Earlybird Cafe - Fairly New Cafe with Decadent Pancakes

I'm kinda a late bird to this Earlybird Cafe. They opened in mid 2018 and I'm only visiting them now. They caught my eye when they first launched because I'm a sucker for pancakes. Their buttermilk fried chicken pancake looks sinfully delicious. Ironically, I skipped it this visit because my stomach was too small and I wanted to try another pancake.

The side effects of dieting is that your stomach shrinks along with your waistline. So my companion and I decided to share a main then head straight for the dessert. For a main, we decided to try the Tom Yum Prawn ($20) which tastes really satisfying. The Tom Yum carries a tangy sourish flavour which hits all the right notes for me. There's an excessive use of onions which didn't appeal to my picky companion but apart from that personal preference, it's really good! Portion is pretty generous too so I feel pretty thankful that I didn't order the buttermilk fried chicken pancakes.

We picked the Hotcake Bling ($18) as our dessert of choice. It's basically vanilla ice cream on top of a hotcake with lots of candy floss on the side to provide the aesthetics. Blue berries, strawberry slices and walnuts provide the balance to the sweetness. The dessert surprisingly wasn't very sweet. In fact, the ice cream went excellently with the hotcake and candy floss. Having a soft spot for hotcakes, I like this version as it's adequately crispy on the outside and sufficiently fluffy inside. It's not an understatement to say that the brunch meal brightened up my day.

I'd most definitely come back again because I paid with FavePay and now have a $3.80 cashback which I can use at the cafe. The food is awesome and I'm looking forward to the buttermilk fried chicken pancakes on my next visit.

Earlybird Cafe
17 Jalan Pinang, S199149

Belle Ville - Popular Wobbly Pancakes from Osaka

The excessive growth in overseas establishments taking root in Singapore has frankly dampened my enthusiasm rather than have me looking forward for more. In a way, I'm considered late in checking out Belle Ville considering they set up shop here mid last year. Hailing from Osaka, the pancakes gained a reputation in Singapore for its wobbly nature.

The Matcha with Rice Ball and Red Bean pancake ($12.20) has a rich matcha azuki taste to it. It's rather overwhelming for my taste buds but it can be due to me not being a matcha fan to begin with. Apart from that, the matcha pancake is rather dry which resulted in my dining companion feeling rather 'jelat' and couldn't finish the pancake despite her best effort trying.

I was rather intrigued by the instagram-worthy wobbly Chocolate and Grilled Banana Pancake ($12.20). It was sufficiently fluffy however the wobbliness seems to be a result of semi-cooking the pancake batter. While the entire pancake was light and very easy to finish, there seems to be a missing satisfaction at the end of the entire meal.

As a whole, I didn't feel very impressed with my overall experience. While I was decently satisfied with my chocolate banana pancake, I have a feeling that this overseas branch is a watered down version of the real deal. I guess, for its price point, we can be more forgiving.

Belle Ville
230 Victoria Street, #01-01B, Bugis Junction, S188024

The Breakfast Club - Authentically English Breakfast

I came to know about The Breakfast Club during my research for my first trip in London back in 2017 but only got to try it now. The story goes that Vain Pot didn't feel they serve up anything we couldn't really find in Singapore so we ended up in Granger & Co back then. So later on, another friend dragged her to Breakfast Club and she discovered wonderful pancakes there. *rolls eyes*

Finally, I get to dine in The Breakfast Club! This is an awesome place that I really think every visitor to London should have a meal at. Yes, it serves a lot of typical brunch food you can find everywhere but it's authentically English. Dining here, it made me feel that most of the brunch creations we find in many cafes originated in these Western cultures. The Breakfast Club seems to bring out this culture so distinctively, it'll be a waste if you skip this place when in London.

Looking at the menu, there's a whole list of stuff I really want to try. I settled on the Salted Caramel Banofee Pancakes (9.50 pounds) because pancakes were the original reason that made me shortlist this place (I was googling best pancakes in London). It tastes really awesome! I found the pancakes to be soft and fluffy but a little bit doughy. It however went really well with the whipped cream, chilled bananas and salted caramel sauce. In fact, the balance was so good, I finished the 3 stacks of pancake which would have been too much for my Asian stomach normally.

