your thing, try Wild Salmon. The Atlantic salmon fillet brushed with fresh herbs and ginger before grilling. It costs for Bt330 and can be enjoyed with a range of extras such as side salad, vegetables and chips costing from Bt60 to Bt70. 

Thailand’s outlets also boast 13 local dishes, all created by “Iron Chef” master Chumpol Jangprai. Among them are pad thai (Bt145), fried noodles with your choice of chicken or pork and wrapped in banana leaf, and som tum goong (Bt130), spicy papaya salad with lemon grass prawn skewers. 

For a caffeine kick, the cafe's signature blend uses coffee beans from Brazil, Columbia and India each prized for their unique characteristics. 

“The Arabica beans from Columbia give acidity while those of Brazil add fragrance and flavour. The Robusta beans from India are also blended to give strong body. We use this coffee blend as a base for all cups of coffee from hot, cold and frappe,” says barista Tawatchai Moonyong. 

A cup of Flat White (Bt85) – signature blend espresso, topped with textured milk – is perfect to kickstart the day and the Cappuccino (also Bt85) with its light dusting of chocolate is delightfully frothy.

“Half of the secret of getting a good cup of coffee, lies in the skill of a barista while another 30 per cent is from a good coffee blend. The rest comes from serving it at an appropriate temperature. Coffee with milk should be served at between 65 and 72 degrees Celsius while the espresso should be around 88 to 92 degree Celsius,” says Tawatchai.

Straight from India, the milk-infused Masala Chai tea for Bt100 is also worth trying. It is made from black tea spiced with almonds, citrus peel, cloves, rose petals, vanilla pieces and cardamom. The iced frappes with fruity flavours of mango or pine lime for Bt120 are good for a mid-morning refuel or afternoon boost.

 

NOT JUST FOR JAVA

The Coffee Club is located on the ground floor of Major Cineplex Ekamai, Sukhumvit Road. It’s open daily from 7am to 11pm. Call (02) 381 2736.