Kafe Kooks takes roti for a creative spin in Ultimo

​When eating at Kafe Kooks, it takes you on multiple stopovers throughout Asia, so it's apt Bali is where its story begins. 

"I was sitting in this little cafe serving roti in different formats," recalls Andrew Ray, Kafe Kooks' owner.

He was taken with the many versions of the golden-crisp flatbread being served up, variously flavoured with egg, cheese, Spam and other ingredients. It contrasted with what he'd typically tried in Indonesia. 

"It made me realise there's so much more to roti," he says. "Everyone looks at it as [just] a side dish to a curry."

At Kafe Kooks, which opened last June and is named as a tribute to David Bowie, roti is reshaped in inventive, border-crossing ways. "Roti is so multicultural, it's so mixed, you can do so much with it," he says. 

Associated with India since the 1600s, the flatbread has also been assigned other birthplaces, such as Persia, Egypt and East Africa.

Kafe Kooks, however, is mapped by the owner's international carb-enjoying memories, as well as his hospitality career. "If you go to Malaysia, you get the roti canai, which is the flaky roti with the curries," says Ray. It might be levelled up with cracked eggs (telur) or stuffed with onions (bawang) and Kafe Kooks offers versions with house-made sambal. It even channels Turkey with a spinach and feta flavour resembling gozleme. 

There's also Thai-inspired madtarbak, which Ray first encountered while working at Melbourne's Chin Chin. When he was Long Chim's general manager, the Perth outpost presented a tuckshop version of this roti style. Its parcel-like configuration sees Kafe Kooks interpreting cafe classics in madtarbak form – think Reuben and tuna sandwiches.

Notice the roti coins? Ray compares them to an American biscuit or Australian scone, but Singapore and Malaysia are where he tried them. Kafe Kooks reinterprets them for a brunch crowd, nicely topped with avocado, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and dried chilli, drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

He calls the sarang burung ("a Penang street breakfast dish") the cafe's version of fried eggs on toast. But because it's encased in a sprawling roti ring, it's even better. If you're vegetarian, ask for the Hainanese chilli sauce in place of the default Malaysian sambal, which has punchy shrimp paste.

Eggs with soldiers are upgraded by serving roti strips you dunk into yolky goo that's well-seasoned with soy sauce drizzles and white pepper sprinkles. "They do dippy eggs in Singapore," says Ray, whose partner is from there. Having a local interpretation is a joy. 

The roti wraps also roam the world, from the geographically compatible gado gado (which tucks the Indonesian egg salad inside rolled flatbread) to the somehow-it-works option of Greek souvlaki with garlic yoghurt. 

Credit roti master Suresh Rajandran for the sturdy, golden dough that envelopes everything. "He's Malaysian and he's grown up in family restaurants making roti," says Ray, who spent four months making hundreds of failed versions, before Rajandran showed him what he was doing wrong.

Ray also searched Bangkok's Chinatown for roti pans he first saw at Long Chim and dragged their 22-kilogram weight back to Australia. "Then Suresh said to me, you don't need them, you just need a flat grill." They came with the cafe.

If you need something to wash down the roti, don't miss the excellent iced coffee, which is creamy with in-house vegan coconut soft serve and buzzes with a double shot of Genovese Super Brazil espresso. 

For those with a sweet tooth, there are dessert roti inspired by Thai streetside and beach carts, but given local twists. They're originals, with international roots, and show how shape-shifting roti can be: a perfect snapshot of what Kafe Kooks does. 

The low-down

Kafe Kooks

Vibe Kafe Kooks stretches roti into many forms – from brunch-style remixes to desserts drizzled with coconut condensed milk or studded with crushed nuts. 

Cost About $40 for two, plus drinks