The Lokal - Brunch

 Went for a really satisfying post call brunch at the Lokal. It's a hipster cafe located at Neil road just opposite the Pinnacle at Duxton and Bukit Pasoh Road.

Most of us had the pick and mix breakfast - I personally think it's an awesome idea, since I am really fussy about food and whenever I order the 'big breakfast' there will bound to be stuff that I don't eat (i.e. baked beans, bacon, hash brown etc)

I had the poached eggs - egg were slightly overcooked (if I remember correctly). I don't see why the bread (I picked sourdough, but there's a choice of rye or pumpernickel) costs $4.50.
I really liked

Since their ricotta was made from scratch, I definitely had to try it. I haven't eaten ricotta cheese for the longest time, but it went really well with my bread.

 Their maple smoked bacon - super crispy, nitrite free cos it's made in house. I'm still not a fan of bacon though these tasted more like spam fries (minus the salt).

 The scrambled eggs, which looked lovely and not overdone.

The most impressive dish of the day was the French toast, which came topped with a huge dollop of maple cream (super delicious) and bacon. The French toast was nothing short of spectacular - the brioche was fluffy, buttery and not soggy. 

I would strongly recommend everyone trying this dish - if you're a savoury breakfast person like me, just share it with your friends!

The Lokal
136 Neil Road
Tel 64239918
Monday - Friday 9am to 6pm
Saturday - Sunday 9am to 4pm

Croute

Went for a post call brunch at Croute, which is the sister restaurant of the now defunct Hummerstons (which serves delicious poutines). It's located in a very very sleepy Valley Point, which has so many renovations. I don't know why people go there cos there's hardly anything to do (besides to do yoga). 

Actually, Croute only opened at 10, so we went over to Lins Smoodees first (legs too tired after not sleeping the whole night). Of course, after eating, we have negated all the antioxidant benefits of the green smoothie...

 I had the pulled pork sandwich, which had really nicely marinated pork, coleslaw and a crusty bread. Not bad ( I think this was about $13 or $14?) though it was a bit messy to eat cos of all the sauce.

Extremely messy I must emphasise - I was eating like a barbarian with my hands...

 The bread platter was better than expected - we were crazy over that green dip in the middle, which is actually edamame with truffle oil. Who would have guessed that such a combination would be so heavenly! If I have the luxury of time, and not have to sleep early, I would love to  have to buy a jar of this stuff home, lie on my sofa and watch a good movie.

The other dips were not bad, but compared to the edamame dip, paled in comparison. The babaganoush (eggplant) dip was not bad. The hummus was too garlicky for my liking (if you're looking for good hummus I would suggest Pita Pan, which has awesomely creamy hummus)

The truffle carbonara pasta looked really strange, with the egg being more of a scrambled egg - but taste wise it was tasty, with lots of truffle and mushroom.

Croute (by Hummerstons)
#01-11 Valley Point
491 River Valley Road
Tel9740781
Monday to Sunday 10am to 8pm

Spathe - Brunch

I dropped by Spathe for a Saturday brunch as I was running errands nearby, and it seemed to have pretty good food reviews online.

Their menu - like Kilo, the menu was different from the one online. I don't know why these places don't update their websites in this day and age...

We had the eggs ben and the eggs royale. Portion was good, and the garlic fries were awesome.

My Croque Madame - which was pretty good - soft bread, enough béchamel sauce to keep everything moist but not soggy, lots of cheese and a runny sunny side up egg. And of course, the wonderful garlic fries.

The eggs benedict - with lovely garlic fries - bursting with crispy brown minced garlic. You can probably tell how much I like the garlic fries here - I'm not a big fan of plain french fries, but toss on some flavourings and I'll be unable to resist them.

The hard boiled yolk in the poached egg. Very consistent as all the yolks from all 4 of the poached eggs were hard boiled. Since we were sharing, I got 1 egg. I probably would have returned my eggs if I had to eat 2 hard boiled eggs.

Our sticky toffee pudding. The pudding itself isn't bad per say, but I really prefer my gold standard Maramalade pantry sticky date and toffee pudding. I'm definitely biased.

Again the service was a letdown - we asked if the sticky toffee pudding comes with ice cream (as being the ice cream junkies we were, we absolutely needed ice cream with it). Our server said no, it only comes with whipped cream. So we topped up a scoop of ice cream (chocolate hazelnut) and told the server that it was specifically cos there was no ice cream with the toffee pudding.

