Cafe Kisa is great for brunch, but what about their evening menu?

I’ve been a customer at Cafe Kisa in Auchterarder for many years, but only ever for brunch or coffee. So I felt, given how much I love their daytime menu, that it was only right I try the food on their evening menu. And boy, am I happy I did!

When I told my family that I was heading there for my next review my brother, who is also a long-time patron, jumped at the chance to accompany me. So on a cool autumn evening we went up the street (literally) to catch up on life and enjoy some great food.

Cafe Kisa is a High Street fixture

Set almost bang in the middle of the High Street in Auchterarder, it’s easy to find and as the town’s former Bank of Scotland building, it’s got great presence. There’s a patio area outside (which welcomes dogs) and plenty of space inside – including a great semi-private room for larger groups of diners.

The evening menu is available from Thursday to Sunday and walking into the restaurant for the first time “after dark” it seemed like a completely different space. The lights have been dimmed and as it was night-time the sun wasn’t shining through the large windows that dominate one side of the front of house.

We were warmly greeted and shown to our table by Kirsty, who owns Cafe Kisa with Sam (the chef), and given the lowdown on the night’s specials before perusing the menu, which is varied and offers something to suit everyone.

We decided to do mains and puddings, which upon reflection was definitely the right move because I couldn’t have managed three courses and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the desserts.

The mouth-watering mains

The house pasta at Cafe Kisa in Auchterarder.

Give me a bit bowl of pasta on a cold and dark night and I’m a very happy girl, so for my main course I chose the house pasta (£15.90). It was packed full of chicken, prosciutto, sun-blushed tomatoes and mushrooms, along with a smoked paprika sauce. And just when you thought the bowl couldn’t hold any more, it was topped with rocket leaves dressed with shaved parmesan and a balsamic glaze.

The pasta was well cooked and the ingredients all worked well together, in particular having the dressed rocket was a great way to bring sweet, salty and peppery flavours into the dish without having to add them. It also gave a bit of crunch to the dish. For me, I’d have preferred a bit more of a paprika kick in the sauce but the dish wasn’t lacking without it.

The steak burger with Rob Roy (haggis and Drambuie) topping.

My brother went for the steak burger (£14.95), with the haggis and Drambuie topping, as well as some cheese (£3.80 for the extra toppings). The burger was stacked high and you could see the juices from the burger when it was given a squeeze. The Drambuie sauce was thick and rich and full of flavour, but not of alcohol, and there was plenty of it. The haggis added a bit of spice to the burger and cut the richness of the creamy sauce. The chips were fluffy on the inside and crunchy on the outside and not greasy.

We also shared a cone of onion rings (£3.50), which were golden and the batter was perfectly light and crunchy. But the best part for me (and I’m aware this may just be a big deal to me) is that rather than the onion rings being dumped into the wire cone willy nilly, they were place in with the largest at the top right down to the smallest at the narrow end of the cone. I loved that!

Onto the delicious desserts…

For dessert, my brother pounced on the sweet bao bun with ice cream and chocolate sauce (£7.95) from the specials menu. I’ve never heard of a sweet bao before, so I was intrigued to see it. The bao was light and fluffy with a crispy shell and paired well with the ice cream, although my brother switched the caramel for vanilla ice cream, and the bun was flavoured with cinnamon which countered the sweetness. It was also a good size – not too big, not too small – and look fabulous on the plate.

Meanwhile I went for a classic – warm chocolate fudge cake with ice cream. What I loved about it was that it was the perfect temperature and the ice cream was a good quality vanilla so it wasn’t overly sweet and cut the richness of the moist chocolate cake well. The crumbled biscuit beneath the ice cream gave the whole thing a bit of crunch. And who doesn’t enjoy a puddle of melted chocolate to enjoy as a way to finish a great meal?

The verdict

The attention to detail – in the food, service and surroundings – are what elevates Cafe Kisa. And the fact that they can do what they do during the day and then have a totally different menu at night with equally as good dishes and service proves that the team knows what they are doing and loves doing it.

And now I know how great their evening menu is, I’ll probably be there even more than before!