Vain Pot ordered the Oatmilk Porridge, with crushed pecans, coconut and maple syrup (5 pounds), mainly because I wanted to try it too. I could tell it's not exactly her thing. I really like the western version of porridge because of the thick milky texture of oats in milk. I especially like the sweetness of the dish and the crunchiness of the fruits (usually bananas) or nuts that it comes with. I think it's an acquired taste but I really like it.

I found it a pity that it's my only visit there despite 3 trips to London. Then again, Vain Pot whips up really delicious brunch so I feel rather reluctant to have my brunch outside. I strongly recommend a visit to The Breakfast Club to experience the vibrancy of the cafe culture in London as well as the authentic English dishes that they serve. This single dining experience has certainly won me over!

The Breakfast Club
11 Southwark Street, SE1 1RQ

Columbus Coffee Co - Newly opened cafe at Upper Thomson

Columbus Coffee Co is the third establishment opened by the owners of Atlas Coffeehouse and Lunar Brewer Coffee. They are the latest to join the bustling cafe scene at Upper Thomson. The cafe is located opposite Sin Ming Plaza Condo and has a very spacious interior.

Given that the cafe is only a month old, the food blogosphere is buzzing with activity and there's been numerous reviews of the wide selection that Columbus Coffee Co offer. It got me quite excited to try out this place given all the positive hype. My dining companion opted to try their fresh bakes and ordered the almond croissant ($5). She paired her pastry with a piccolo latte ($4.50). As I just got back from London, the benchmark for fresh bakes is still set pretty high. In London, the almond croissant even had almond cream oozing out of the bread but that'll be a story for another day. We both found the croissant to be over toasted and a little on the dry side. According to my dining companion, when a bread is over toasted, moisture collects onto the bread surface quickly thus making the bread less crispy and more towards the soggy side when you take too long to finish the food.

You can't go too wrong with lattes or I'll really judge them. I found the latte to be nicely done. I made a mental note that this is probably an ideal place to read with a cuppa coffee if I'm ever around the Thomson area again. (haven't been to Thomson area in ages because I dread the parking there)

I always have a soft spot for hotcakes and I really like the one at Atlas Coffeehouse. The Butterscotch Banana Pancake ($18.50) looks exactly the same so I simply had to have it. Sad to say, my impression of the dish is totally different this time. To be fair, the pancakes are really soft and fluffy (just like the description on their menu) to the point you feel like you are having an awesome sponge cake. The maple syrup still goes really well with the ice cream, bananas and the honey coated cornflakes. The trouble was my ideal version is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This one skipped the crispiness. The dish tastes cakey after a while and despite the ice cream, I struggled finishing half.

The sun was scorching outside so I had the Milky Way ($7) which is pretty much white cold brew. Again the coffee passed with flying colours and it's probably the saving grace for my overall experience.

I noted that the food took a while to be served probably due to the high traffic flow. The food on our table, the next table and the next next table were all plated in delicious fashion. It really left my companion and I scratching our heads if we ordered the wrong dishes. We weren't impressed by the food at Columbus Coffee Co and really should I return it'll be for the coffee and no food.

Columbus Coffee Co
220 Upper Thomson Road, S574352

Breakfast and Brunch in London

It's the last day of 2017! I'm still writing content on my last London trip. Technically in a couple of hours, I'm heading out for high tea with Fat Fat. After which, I might be thinking of buying a water gun to wash my new carriage. Breakfast and brunch in London is really a food blogger's heaven. The selection is so plentiful and this is just a little bit of my long list of must trys.

I went to Cereal Killer Cafe on my own when Vain Pot went to work. I know, the common perception is what's so great about cereals you have to travel to somewhere just to eat it. Cereal Killer Cafe carries an international spread of cereals and the selection is abundant. It's a cozy and interesting place with beds in the cafe where almost everyone rush to sit on.