Of course, the ice cream had to come out a good 15 minutes before the toffee pudding. We sent it back cos we didn't want it all melted when the toffee pudding came.

And when it finally came out, there was a heaping huge scoop of hokeypokey ice cream on top! We called the manager over and returned the chocolate hazelnut ice cream - doesn't make sense for me to pay another $6 for ice cream since the toffee pudding already comes with it.

Extremely exasperating end to the meal.

The food's above average, prices average, service poor. I'm not sure if I will come back - I suppose if you have a whole load of patience, by all means, do come and give the food a try, it's really quite decent for the price.

Spathe 
#01-01
8 Mohamed Sultan Road
Tel 67351035
Daily 11am to 11pm

Penny University

 Penny University is one of the many brunch cafes popping up like mushrooms. It was pretty darn crowded on a weekend morning, and we had to wait about 20min for  a seat. It's a self service counter, so you have to secure a table first, then queue up to order your food, which will then be served to you.

Their brunch menu - pretty simple, and prices are reasonable. 

 I had the Turkish Eggs ($8) which comes with whipped yogurt, 2 poached eggs, olive oil, and harissa sauce. There was some confusion over the harissa sauce when I asked the cashier what exactly it was. It's this very strong smelling spice (ah the wonders of Wikipedia). Topped up $3.50 for the smoked salmon.

 I also had the lemon strawberry tart. It was really good, especially the tart base. I found the lemon filling a little bit too tart and not as creamy as I would have liked, but the strawberries and the flamed cream made it a bit more interesting. I still like Marmalade Pantry's heavier Lemon Brûlée tart more than this one.

It's places like these which make me wonder why I should pay so much (like $20++) for brunch elsewhere. And the standard is still pretty okay.

Btw the Snickers tart tastes exactly like Group Therapy's! I wonder if they share the same supplier??

Needless to say, the food was not bad (considering the prices). But I couldn't enjoy it cos of my unfortunate luck of being seated opposite some 6-7 year old kid and his grotty parents. The kid was sick and vomited over the saucer and the table and the floor (it was chunky and brown btw). His parents stopped eating, moved the kid away (who said he was feeling fine!). The waitress then brought some paper towels over.And the parents just cleaned the kid up. And left the chunky brown vomit festering on the table for the next 15 minutes. Waiting for the waitress to clean it up! If your dog poops in the park don't you clean it up? (Poor unfortunate waitress - you could see the disgust on her face - I don't blame her - she came back wearing disposable gloves).

Plus I thought it was damn inconsiderate cos it was a communal table and EVERYONE had to smell and stare at his chunky vomit. They didn't even have the decency to at least use a napkin to cover up the vomitus. Gross max. The kid was perfectly fine after vomitting, and the parents could even finish up their meal. So it wasn't as if the kid was so septic and sick and lolling around that they were 'busy'.

Note to self - to try to avoid communal tables next time! Btw the communal table is this very rustic woody looking table with lots of ridges (like a tree trunk). I'm sure some of the vomit is still embedded in some of the ridges there. Yucks.

Penny University
402 East Coast Road Singaproe 428997
Tel 9008 9314

Kith - Quayside Isle Sentosa

Postcall brunch at Kith at Quayside Isle - I wanted to go to Coastes initially, but it rained and the sand would have been soggy. Main aim was to get a bit of fresh air and relax a bit before concussing on my bed. 

Smoked salmon paired with caviar sounded way too good to pass up for breakfast, so it was the obvious choice (for me, at least). The beans were pretty good considering I'm not a baked beans fan. Poached egg was so so - one of mine had a perfect yolk, the other was overcooked. It's not bad, I think it was around $18 or $20.

Of course, after spending the last 24h in aircon, it's always good to get a bit of fresh air, but along with the nice fresh air, there were annoying flies and random insects (one of which got stuck in my avocado mayo - gross). 

I quite like the strawberry smoothie here - not too sweet, and the yogurt taste is pretty strong too. 

Kith

#01-08 QUayside Isle

31 Ocean Way

Singapore

Tel 67349007

Daily 8am to 10pm

La Ristrettos

I've been back to La Ristrettos twice since my first visit in January this year, even though it's really nearby the whole idea of communal seating bugs me (I don't want to hear other people's conversations and I don't want them to listen to mine). Plus I'm not a coffee-drinker, so other than the food and hot chocolate, there's no additional draw for me.

