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

Toby's The Dessert Asylum - Jurong's Hidden Gem

Famous for its sinful dessert indulgences, Toby's The Dessert Asylum caught my attention because of the plethora of dessert selection that seems to be imploring my tummy to try them all. To be fair, this cafe caught my attention about 2 years back but I never got round to try it because of its out of the way location. It's also a saving grace for people residing in the extreme west of Singapore because I really couldn't find an equivalent alternative despite my best googling efforts.

BBQ Baby Ribs has been one of my favourite dishes for the longest time. So perhaps I am a little bias when I saw this on their menu. The BBQ Baby Ribs ($19.90) at Toby's The Dessert Asylum definitely met my expectations. I found the BBQ sauce on point and the meat is very tender. A good pork rib has meat that falls off the bones easily and this one makes the grade. The potato salad on the side is also prepared in my favourite style, potato tossed with mayonnaise and chopped onions.

We also tried the Prawns and Mussels Tagliatelle ($15.90) that is cooked with white wine sauce. This dish reminds me a lot about my stay in Rome. The taste would appeal more to people with a lighter palette preference however the eventual white wine and seafood flavour will grow on you making you crave for the dish more as you eat. The pasta texture also met my palette preference and I would love to come back to have this dish again.

This meal was done prior to a badminton session so I was pretty careful about the quantity of my food intake. The mains experience was so good, we decided to fill our stomachs with desserts anyway and settled for Seek Asylum ($15.90). It is made of macademia and mocha almond ice cream cake with cookie crumbs sprinkled on top and bailey's Irish cream sauce. For its price, I was kinda disappointed with the size. It is however a sinful second stomach indulgence and the bailey's sauce really brought the ice cream to life. Okay la... it's nice but a little too premium for a dessert in my opinion.

As a whole, I totally enjoyed my visit to Toby's The Dessert Asylum. I'm certain I'd like to come back if I ever end up at the extreme end of the west Singapore again. The mains impressed me more than the dessert unexpectedly. Given that the dessert and main selection is so wide, I'm already looking forward to having another go at the food!

Toby's The Dessert Asylum 
Tradehub 21 #01-35, Boon Lay Way, S609964

Froth - Asian Fusion Dining in CBD

What do you do if you love Chinese food but end up in a western restaurant because of work? Froth is an Asian Fusion Dining concept located at Ascott Raffles Place. It was introduced to me by a colleague who doesn't enjoy noodles or western food but he mentioned that the food at Froth resonated with him.

This Sio Bak Aglio ($24.90) was his recommendation. It's legitimately good! The sio bak has a very crispy skin with fat, juicy and tender meat. Its flavour was literally oozing out of every bite. To top it off, another friend who also doesn't appreciate these 'atas' dishes actually praised the sio bak. If this isn't valid testimony of the dish, I don't know what is.

The Chilli Crab Pasta ($24.90) is another noteworthy dish. For a start, the fried till crispy shellcrab is loud and distinct. The chef also included a fried mantou at the side which is pretty ingenious. The pasta sauce was slanting towards a tomato sweet flavour which kinda appeals however not spicy enough! As a whole though, the dish stands out for good execution and generosity.

I enjoyed my Prawn Aglio ($24.90) dish. At first glance, it looks kinda ordinary and the prawns used look like something my mom can prepare. Dishing into the linguine, my entire perspective change. For a start, the noodles were oozing with wok-hei flavour. I strongly believe that good pastas are fully immersive in both the initial taste and the subsequent after taste. This one left a lingering after taste which leaves you craving for more. It's western yet chinese which reminds you of char mee yet it's linguine and aglio olio.

I reserve special praise for the linguine. You notice that all 3 dishes were using the same noodles but they all carry their own distinctive taste. The fact that they are all supposed to be aglio olio but yet stand out in such a differentiated manner highlights the ingenuity of the chef's skill. I guess with the hotel price tag, it's a given. That said, good food is good food and my meal at Froth is definitely memorable.

Froth
2 Finlayson Green, Ascott Raffles Place
Singapore Level 2, Singapore 049247

Spagtacular - Newly Opened Fusion Pasta in Clark Quay

I visited Spagtacular with a bunch of friends at the invitation of a friend who just opened his pasta cafe.