One reason why I'm fascinated with this is because I don't enjoy eating cereals that much when I prepare it myself. However, the cereal advertisements on TV tend to bring out a more delicious appeal on cereals and I'm curious to know if the pros can give me a different experience. Visitors can either mix and match their own cereals or select from their cereal cocktails. I selected the Feckin Nut Case which is made up of crunchy nut clusters, crunchy nut cornflakes, honey nut cheerios, hazelnuts and almond milk. I got to say it's awesome! Greedy me ordered the medium size bowl and I couldn't finish but I tried my best because it's really good. There's adequate sweetness yet you don't feel diabetic and the nutty crunchiness was really an excellent balance of flavours. Cereals can really taste awesome if you know how to prepare it! If I bring guest to London, I'm definitely bringing them here.

Cereal Killer Cafe
Mezz 2, Camden Stable Market, Chalk Farm Road, London, N16 7UY

Vain Pot took me to Darwin Brasserie for an early birthday celebration. It's unfortunate that it's semi-raining semi snowing that day because the highlight of the place is dining at the Sky Garden. Yes, awesome views, perfect Christmassy environment and cozy interior. There's a semi-buffet (continental breakfast) menu and an ala carte (hot breakfast) menu. I'll strongly suggest the Hot Breakfast menu because the Continental Breakfast looks too ordinary.

Vain Pot selected the Pain Perdu which is made up of crisp bacon, crushed pecans and maple syrup. It's the first time we are trying such a dish and it's surprisingly agreeable with our palettes. The bacon goes excellently with the bread and maple syrup, you don't get sick of eating it and in fact, you want to have more! I settled for traditional English breakfast and all the individual ingredients were executed perfectly. No complains! I especially enjoyed the bread with butter. I'd like to come back here when it's sunny and experience the full ambiance of the beautiful sky garden with awesome food and company.

Darwin Brasserie
Sky Garden, 1 Sky Garden Walk, London, EC3M 8AF

We woke up too early for Duck and Waffle even though it's 24 hours. To successfully book Duck and Waffle is a challenge. Our time slot was 6:15am breakfast so it was too early for me to be sufficiently awake to remember to take photos of the venue. Duck and Waffle is located on the 40th floor. The awesome view of the London skyline and it's affordable menu makes it a highly popular venue for tourist and locals alike. Trying the signature duck and waffle justifies that this place isn't just gimmicky. The waffle was fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. The duck was tender with the skin fried till crispy. I'm not much of a savoury waffle person but I found the meal easy to finish. I don't mind coming back here to watch the sunrise and enjoy some simple breakfast.

Duck and Waffle
Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY

Granger and Co is actually my very first meal in London. I found them while searching for the best pancakes in London. The place is really popular, there's a snaking queue just to be seated. Granger and Co specialises in Australian food and having eaten there, I'm now tempted to visit the Down Under.

Vain Pot and I ordered two dishes to share. While the serving is huge, they are surprisingly very easy to finish. In fact we fought over the food because we can't get enough of it. The first dish we had was the Fresh Aussie which is jasmine tea hot smoked salmon, poached eggs, greens, furikake, avocado and cherry tomatoes. The smoked salmon is by far the best smoked salmon I've ever eaten! I wanted the entire piece to myself. It's light, with a little tea flavour and you can taste the absolute freshness of the fish. 

We also had to try the signature ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter. This is the fluffiest, lightest, hotcakes I've eaten. It's so light, you don't feel like you are eating flour. The honeycomb butter and maple syrup goes so well with the banana and hotcakes it can double up as a dessert. 

I strongly recommend Granger and Co for its ricotta hotcakes. You won't know what good hotcakes are before trying this. 

Granger and Co

237 Pavilion Road, London, SW1X 0BP

Crackerjack

Over the radio on 88.3FM, I heard the DJs discussing what to do over weekends and how the typical choice for most people would be movies and eating out. I belong to the camp where I believe there's a lot more to do in Singapore than simply movies. Please don't get me wrong, I love the occasional indulgence in cinemas but I also feel hanging out at cinemas generally has close to no interaction and little creativity. I spent my weekend at Gardens by the Bay with dinosaurs and cherry blossoms. Yes, a little bit holiday deprived but I enjoyed the calm and serenity the flowers gave me.

