VXX CO-OPERATIVE

It's been another eat and eat week for me. I spent TGIF buying LeCastella cheese cake and April's Bakery Thai tarts. I like the Thai Tarts a lot better than the cheese cake but I know of friends who like the opposite. There's a market for everything I guess. I spent my weekend indulging in Crabs at the ParkRoyal Hotel Spice Brasserie. They are having a Crab Buffet now till 30th June and it's much better than the Penang St Buffet at Causeway Point. Quite an affordable way to indulge in crabs. You can see photos of the Crab Buffet here.

This week, I'm doing a throwback post. Been wanting to write about VXX Co-operative because I enjoyed my experience there. This visit was actually done on the week where I came back from Rome but Food in Rome stole its limelight. VXX Co-operative is largely known for its coffee and affordable food. One of the key highlights of the place is the selection of roasted coffee they carry and if unsure, you can always get the staff to introduce some to you.

Vain Pot and I settled for two mains which we mutually agreed on. It's pretty much 'our kind of thing'. Our selection of Crab Omelette ($14) and Porcini Mac and Cheese ($17) really did give me a highly rated opinion of this place. At first glance, the Crab Omelette looks charred and overcooked. Taking a bite inside revealed chunks and chunks of generous Crab meat coated with soft fluffy egg. Pretty good value for money meal if you ask me. Of course, you have to manage your expectations because it's crab and it's $14. We bite into one or two bits of egg shell and the egg was indeed slightly charred. Nevertheless, I felt it was a fairly good omelette and I'm not complaining because I felt it's a much better deal than other more expensive crab omelettes.

The Porcini Mac and Cheese is also a winner. Its ingredients (scallops and caviar) are also nothing short of premium and at $17, its a real steal! The flavours are distinctively obvious in the dish. The scallop was well seared and goes very well with the mac and cheese. I also found the serving of caviar to be generous and added an extra oomph to the dish. This is on top of well executed Mac and Cheese which was just right, decent portions and not exceedingly cheesy till it's difficult to finish. You gotta order this when you come.

As much as I raved about the coffee, Vain Pot isn't much of a coffee person so we only shared a cup. I feel bad because the coffee was introduced to me at length but because of my over-excitement to talk about my Rome travels, it didn't quite register. I'll be back again to try the coffee once more and more importantly, there's a Reverse Affogato which I really want to try when I come back. Guess it goes without saying, I'm looking forward to another visit. The place isn't crowded because of its location and it's indeed not the easiest place to go if you don't drive.

VXX CO-OPERATIVE
20 Foch Road, S209261

SPRMRKT

I'm typing this from high up in the Cingjing farm and it's cold up here. The blog post will be relatively short because the place I went was a rather impromptu visit I had yesterday after Vain Pot's dental took longer than expected and I need to rush home to pack for my trip.

We happened to be at Tanjong Pagar and just wandered around seeking food and Vain Pot led me here. The general appearance of the place generally told me its a brunch cafe but I also noticed that they offered a lot of healthier choices in the form of salads and natural juices. 

For a change from coffees and teas, we picked Orange Grapefruit ($6.50) and Apple Beetroot ($6). Service was good as this mix of fruit juice choices are recommended by the staff. A look at the menu doesn't offer the option of mix and match. What's more, there's no extra charge! 

My love for omelettes started during my visit at Maison Ikkoku. Ever since then, I have shunned away from the typical Eggs Benedict and big breakfast choices for eggs omelette as my preferred brunch choice. Here at SPRMRKT, I settled for Eggs Omelette with Crabmeat and Spinach ($16). It tastes very fresh with creamy tasting eggs and a good mix of crabmeat and spinach. Personally, I always felt that crabmeat is overrated and I didn't really get a very distinct taste outside of eggs and spinach. I only chose crabmeat because the other omelette choices had distinct processed food inside and I am rather health conscious recently. 

Vain Pot settled for Eggs Florentine ($14). It was a satisfactory with properly poached eggs that was runny the moment you cut through it. The taste blended well together. One feedback was that the portion was rather small but at $14 it's reasonable.

SPRMRKT is a fairly decent brunch venue at the heart of town. While the food I tried won't make me specially make a trip down, it's worth a visit if you happen to be in the area. I do think there's not many brunch places near Capitol Tower so here's a brunch idea if you happen to be working on a Saturday morning around the area. 

SPRMRKT

2 McCallum Street