[CLOSED] Babba

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♦️𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 (𝑾𝑬𝑩𝑺)♦️

Babba is a new addition to Jalan Riang, a stretch of eateries hidden within an enclave of landed houses nearby Serangoon MRT Station. Cafe by day and Peranakan restaurant by night, I popped by for breakfast.

The breakfast/ brunch menu is pretty lean, with only six items on offer. The Homemade Kaya Butter Toast & Eggs has been doing the rounds on social media, but I was loathe to pay $12 for something you can get at a kopi tiam for under $4. It's just kaya, folks, not Japanese A5 Wagyu beef.

I picked the 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 ($8), which came with a choice of toast (I had the Sourdough) and eggs (I chose scrambled). The 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 was well toasted, with crispy edges and a fluffy centre. The 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝗴𝗴𝘀 were divine, fantastically fragrant and creamy.

To beef it up, I added a 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 ($6), 𝗦𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 ($5) and some 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗻 (3 pcs, $5.50). The sausage was ok, while I liked the earthiness of the mushrooms. The undisputed star, however, was the bacon. Other places serve paper-thin slices of bacon that are overly greasy, but Babba's bacon was THICK and not oily at all. It was seductively scrumptious.

I also ordered the 𝗘𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼 ($4.50) but it was too acidic and sour for my liking. Overall I loved the food at @babba.sg and would like to try the dinner menu, although the prices tend to be on the steeper side.

𝐁𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐚
15-9 Jalan Riang
Singapore 358987

Fried Chicken Burger ($26)
- Upgrade to house fries ($4) - the fries basically came with more seasoning compared to the default fries - the default ones were alr good enough tho. This burger came with kicap glazed chicken thigh, which wasn't as crispy as expected.

Overall quite an average fair, but thought the dinner menu might be better (?) since it's more focused on the peranakan flavours/ dishes.

Pulled beef rendang, fried shallots, pickled cucumbers, brioche bun, sour cream. The beef rendang was really tender and slightly fatty, but I personally would prefer to pair the meat with rice, rather than with other sauces in a burger, as I don't get to savour the meat's flavours fully. The fries were really crispy and well-seasoned tho!

For those who are interested in peranakan food, @babba.sg serves up such dishes, and have brunch, pre-dinner, and dinner menus for different times of the day.

We on a weekend afternoon and tried their brunch menu, with each of us picking one main each.

Dry Laksa Pasta ($26)
Hokkaido scallops, tiger prawns, fried beancurd puffs, Spaghetti, curry leaves. I actually quite liked their fried beancurd puffs, which had a good dry laksa flavour! If you're a fan of dry laksa pasta in general, you'll probably enjoy this.

This cost $14 in total as I topped up $1 to make it a premium pistachio. The pistachio ice cream is thick and I recommend ordering to try if you love pistachio. As for the waffle, it's crispy and freshly made. But I don't really taste the presence of a strong pandan fragrance. It's a good effort considering Babba isn't a dessert place but a cafe. If you don't wanna head down to Wimbly Lu a few doors away then I think it's an ok dessert. Not really the best. It's just something ok to share at the end of a meal. In short the pistachio ice cream is ok and the waffles is normal lah.

This salad tastes exactly like the usual Burrata salads in most cafes. The Burrata tastes exactly like your average Burrata. At $18 a plate, it's between ok-abit expensive because I do feel that Burratas in general are quite expensive in most places, even NTUC.