Everyone’s heard the expression too many cooks spoil the broth, but here’s another one, too many dishes confuse the cook. This seems to be the case with Mint Balcony, a small coffee shop cum restaurant that suffers from trying to offer a little bit of everything. Despite its relatively small size it has a huge menu that spans the globe from Mexican and German to Italian and Thai. The result is a number of OK but ultimately bland dishes. It also seems to place a strain on the kitchen’s resources as dishes like the liver pate with crispy bagel and grilled German sausages were both off the menu last time we dropped by. It’s a shame because we want to like it more; the staff are pleasant if not very proactive, and the décor is certainly cute and clean. There are nice touches like the terracotta pots and comfy bench sofas filled with floral print cushions. They also have a pleasant deck area; but why you’d want to sit out next to this busy soi is beyond us. For starters, the beef or pork tacos match the cuteness: small crispy taco triangles piled with minced meat topped by balls of grated cheese. The sweet salsa that accompanies them won’t blow you away, but it’s a tasty dish. The spinach au gratin also looks appealing but the cheesy parcels end up a little bland and greasy. It’s a similar story with the uninspiring stir fried Hong Kong-style chicken and even the deep fried soft shell crab in curry sauce, while generous, could benefit from a bit more kick. They do redeem themselves with the crispy morning glory salad. The accompanying sauce is deliciously thick and packed full of shrimps and shallots. For dessert, we recommend the vanilla ice cream; shame they had run out on our last visit. We had to make do with a rather icy coconut alternative with a tasty brownie. The strawberry crepe cake looks just as good but despite a zesty sauce ends up being a little plastic. A couple of final hiccups: no booze available and a 10% service charge, rather an unwanted extra in these tough times. No corkage charge.
