This confusing cafe is having an identity crisis, but its cheesy snack will pull you in

1 / 13The Colombian cafe occupies a large site on the corner of Chapel and Carlisle streets.Ruby Alexander

2 / 13Empanadas.Ruby Alexander

3 / 13Bandeja paisa: Beans, minced beef, chicharron, chorizo, rice, fried egg, plantain, avocado and a mini arepa.Ruby Alexander

4 / 13Chef Leidy Marcela Perea Infante.Ruby Alexander

5 / 13Pork with guacamole.Ruby Alexander

6 / 13Beef tongue in salsa with avocado, rice and plantain.Ruby Alexander

7 / 13Grilled plantain topped with minced beef and cheese, it's like a jacket potato with buttery roasted banana as the base. Ruby Alexander

8 / 13Ajiaco santafereno, a chicken soup from Bogota, made with three different types of potatoes (red, white and yellow) that collapse into sturdy starch, plus guascas, a grassy herb, then garnished with cream and capers.Ruby Alexander

9 / 13Colombian hot chocolate with cheese.Ruby Alexander

10 / 13 Ruby Alexander

11 / 13Cheese arepa.Ruby Alexander

12 / 13 Arepa with cheese and guava jam.Ruby Alexander

13 / 13Truffles was previously a Polish cafe.Ruby Alexander

Talk about hiding in plain sight. This corner cafe is called Truffles, which gives no clue to the cuisine. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls reveal cabinets piled with sausage rolls, pies and custard tarts. So far, so Aussie. The dark stone tables and chairs in the clean, spacious dining room are nondescript and there’s a picture of Paris on one wall: is that a decoy or pointer? In a side alcove, a communal pine table is spread with today’s papers and elderly locals gather for cappuccinos. And then, all of a sudden, chef Leidy Marcela Perea Infante walks through the dining room, ferrying arepas to one table, empanadas to another. The pennies (pesos?) drop as percussive Latin music surges over the stereo.

Truffles is a huge surprise. A Colombian eatery of rare quality disguised as a workaday neighbourhood cafe.

It makes sense when you learn the back story. Truffles had a Polish menu when Infante joined the team in 2024 and she learnt all the Eastern European specialties. But when the chef decamped after a few months, custom tanked, and Infante started adding dishes from her native Colombia, first as weekend specials, and then as permanent fixtures, getting on the phone to her mum and aunties to check recipes. Last year, the transition was complete: Truffles looks after commuters and locals of all stripes with eggs on sourdough and BLTs, and also draws a growing crowd of South Americans and the Colombia-curious.

I first ducked in for an urgent snack while running errands, lured by a tiny blackboard in the window promising Latin specialties. As soon as my empanada arrived, I knew I was onto something. The corn pastry was crisp and perfectly crimped, its beef, corn and black bean filling generous and fragrant, the aji (a piquant dipping sauce with vinegar, chilli and coriander) a frisky friend. Like almost everything here, it’s gluten-free. On each visit to try more, I’ve been impressed by the quality and care.

Arepas are a sturdy corn pancake, often filled with melty mozzarella. Order the version here that pairs cheese with jammy guava because it treads the sweet-salty line with sticky aplomb.

You can have the cheese-guava combo over grilled plantain too, but I love the iteration with minced beef: it’s like a jacket potato with buttery roasted banana as the base.

Potatoes are a Colombian staple. They’re stuffed with beef, rice and boiled egg to form fist-sized fried papa rellenas. Spuds also star in various soups, including caldo de costilla, a clear, clean beef rib soup with crumbly but creamy whole potatoes.

Now I know this soup is here, I welcome the darkest depths of winter.

Ajiaco santafereno is a chicken soup from Bogota, Colombia’s capital, made with three different types of potatoes (red, white and yellow) that collapse into sturdy starch. This nourishing, comforting soup is threaded with guascas, a grassy herb, then drizzled with cream and piled with capers for salty zing. Now I know this soup is here, I welcome the darkest depths of winter.

The coffee is good but Colombian hot chocolate is more fun. The cinnamon-spiked brew is served with cubes of cheese to dunk, stir and whisk into gooey strands.

Infante told me there’s a typical journey for those new to Colombian food. First, people try arepas. Next, they’re onto empanadas. These become a gateway to papa chorreada, boiled potatoes loaded with tomatoes, onion and cheese. After enjoying all that, diners are spilling with trust, and might even go for tender beef tongue smothered in hot tomato salsa, or hearty “mute” soup with tripe.

I’d love to see this cafe embrace its new identity when budget and brain space allow, rebranding perhaps, and sending louder signals about the offering. The food here is so good, Truffles shouldn’t remain hidden, unearthed only by those with a nose that knows.

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