I had to settle my 2FA at Tanjong Pagar so that I can use my Singpass to pay my taxes, check my CPF and renew my passport. Hence, the trip to Crackerjack! Crackerjack is a new establishment in Tanjong Pagar boasting a wide selection of brunch, lunch, dinner and bar food depending on what time of the day you visit. I was a little disappointed that the weekend brunch menu was different from the weekday lunch menu because I wanted to try the highly raved about Lentil Mushrooms Scotch Eggs. Nevertheless, the brunch menu still provided an appetizing selection to choose from.

I had my mind on the Funnel Cake ($14) even before I stepped foot  into Crackerjack, largely tempted by the drool worthy photos I see online. The funnel cake is basically fried pancake topped with bananas, candied bacon, caramel sauce and amaretto cream. The pancake on its own tasted like fried fritters (youtiao). Being someone who has a penchant for sweet food, I particularly enjoyed the combination of sweet and savoury through the fried pancake with caramel sauce. I felt that the caramelized bananas, bacon blended well with the amaretto cream and pancake, making this dish a generally safe dessert for anyone who loves sweet stuff. While there's no stand-out factor in this dish, I felt that this dish brings comfort for anyone who needs a break from the everyday cooked food and it's an added plus that it looks so camera friendly.

Vain Pot who is always complaining she's fat, chose the Sweet Potato Hash ($14). Basically its made up of breakfast sausage, kale, sweet potato and baked egg. I felt the dish was aromatic and very rich in flavour and taste. Totally my kind of thing. Vain Pot felt that the dish was so-so because she can cook the exact same dish at home. Haha, I need to vet the outcome of her cooking to agree with her. While the dish looks plain and ordinary, and like how some people might feel that brunch food is overpriced, I feel that there's merit in good execution... that's why I bother to pay a premium to dine out.

I tried to be a little more arty farty by giving a new take to the coffee photos. Crackerjack is also known for their coffees. The above coffee is called Breakfast of Champions ($6) which is Espresso with cereal milk. It's definitely a good blend and I like it that I don't need to add additional sugar. I enjoyed the thickness of the cereal milk going well with the bitterness of the espresso. Thumbs up.

I pretty much enjoyed my dining experience at Crackerjack. My biggest gripe is the different menus on weekdays and weekends. I feel this limits the experience for most working adults who don't work around the CBD area, you pretty much will never get to try some stuff. Crackerjack serves some affordable and well executed dishes, albeit the ordinary appearance and ingredients used. I also like that the Tanjong Pagar area is generally not crowded on weekends giving our hectic lives more breathing space to properly relax.

Crackerjack
43 Tanjong Pagar Road  

Atlas Coffeehouse

It's weekends again and this week is all about the mad rush for Chinese New Year preparations. Quite frankly, I'm blogging and eating in between work. Trying to maximize my time without spending too much time on unproductive technology (my new year resolution this year). I spent weekends hunting for Chinese New Year food and just bought the Kele Pineapple Tarts for my friends and folks at home. Kele Pineapple Tarts was the winner of last year's Jurong Point's Search for the Best Pineapple Tart Contest.

Atlas Coffeehouse has been a craving since I visited Paddy Hills. Back then, I was searching for the best hotcakes and both Atlas Coffeehouse and Paddy Hills were shortlisted. Given the busy schedule of Vain Pot and myself, we finally managed to squeeze in a trip to Bukit Timah to try out the much raved about Butterscotch Banana Pancake.

To kick start our meal, we shared the Creamy Mushrooms on Sourdough with Sunny Egg ($14+$2 for sunny egg). The food was cooked well but without any stand-out factor. It's definitely a pleasurable breakfast dish but I felt that the creamy mushrooms could have been more flavourful. Egg was runny and bread was well toasted. A decent meal if you aren't asking for much.

The Atlas Butterscotch Banana Pancake ($18.50) was what I specially made this trip for. The pancakes are served with homemade butterscotch and honey comb ice cream topped with lots of honey gold flakes. On the side, there's also maple syrup to be added. I'm a sweet tooth person and I kinda poured too much maple syrup for Vain Pot's liking. Whoops. Apart from that, I found the pancakes done perfectly, it's crispy on the outer layer and fluffy on the inside. The ice cream, bananas and maple syrup provided a perfect match to the fluffy pancakes. I would want to eat this again. It should be mentioned that eating this with 2 people or alone is not advisable because it gets 'jelat' after the ice cream gets finished. It's better to try this in a bigger group.