Spagtacular takes the spot of the now defunct Babao Desserts. They carry a edgy concept with interesting graffiti wall designs and other artworks as part of their decor.

As of now, Spagtacular is in a soft launch and I give credit to their gradual improvements. I've actually dropped by unannounced during their pre-soft launch and the food back then left me hungry and unsatisfied.

You can imagine how impressed I was with their version 2 dishes on my second visit. Talking to the founders, you will learn that the team is figuring out their way as they run the business. What's note-worthy is how open they are to feedback and the food quality really improved tremendously.

Their full menu isn't out, this visit, the light bites we managed to try were the Mini Har Cheong Gai ($10) and Truffle Fries ($10). Personally, I feel there's very little wrong a competent cafe can go with light bites. The ones at Spagtacular definitely were acceptable. If anything, I hope the final menu has a wider selection.

Spagtacular carries classics like the Traditional Carbonara ($10) and Classic Bolognese ($13). Both were adequately flavoured if you mix well before dining. The pastas were cooked till al dente and taste favours those who like their food very heavy and robust in flavour. It worked very well for me.

Here's a glimpse of some of the menu you would be potentially selecting:

Chilli Crab ($15)

Their chilli crab is really suitable for people who loves their chilli fiery spicy. Among my experience having chilli crab pasta, this is one packs a lot more fire than the usual sweet spicy chilli crab sauce most cafe leans towards. Another thumbs up I noted was the generous portion and ingredients which is considered a big steal at their price point.

Classic Al Funghi ($10)

This pasta is another steal given how value for money it is. Unlike some of the plain pastas where you need to top up cash to add ingredients, this one packs a lot of mushroom and the mushroom creaminess is well infused into the pasta. I predict this dish will be a hit among mushroom lovers.

Mummy's Assam ($15)

The first thing I noticed about the Mummy's Assam is the gigantic slab of fish that comes with the dish. There's no mention of it in the copywriting of the menu and the only indication of it was the small fish graphic on the side. I felt this is selling the dish short. The Mummy's Assam will be another hit among spicy lovers when it's adequately tossed before dining. The flavour packed sauce usually sinks to the bottom. I rarely see assam pastas in Singapore, so this will be one of the dishes I'll order if I want to try something new.

Pasta El Pesto ($10)

I was just mentioning about dishes you only get it plain unless you pay more. This is one of them. The flavouring of good pesto is difficult to achieve but I'm impressed they got the flavours pretty on point. Again, I stress to toss well if not you'll be left feeling unimpressed with the initial bites and craving for more towards the end. This is the kind of awesome meals someone on budget working in CBD would like when they join their friends at cafes. Unless.. your friends are the kind that split the bill equally regardless of what you eat!

The Golden Egg ($12)

My personal favourite for the day is the salted egg pasta with lots of chunky chicken and a fried chicken skin. To begin with, salted egg pastas are difficult to find. To find one where the flavours are so robust is even harder. Yes, the salted egg sauce is so generous every bite sends alarm bells to my cholesterol levels. Food indulgence wise, this is heaven for salted egg lovers. The ingredients are very generous and for $12 in Clark Quay, it makes you wonder how much other cafes are marking up.

As a whole, my second visit to Spagtacular has left me very excited about their full launch. This according to the co-founder is happening next month. I'm so looking forward to their full spectrum of menu given the promising pastas I've tried. Oh visitors can also take group, individual, instagram worthy display pic with their artistic photo wall display. It's designed by art students and even the unpainted corners at the side of some walls are apparently art.

Spagtacular
54 South Bridge Road, 058685

(This is not a sponsored article, I paid for my food!)

Platform 1094 - Singapore's Best Themed Cafe

Whenever we think about thematic cafes in Singapore, Kumoya and Super Heroes cafe comes to my mind. Until recently, these are the two better renditions of themed cafes in Singapore that I've tried. From my own observation, the two common gripes I have with these cafes is either the food quality (premium cafe prices for ordinary substandard food) or the fact that the food isn't sufficiently thematic. 

