Gordo Cafe: Regular dishes, but done well...and all with friendly service

Area:  Fushimi station underground shops 伏見駅  at the end of the passageway
Restaurant:  Gordo Cafe  ゴルドカフェ
Website and Info:  http://gordocafe.jimdo.com/

Hours: 7:30am-6pm (LO 5:30pm), closed Sun and Holidays


This kind of looks like an old run down cafe in an old, almost abandoned underground passage way at Fushimi station.  However, it got a good review on Tabeblog, so I decided to try it out on a day when I could make it in time for the 2pm ending lunch service (¥700).  Everyday is a different choice of typical Japanese favorites (the menu is posted weekly on the website) .  Today's choices were either a meat croquette or ankake pasta.  I rarely eat croquette so I went for that.

I was happy that it came with a good volume coleslaw and lettuce.  The coleslaw was actual coleslaw and not just shredded cabbage with dressing.  This one had been marinating and it's the first time I've seen this is Japan.  The cucumbers were seasoned with a sweet vinegar (sunomono).  There was a cold pasta salad seasoned lightly with oil and reminded me of a veggie pasta my mom back home sometimes makes.  

The meat croquette tasted like meat loaf but the texture was more like mashed potato.  It was covered in a sauce made with Worcestershire, a staple in Japan where there is panko crusted food.  The miso soup had pieces of fried tofu, wakame, enoki and a great addition of shiso.
  

The dessert and drink set (an extra ¥100) allows you to choose 2 desserts, or mini sandwich, or onigiri. Desserts included sweets like coffee jelly with anko (red bean paste), and grapefruit or lemon and honey jelly.  I had read about their popular ogura toast sandwich (butter and anko) on the internet, so I picked that one.  It had a lot of anko and could have used a bit more butter!  The white grapefruit jelly was just the right amount of sweetness and the sourness went wonderfully with the cream topping, almost like a creamsicle flavor.  The jelly was soft and melted in the mouth.

The cafe was filled with old men and single young office ladies.  It's good value for the filling meal,  and the soft piano music and vocals playing in the background make this a nice rest place.