Will I come back here again? I think there's potential in the menu. To only try one main and conclude isn't very fair to the cafe. If all else fails, I'll be back just to have Butterscotch Banana Pancake as my dessert. It's worth trying!

Atlas Coffeehouse
6 Duke's Road
(Just take MRT or Uber, parking is a hassle)

Paddy Hills

It's eat and eat week! No kidding. Went back to I want my noodles with a friend mid week when I was in town to change my iPhone and the noodles are still mediocre. I also went on a crazy Long John's Silver craze this week and its now my new favourite fast-food, Also had to endure some really horrible RWS 8 course dinner at my company's DnD. Seriously don't ever throw your wedding at RWS, the food is a massive fail! Spent my weekend celebrating my dowager Aunt's 82nd birthday at Regent Hotel's Summer Palace with awesome food and of course had a wonderful Deepavali feasting on a delicious brunch.

This visit to Paddy Hills is a little overdue. I had a craving for Ricotta Hotcakes since the start of the month. Unfortunately, Vain Pot is really overwhelmed with work and we kept putting off the visit. Even this visit was almost scrapped due to our busy schedules. Paddy Hills is part of the growing brunch cafes in the West of Singapore. They are known for their fusion menus and quirky beverages.

As I mentioned, I had a prolonged craving for Ricotta Hotcakes and during my research, I narrowed down to two places which could satisfy my cravings, Atlas Coffeehouse and Paddy Hills. Before the change in menu early this year, one of the famed dishes at Paddy Hills was their Ricotta Hotcakes. After the change, they switched the hotcakes to Blueberry Muffcakes which reviews seem to say that it tastes even better! So Blueberry Muffcakes ($20) it is! The muffcakes taste awesome! I like it that it is aesthetically pleasant and that it is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. You can taste the buttery pancake batter and one of the favourite of Vain Pot was the magic pearls that came with it. She ate them all, I only managed  to eat one! I need to add that the muffcakes are ideally shared because it got a little 'jelat' after finishing one muffcake.

Prior to the muffcakes, I shared a main with Vain Pot. It was a smart decision because their portions are very generous. We picked the 黑 Rice ($22). It is made up of chicken cutlet and fried squid ink rice with mentaiko sauce and sous vide egg. The entire dish was executed perfectly. The chicken cutlet was fried till crispy and the meat was tender inside the crispy exterior. The squid ink fried rice had a rich 'wok hei' taste making it addictive to eat. Vain Pot has soft spot for Sous vide egg and feed her anything with that and she'll finish her food.

While Paddy Hills are more known for their unique beverages like Beer Slushie, we both settled for the more ordinary Iced Mocha ($7.50) and Latte ($5.50). Both tasted like how a typical mocha and latte should taste. Nothing to shout about. See that greedy pig trying to steal my coffee? Caught red handed!

On the whole, we left the place with two happy tummies. My initial apprehension over the fusion menu was unfounded. In fact, we were sufficiently impressed that I can confidently say we will recommend friends or come back to try more of their interesting menu. I'm also very pleased that there's an open air carpark that had very little cars in it.

Paddy Hills
38 South Buona Vista Road

Dutch Baby Cafe

Lately I've been rather busy and haven't really had the time to be adventurous with my food hunts. The horrible heat is causing a spree of coughs amongst people and my throat is showing signs of a cough festering also. Drink more water people. This week's outing is with the brother. He suggested a number of cafes and I just picked one because I simply have no time to hunt for any.

The hunt of the week is thus Dutch Baby Cafe! This is an establishment opened by Japan Food Company and the signature is their Dutch baby pancakes. The pancakes look really friendly to the cameras and even though I encountered online reviews which were generally mixed, I am sufficiently curious to want to try. 