They were having a special crab cake dish the last time I visited. Nicely poached egg, on top of half an avocado, crab cake, wilted spinach and rosti. Very daintily assembled. The crab cake was nice and crispy, with lots of tender crab meat and spices inside.  It's reasonably priced at $14. No hidden GST or service charge. I hope they put it in their menu permanently. It's a perfect mid-afternoon tea/snack (but I do know people who will be extremely full after this - it's a matter of perspective).

The panini cotoletta ($11) is the other dish I've tried - it's a generous serving of breaded deep fried chicken, avocado, cheese and a side salad. Very satisfying and perfect for brunch.

Plus, since it's hidden in the recesses of Novena Medical centre, there's much less human traffic after the breakfast and lunch peak hours, and if you go there in the late afternoon, it's nice and quiet, and the scenery is really calming and peaceful - nice bamboo garden with water channels.

La Ristrettos
10 Sinaran Drive #08-37 Singapore 307506
Novena Medical Centre
Tel 63977165

Cafe Gavroche

Tried Cafe Gavroche on Julie's recommendation - it's a very prettily decorated French cafe at Tras street - with a very nice skylight in the middle. Makes you feel as if you're not in Singapore. 

Smoked salmon eggs benedict ($25)
Prices were a bit steep for the amount of food, though I must say that it was very well executed - perfectly poached eggs, thick Hollandaise sauce and lots of salmon. It could do with a bit more Hollandaise sauce. The potatoes were pretty impressive - nicely seasoned with crispy edges.

I must have gone to Cafe Gavroche when the chef was having a bad day, cos I seem to be the only one who wasn't impressed by the Croque Madame. Every online review has raved about the Croque Madame, and it even made it to the 50 things to eat before you die in Singapore list -.-

Unimpressive Croque Madame ($18)

Gyurere cheese and ham I can taste, but where was the bechamel sauce? No doubt the two thick slices of white bread was cottony soft and fluffy, the egg nicely cooked and still runny, but it was very dry. I might consider revisiting but it's such a pain to get to Tras street especially on weekdays.

Fromage Blanc with Apricot Compote ($8)

I first tried Fromage Blanc at Frensh (which is now closed - used to be my fave store to go for tartines).
Its a simple French dessert, made from fresh cheese and usually a fruit jam. It's pretty similar to greek yogurt, very thick, creamy and slightly sourish (but less so than yogurt). I really liked this dessert, but my other dining companions thought that it was very underwhelming.

The dessert of the day was creme brulee ($11) comes in a nice shallow dish, so that there's more surface area for the burnt sugar.

Very smooth and luscious. Tastes as good as Au Petit Salut's.

The whole time I'm thinking of Kitchenette (not sure if they've raised the prices cos I haven't been there for eons, but I'll be re-visiting them in the first week of Nov!). It's a nice cafe especially if you work in the CBD area, but it's a bit out of the way for me, and the parking here is really a pain. 

Cafe Gavroche

69 Tras Street, Singapore 079005

Tel 62254869

The Plain

Tried this Australian style cafe after reading a glowing review in the newspapers (a few months back, just that I'm a professional procrastinator and didn't blog about it). We must have trudged up and down Craig road at least 5 times and walking past the cafe even more times before we actually found it. And to think that we parked at Craig place which is literally opposite the Plain.
Trudging up and down in Singapore's weather makes one extremely hot and thirsty. And in want of airconditioning. They're coffee is supposed to be fantastic but too bad I don't drink coffee except for the occasional ice blended ones... So instead, this is the iced chocolate with real chocolate painted onto the sides of the glass. Not bad but I've defnitely had better.
Their speciality is their sourdough bread with a variety of toppings. We tried their Dean's breakfast - poached eggs on melted cheese & vegemite on sourdough toast. Being a fan of vegemite and cheese, I quite liked this dish though the stingy in me thought of ways to obtain sourdough bread and make it in the comfort of my home...

We also had the Darling's eggs. It's poached eggs with ham, cheese & roma tomatoes on sourdough toast.

I preferred the Dean's breakfast cos of the vegemite but I think it would be supberb to have everything on one like a full house sandwich i.e. cheese, vegemite, tomatoes, ham and eggs all stacked on top of each other :P

The chilled Fruit salad came with a bright and colourful array of fruits, and a side of honey-infused yogurt.

The concept and decor really reminds me of Fourty Hands. If it was nearer my house, I won't mind going to the Plain again but it's really a pain to queue up fro food on a nice weekend morning as the cafe is extremely popular and the seating is very limited.

