MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar

Decent hash browns but unevenly salted such that some bites were too salty. Would say to skip the food here and stick to the cocktails

Quite pricey at $4 a piece considering they were the frozen ones (saw the staff thawing and shucking them before serving). But juicy and briny goodness nonetheless

Probably wouldn’t have known about MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar’s lunch deals if not for a standee that was prominently display on the ground level of the shophouse. MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar has been around for quite some time, having been located in the second level of a shophouse unit that is situated along Stanley Street — the door leading to the entrance to the space is actually located in between Paris2Tokyo and then now-defunct Stanley Street outlet of Joji’s Diner (the space is now occupied by Chapter 3; a concept by the same folks behind Armenor located at Seah Street — undergoing renovations at the time of writing). There are some decor at the ground level of the shophouse that hints of MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar’s existence — think signages hanging from the ceiling of the walkway at the shophouse unit on the ground level, as well as neon signages stating “Bar & Cafe Up This Way” which can be found at the foot of the staircase leading up to MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar. The second story shop space is simply decorated, though apt for a winebar — the choice of furnishings being rather haphazard, though still tasteful with cushioned seats and wooden tables; racks containing bottles of alcohol can also be found at one side of the space. The multi-coloured strip lighting may not have much of an effect in the day, though we do reckon that it sets the mood of the space right in the evening. In a move to increase awareness of its existence, MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar serves up a small variety of three dishes during lunch on weekdays from 12nn to 2pm — these items are also sold at $5, and served in takeaway boxes. Their night time menu would comprise of hot and cold food; think items like the Braised Pork Belly Rice Bowl, Chef's Cut Steak, Hyogo Oysters (Half Dozen) etc., while serving up quite a variety of alcoholic beverages segmented into categories such as NEAT Spirits Gin Tonics, Signature Cocktails, Whites, Rosés, Reds, Dessert Wine, Gin, Beer, Whisky and Other Fun Beverages. Non-alcoholic beverages available at MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar can be found in the “SFW” section — mostly comprises of bottled / canned beverages.

We were already informed but the folks at the counter that they had already ran out of the Braised Pork Belly Rice Bowl when we had arrived MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar for lunch — considering how much we have for salted egg dishes served in a tzechar-style format, we went for the Salted Egg Chicken Rice Bowl. The Salted Egg Chicken Rice Bowl is described in the menu to come with elements such as fried chicken thigh bites, salted egg and curry leaf sauce, rice, and kimchi. It is very much a simple item that is made out of very commercially-made ingredients — it can be said as a little uninspiring especially if this was served at a hawker / coffeeshop setting, though for an item that is priced at $5 in such a setting, especially considering to context of how they are doing so to promote their bar operations at night, this was actually rather satisfactory. Little could go wrong with the composition of ingredients here — the fried chicken thigh bites are effectively what one would dub as “popcorn chicken”; these came with golden-brown batter that was crisp and came with a good bite without being particularly greasy. The salted egg and curry leaf sauce, which also accompanies their Salted Egg Crab Rillettes served in the dinner menu, was actually surprisingly good — these came with gritty bits of salted egg and was a good balance of savouriness and creaminess; all that whilst accompanied with crispy curry leaves for a slight contrast of flavours. The only qualm was that we could definitely do with more salted egg and curry leaf sauce for this one; it really isn’t salted egg chicken rice bowl when the chicken chunks aren’t drenched in the sauce. Meanwhile, the kimchi was a good call as a little bit of a twist to the usual cucumbers that we would find in renditions of the same dish served at hawker centres, coffeeshops and food courts; served chilled, it carried a good tang and crunch that cuts through the popcorn chicken and the salted egg and curry leaf sauce.

The $5 lunchtime-only deal at MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar is actually quite a genius idea in a way — whilst it is primarily done in order to promote on their wine bar operations in the evenings, it does provide what office folks would be looking for as a lunch option; a comfortable air-conditioned environment that serves up wallet-friendly fare with no-frills. No doubt the selection of three items on the menu at MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar during lunch hours can be said as quite limited, though they do seem to have two rice dishes and one noodle dish that is a decent variety for patrons to decide on what to go for — this is especially so considering how this isn’t the primary focus of MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar anyway. While the items served up can be a little uninspiring due to the large use of more commercially-available elements to cut down on the labour aspect for a side operation meant to promote its main business, there isn’t much to complain about when the items are charged at $5; extremely affordable for such an establishment to the point that it is comparable to eating at an hawker centre / coffeeshop — it would be rather unreasonable to demand for more. We do think that MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar does have quite an emphasis on their alcoholic beverages though — there are items such as the Old Fashioned Apple Pie in the Signature Cocktails section of the menu and the Mulberry from the NEAT Spirits Gin Tonics section of the menu that piqued our interest. Perhaps it would be great to drop by MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar in the evening some day; but their lunchtime deal is most certainly an effective way to have a sneak peek on what they have to offer.

Owing to my first knowledge of MoonGlow Cafe & Winebar at ArtBox Singapore 2023, I decided to check out their business at Stanley Street.

Being an enclave that sells many less seen Australian labels of wine and spirits, I realised that I was intrigued with the array of bottles on their display shelves.

The owner shared that they were ending a promotion of S$5.00 for a Neat Spirits Mulberry Gin & Tonic, and from the following week onwards at S$8.00 per glass. I enjoyed this as though someone had spiked my Ribena, but who would not like a fruity mix that did not taste like artificial chemicals?

Honestly, though the environment was quiet for a weekend evening, I thought this place stood out as one that carried a different range of alcohol, and they did taste awesome as well.