Apparently their udon is popular as well and we happened to visit the store at a time where they just changed their menu! This Lemon Chicken Udon ($13.80) is one of their new additions and I must say I give it the thumbs up. I'm not a fan of udon because they are typically fat and not shiok to slurp in my opinion. This version however comes with thin udon noodles which makes it a pleasure to slurp. The noodles are Q and easy to eat. I also found that the taste of the lemon chicken very unique from other chicken noodles I have eaten and that's in a good way. I need to point out though that the soup is MSG laden. But for $13.80 I'm not complaining. 

The highlight of the day is of course the Dutch baby pancakes served in a hot pan. We picked Caramel Apple ($12.80) which comes with caramelized Apple with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a Dutch pancake. My brother especially liked the pancake texture which was soft and aromatic. I felt that the caramelized apple went well with the pancakes. Unfortunately, I feel that the ice cream can't handle the heat and melted before we were even half way through leaving us with liquid ice cream.

Would I come back again? Honestly with the ever expansive number of new cafes opening and old popular cafes I haven't tried, Dutch Baby Cafe isn't high up my list. I will however pop by if I am catching up with a friend in Orchard Road and would like to introduce them to something new at the heart of town. I suspect I might come back to eat the udon again if I'm alone and want a noodle fix. 

Dutch Baby Cafe

290 Orchard Road, The Paragon, #B1-13

Clinton St Baking Company

Every Saturday is my favorite day of the week and today is probably the best Saturday I have this month. I played badminton this morning! Yes, it's only badminton but anybody who plays badminton in indoor courts in Singapore knows how hard it is to get an ideal court at the time slot of your choice so I was really looking forward to today. Apart from that, there's of course the much anticipated brunch at Clinton St Baking Company which I crave for.

And so after a month of blogging, I get questions on why I even bother to blog when there's so many more established blogs out there. For a start, this is a hobby, I like to eat and share the food I eat. As of now, I am not interested to be involved in anything commercialized, if you notice, there's no way to contact me on my blog. I hunt for food every week and I enjoy taking pictures of food everywhere I go. I don't care how distinctly Singaporean this makes me, I like doing it period. I take the trouble to read a lot of reviews so that my Saturdays remain awesome. Plus Singapore has really limited stuff to do but its a food paradise. And since I have taken so much trouble, why not share with people who might not have time to do the homework about interesting food. I even have this crazy idea where this blog can be a go-to place for people who need inspiration for weekly outings and meet ups and have no time to plan. If after so much trouble and I discover bad food, I see it as my responsibility to highlight it too! 

So anyway, today I am really excited to share my experience dining at Clinton St Baking Company.  After all the research, I was extremely looking forward to dining there. Clinton St Baking Company hails from New York City and has won awards for their brunch dishes in particular their pancakes. However, the dish that made me utterly excited was the buttermilk biscuit sandwich ($13.50). When I saw photos of it online, it looked so mouth watering good I couldn't wait for Saturday to come. My first buttermilk biscuit was from KFC. It was dry yet the taste gave me a hint that if executed better elsewhere I'll like it.  Buttermilk biscuits is a very American breakfast ingredient. And the ones I was served were buttery, soft and goes perfectly with the scrambled eggs and melted cheddar cheese. The house made tomato jam is really a winner on its own. It retained the sour tomato taste yet it carries with it a tinge of spiciness that lingers in your mouth. If it wasn't served as a sandwich, I would say it could beat many tomato pasta sauces hands down. 

Apart from the sandwich, we also had Pancakes with Warm Maple Butter with wild blueberry ($18). This is really the best pancakes I had in Singapore. It was fluffy, generous, crispy on the outside soft on the inside and the warm maple butter that goes with it provides the added oomph that differentiates this pancake from its peers. I didn't touch the blueberries, I don't like fruit dishes but fussypot gobbled it up so it must be good. 

After this visit, Clinton St Baking Company has made it into my top 5 favorite brunch places. Their portions are American size so if you have a small appetite, it'll be wise to share. One very distinctive observation I had about this meal was that Fussypot ate more than me and this rarely happens. Either the badminton contributed to it or the food must be darn good! I'll definitely be back as many times as possible to clear as much of the menu as my time permits and this is definitely my go-to place if I ever need a pancake fix. 

Clinton St Baking Company

31 Purvis St
(Parking is a hassle along Purvis St, you might wish to take the train or park at the nearby malls)