The Plain Cafe

50 Craig Road #01-01
http://www.theplain.com.sg/

PS Cafe at Ann Siang Hill

I'm not a big fan of PS cafe, but after visiting their branch tucked away in a quiet corner at Ann Siang Hill, I'm now a convert! The decor is so quaint and plush it feels as if I've stepped back into time. Best of all, it's not overrun by hyperactive screaming kids (unlike the Dempsy one where there are SCREAMING kids) so it's a perfect place to chill and catch up!I had the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and avocado. There's wilted spinach under tha pile of lovely goodness and the muffin is spread with cream cheese. Delicious! The hollandaise is really good - thick, creamy with a slight tinge of sourness. Chorizo sausage breakfast with foie gras and scrambled egg whites and a sourdough bread. It's a really hearty breakfast and the sausage is really tasty and mildly spicy.

Vanilla pancakes with whipped cream (the delicious fatty kind not the one that comes from a cannister!) and freshly chopped mint leaves. Topped with poached berries and maple syrup! YUM! These pancakes have similar consistency and texture to the macdonalds pancakes (whic are my 'gold standard' for pancakes). I liked how they added creshly chopped mint to the whipped cream.And these are strawberry vanilla pancakes so there's slices of strawberries in them :D
What better way to end the meal than to have a towering plate of truffle fries... Yellow is the cheerful feeling that you get when you sit in front of a pile of these :D The Truffle fries here come with fresh grated parmesan cheese. If Macdonalds served this, I would have a heart attack in an instant...

On a side note, after brunch, I had to RUSH down to my car cos my carpark coupon had expired about 30min ago and the carpark attendant was FINING people. It was such a relief when I reached my car and the attendant was 5 cars away. Whew! Saved myself a massive fine which would have to come out from my food allowance....

45 Ann Siang Road
#02-02
Singapore 069719
T:(+65) 6222 3143

Graze @ One Rochester

Went to Graze for Sunday Brunch quite a few weeks ago I had my default Eggs Benedict ($19++)- I can hardly ever resist having this dish if it's on the menu cos I really like hollandaise sauce. The Eggs benedict at Graze comes with either ham, smoked salmon and chives or spinach and mushrooms. They were rather stingy on the hollandaise sauce - see how the sauce on my second egg hardly covers the top of it. I requested for more sauce and the waitress said that I would have to pay for a top up. To which I protested cos the portion is really stingy. Fortunately, she returned with a small bowl of it, much to our delight. And at no further cost either.

The Old fashioned pancake stack ($14++) comes with crispy bacon, bananas and lots of dipping sauces. Honey, maple syrup and chocolate sauce, as well as a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pancakes are thick and fluffy, not overly floury and it was really delicious. If I had to recommend a dish, I would definitely recommend this cos it was unanimously the best dish of the meal.
The Spanish omelette ($19++) is a rather small thin omelette with chorizo, bell pepper and smoked cheddar. I suppose tha the chorizo is the most expensive part of the omelette (I just went to Cold storage the other day and 2 pieces of chorizo costs $14+) so I supose that is why this omelette is more expensive. Recommend this for people with little appetites...
The corned beef hash ($24++) which I didn't try...

A dissappointing dish was the cinnamon and raisin butter toast ($7++) served with some kind of jam. It looked like it came from one of those packets of buns from Cold Storage... Really very ordinary and I would defnintely not order this again.

The service here can really be improved. Somehow I get the vibe that the entire crew is extremely unhappy and this somewhat marred the dining experience. Even more so since the food is nothing much to shout about, and prices aren't exactly the cheapest around... In view of this, I would very much rather recommend other branch places, since there is an abundance of these brunch places popping up all over.

Then again, if you're into alcoholic drinks, their Sunday Brunch has some alcoholic drinks like the Mimosa (and some other drink, I think a Bloody Mary?) at a mere $6 (If I am not mistaken) top up with some brunch sets. Which makes it really worth it but it's a pity I don't like oranges and they won't serve it with any other juice, which I thought was really ridgid and inflexible. The ambience is really nice, just like all other restaurants at One Rochestor. If you're not scared of the heat and the UV radiation, I would highly recommend sitting outside in their nice garden setting. They have a pond with lots of fishes, lush greenery with lots of bamboo (my fave plant ever!). But being true Singaporeans, we hid from the humidity and sat indoors;P

Graze @ One Rochester

4 Rochester Park

Tel: +65 6775 9000

TWG Brunch

Previously, the only sad choice for tea in the heart of Orchard used to be Royal Copenhagen but their desserts leave much room for improvement. TWG's dining does come with a hefty price tag though - if you're willing to blow about $40++ on brunch, this is definitely the place to splurge your money on. Not to say that the food is fantastic, but just the ambience and the vibe makes it worth it. The interior is decorated like those opulent quaint hotels/restaurants with lots of gold embellishments.

