Cafes

Joining the local popular bagel brands, it was with much excitement to know of the opening of @thebagelbunchsg near office at Metropolis! Started off as a home-based business, The Bagel Bunch now offers affordable bagel sandwiches of variety for dine-in with limited seating and takeaway.

Comparatively to other bagel joints, the bagels here are sold at wallet-friendly prices with pretty filling portions and indulgent taste. It’s not difficult to realise the Asian elements injected into their flavours such as the Butter Chicken Bonzana and Korean Fried Chicken. Even with The Bagel Brunch that I tried, featured a five-spice bacon, loaded with hash brown, egg, cheese, pickled red onions and scallion cream cheese. Just imagine a hearty breakfast packed in a bagel sandwich. You also get to pick a bagel of your choice from the plain, sesame and cheddar. The chewy cheddar accentuated the overall savouriness, but I’d recommend sharing if you have a small eater.

It was an early Christmas wish come true when I finally got my hands on @aliceboulangeriesg croissants. Famously known for their Bi-colored croissants, I must admit that they are extremely seductive for someone who has a soft spot for French pastries. The disappointment on a previous visit when the croissants were sold out early says it all.

The buttery croissants also came with savory options; egg or chicken Mayo, ham and cheese. While my mind was filled with the sweet selection, the hubs enjoyed the chicken mayo croissant. Stuffed with generous portions of chicken mayonnaise made with shredded chicken, the filling was creamy while exuding a hint of spice from the sprinkled paprika.

Surprisingly, the Gambas ajillo ($18.90) here was quite decent although they aren’t specialised in Spanish food. Served with de-shelled prawns cloaked in a garlic-infused olive oil with some smoky hints of paprika, as well as fried garlic pieces. Mop up the fragrant olive oil with the crusty bread for elevated indulgence!

We also had the crispy cod burger. A large piece of breaded cod fillet, sandwiched between 2 pillowy brioche buns. A realistic imagination of its huge portion, especially the fillet, is that we had to cut the burger layer by later for sharing before stacking them into a full quarter again. The honey mustard Mayo was a tasty dressing that complemented the cod fillet. Served with thick cut fries and grated parmesan.

@theratioinc, famously known for their robot barista and robot-made coffee serves pretty delicious mains as well, in a modern chic setting. What would probably catch every diner’s eye are there Chinese neon characters that represent ‘I feel at ease”, or perhaps to me, was more of a symbolic carefreeness.

One of the mains not to be missed is the seafood laksa cream linguine, which comes with generous servings of fresh tiger prawns, mussels, and squid rings. Adding on to the seafood medley was quite a big dollop of tobiko. The aromatic laksa base was definitely the star, especially since it wasn’t jelak but flavorful.

I have been eyeing on their sandos since the last visit and it’s definitely one of the signatures that I’d highly recommend. It’s no ordinary sando; the thick slabs of Hokkaido pork loin cutlet sandwiched between the milky white bread were so juicy and nicely battered. It was as if I was eating a main dish of Tonkatsu like those served at Ma Maison. To cut through the greasiness, there was also a tangy slaw and gherkins served by the side.

What turned out to be the surprise here was the fries as they had extremely crispy batter, remained crispy even after some time. With its light seasoning, they were really addictive. In fact, they were so good that the dining partner mentioned he didn’t mind dropping by again in future just for the fries!

Reopening at where they first started in Tanjong Pagar, @focr.sg has now returned as Five Oars Coffee Roasters Heritage with a space that is a speakeasy bar at night. With the red brick walls and earthy, woody-toned interior, the Melbourne-inspired cafe exudes a hint of warmth amidst the rustic vibes.

Eyed on the Mentaiko Mac & Cheese that seemed to be a pretty popular side, I knew that I made a right choice when the hearty mix of macaroni, melted cheese and seafood was served. Ahh, that cheese pull. 😍 The umaminess was more than expected especially with the addition of prawn, crab meat and tobiko which helped to elevate the texture with the tobiko popping in your mouth. Surprisingly, we didn’t find the dish overly salty. The only downside was that the macaroni seemed to be a little over cooked and came across slightly hard.

You’d be spoilt for choice if you were to be in the Hamilton Road area these days to pick up pastries considering the number of existing and new bakeries/cafes that have been opening up recently.

On the day of visit to The Lunar Rabbit Boulangerie, it was pretty quiet compared to its competitor on the other side of the road. Unfortunately there wasn’t much pastries left, but I still managed to catch one of their best sellers, the almond croissant. Taking a bite into the flaky buttery croissant, there were whiffs of sweet aroma that was pretty unique to a croissant. Turned out to be the rum-infused almond cream of a delicate sweetness, topped with some almond flakes. The overall balance of the buttery and nutty characters was just right.

Do note that they are a takeaway bakery, although you can have a seat at their small dining area. However, they do not provide any cutlery which caught us off guard. Would be interesting to try out their other pastries the next time such as the Fleur de Framboise.

If you’d like to have some staple food, you might want to give their sushi rice bowls a try. Other than choosing the protein, all rice bowls come with Japanese rice, onsen egg, steamed broccoli, hawker corn, garlic chips and shredded Nori. A hearty and pretty balanced rice bowl, the large miso salmon rice bowl had 2 thick and tender salmon chunks. (Large portion comes with additional 50g of rice and double portion of protein.) Can I just say that the addition of deep fried garlic chips was simply magical? Overall taste was enhanced with its fragrant aroma and slight caramelic sweetness. The disappointment was probably the onsen egg that should have been oozy instead of a solid hard egg yolk and the miso taste was way too mild.

Relatively quiet yet spacious cafe with a glasshouse interior tucked away in a corner of Buona Vista, you’d have to walk a distance from the MRT station to locate the Wilmar International building. With the lush greenery surroundings and natural sunlight peaking through, it’s definitely a place you would want to spend an afternoon at.

The food menu might not seem to be extensive, but it includes a few items in each category of mains, rice bowls and build-your-own-bowl. I had the grilled chicken, which comes with a 200g seasoned chicken thigh, with its skin grilled till crispy while retaining its succulence without being overly greasy. Drizzling of some mustard sauce brought out the meat’s juiciness with its slightly warm yet sharp vinegary punch, that’s uniquely pleasing to the palette. Served along with roasted potatoes and seasoned broccoli for a wholesome meal.

The bakery section which opens from 8am to 4pm, features an assortment of French artisanal bakes that I could hardly resist. Pricing was pretty reasonable. Exhilarated to see them offering Palmier Biscuit. I can’t remember when was the last time I had an impressionable Palmier apart from the famous one by Shanghai Park Hotel’s bakery. Despite reheating it back home, the pastry retained its crisp and butteriness! Easily broken apart for sharing. The house was filled with an aromatic butteriness the moment I opened the oven door. Perfect balance of butteriness and sweetness that I will surely return for.

@henri.com.sg, newly opened French wine bistro on Pekin street by the same owner of Bread & Hearth whose croissant I enjoy too! A splendid place to catch up over coffee and pastries (just like our girls date), that has a vintage French interior, evidently by the floral wallpapers and its wooden furnishings.

While I am not a French cuisine lover, I do have an extremely soft spot for French pastries. The Mille Feuilles Cacahuète Vanille Et Caramel on the dessert menu caught my eye immediately simply because I really love pastries with many layers of puff pastry. Indeed it didn’t disappoint although some might find it pricey for its size, but in addition to the flaky pastry, the vanilla light cream was also the highlight; fragrant, delicate, slightly airy with vanilla beans. Served with peanuts and salted caramel. The taste was, no doubt, an exposition of the use of fine quality ingredients.