Since we were feeling indulgent and thanks to work the weekend brunches are few and far between, we decided that it was well worth the splurge to try TWG since it looked so nice (lol I'm superficial when it comes to restaurants!)

Breakfast sets aren't available on weekends, so the only choices are the brunch and the lunch. Sadly, we were an hour away from lunch so we ended up having their brunch. (Not a bad thing but I'd rather come back for their tea time sets which look extremely yummy!)

I had the Gourmet Brunch set ($40++) which comes with a TWG tea ($11++ ala carte), Freshly squeezed apple/orange juice (I had the apple juice, which has a nice rosy hue), Scrambled eggs (Fresh Farmhouse eggs scrambled with a choice of Matcha green tea, pure saffron threads or white alba truffle oil). No prizes for guessing which one I chose.

I didn't quite like the eggs cos they were a bit too watery and clumpy for my liking. The eggs were served with smoked salmon (one thin piece) and a mixed salad of tender spinach shoots and marinated shrimp. Again, not very impressive.

My set also came with French Brioche toasts served with TWG tea jelly. I didn't particularly enjoy my toast as it was slightly too dry and a bit too crispy for my liking. I still like Wild Honey's Brioche best.

Each of the brunch sets came with a TWG tea patisserie from the tea trolley (urgh forgot to take a photo of it cos I was too busy deciding which one to eat!) It's really fun peering into their dessert trolley and choosing a pastry cos everything looks so nice...

The Midsummer Brunch ($40++) set comes with a TWG tea, juice, a Summer Quiche - warm rustic French style vegeterian quiche filled with seasonal vegetables an served with a light cream sauce, garden salad (don't you just like their descriptions? Makes you feel like eating everything!) and a 'Choice of 2 freshly baked muffins or scones' as well as a TWG tea patisserie.

I'm not a big fan of quiche so that quiche tasted rather passable to me. It's a generous serving and quite a thick size quiche.
My lousy angled shot of the 3-tiered tray which had our Brioche toast and the scones. The scones at TWG are lovely. In fact, for 2 weeks after that especially while on call (all my cravings hit when I am on call) I was longing for the lovely buttery scones which are dainty and small and studded with sweet raisins. They're served warm with butter, tea jelly and whipped cream.

The tea jelly is probably made with apple juice cos there was a pleasant apple flavour.

Paired together, the tea jelly and scone are spectacular and I would return just for them. The texture is moist and soft, and yet sturdy enough to pile on lots of tea jelly and whipped cream.

Their tea comes in a nice tea pot which has a layer of insulation so that your tea stays piping hot while you spend your time chatting. Do note that they don't do tea refills (the teapot doesn't have any tea leaves just the ready made tea).

When we were there, we must have stretched our server's memory cos we simply had such a difficult time deciding from the array of tea choices (one whole menu filled with numbers - and no descriptions so we had to ask our server to describe the nicer sounding ones). In fact, I've forgotten what kind of tea I drank (lol!) but I know it's a green tea... I really can't imagine the amount of time the servers spend memorising their tea menu! Worse than memorizing dictation...

Our tea pastry - this one is a cheesecake with a green tea base. I can't really remember what it's called but it was nice and creamy and the bitter green tea base offset the richness of the cream cheese layer.

Some chocolate dessert we chose (I actually cannot remember the name) but perhaps it was cos I was already full so there was diminishing returns and the dessert isn't outstanding enough for me to remember much about it.

If there's room for improvement, the dessert department needs some serious working on, especially on the presentation. Our second chocolate pastry was collapsing onto itself. I'm not too sure if it was too warm in the restaurant but it looked quite sorry by the time it reached our table. Other than that, the meal was realy pleasant and I'd definitely be back for some scones and to soak up the nice ambience :D

TWG Tea Salon and Boutique

Ion Shopping Mall

2 Orchard Turn

#02 - 21Singapore 238801

http://www.twgtea.com/