The visit to Platform 1094 was put off for the longest time due to horror stories of the food quality from friends who have been there. I only decided to take a risk on them because of a friend's birthday and she's a real sucker for Harry Potter. As the name might already given away some hints, Platform 1094 (not Platform 9 3/4), is a wizardry, Harry Potter inspired themed cafe. The founders from Fresh Fruit Labs have proven to be really experts at creating their own version of themed cafes. You can pose for classic Harry Potter Hogwarts robe photos complete with brooms, wands and wizard hats. 

The biggest draw that brought us here was the newly introduced Harry Potter inspired Afternoon Tea set for 2 ($55). The menu includes savouries like bewitching tuna sandwich, potato slyther in bacon with cheddar cheese, avocado salmon weasled with chicken floss on edible magical ladle and turkey bacon quidditch quiche. The sweets menu has rock cake served with cauldron brewed cream cheese dip, owl hootdoo macarons, pumpkin tartlets, rasp-berrypotter & mango-nagail mousse and chocolate frogs. 

The meal even comes with 2 glasses of bubbling green frogs flexi (green tea) and a wand that can change the lights of the accompanying candles when waved. The food is definitely without complaints and thankfully a far cry from the horror stories I've heard. My personal favourite is the owl hootdoo macarons. 

I visited the cafe with 3 very hungry people whose hobby is over-ordering so we also had the opportunity to try some pastas and sides. The crab meat aglio olio $17 was very competently prepared. The pasta had a chilli crab flavoured taste and I enjoyed the tangy spiciness. Definitely above average. 

Another dish we tried was the confit chicken breast with pesto sauce spaghetti ($16). The chicken was tender but a little bit on the dryer side. I found the pesto spaghetti to be decent. 

The truffle fries ($12) was also on point. The truffle aroma and flavour was very distinct, it's probably heaven for those who loves truffle. 

I got to say we had a lot of fun dining at Platform 1094. My Harry Potter fan friend probably had a very memorable birthday. We took lots of dressed up photos, videos of her casting spells with the wand and making the green frogs flexi drink bubble. It's the complete experience a good thematic cafe should have. I'm all for bringing my Harry Potter friends here to impress them. You maximize the experience if you are sporting enough to relive your childhood by dressing up and play. 

Platform 1094

1094 Serangoon Road, S328192

7th Heaven KTV and Cafe - Cafehopping with Karaoke Facilities

I went to 7th Heaven KTV & Cafe in support of my friend who just returned from overseas to helm the running of the business. 

7th Heaven KTV and Cafe is a hidden gem located at Tampines Safra. It is probably my first, if not only encounter with a KTV that offers instagrammable blog-worthy food. Currently, the owner's daughter, Shermain (who is my friend), is running the show. Visitors of this cafe can both sing in the main hall or private rooms and also enjoy hipster food at the cafe. 

As I was there with a couple of friends, we picked a few signature dishes to share. The Lychee Smoked Duck Pizza ($21.90) is really one of a kind. The thin crusted pizza went really well with the cheesy combination of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan richly decorated with duck slices. The chunky lychees inside the pizza gave a fruity twist to the savoury dish that gave the strongly flavoured pizza added sweetness.

As a Pasta lover, I judge pastas with an extremely fussy yardstick. Most pastas in coffee joints and cafes while camera friendly doesn't leave my taste buds sated. Imagine my surprise that this Laksa Pasta ($17.90) at a KTV Cafe can leave me craving for the entire dish after taking a bite. The Laksa Pasta is made of linguine with mussels, prawns and squid cooked with homemade laksa sauce. My favourite yardstick to judge awesome pastas is whether they leave a lingering after taste hours after you finish your meal. This one does and I foresee myself going back for a second plate (without having to share) pretty soon.

We also tried the Pulled Pork Burger ($17.90) which was prepared well and stood out for its zesty sourish sauce. Having said that, I found that the paprika fries stole the limelight from this dish and I couldn't stop eating. They should sell these addictive paprika fries as a standalone small bite.

It's my first time ordering Banana Smoothie ($7.50) in a cafe. This smoothie is part of the enhanced menu introduced by Shermain. The flavour is very rich and it'll be perfect if it's slightly colder. One key highlight of the drinks here are the bamboo straws which are reusable. Shermain is highly passionate about sustainable living and this is one of her little efforts to stay true to her beliefs.

The apple tarte ($5.90) is also part of Shermain's invention. I really liked the French Vanilla ice-cream that comes with it. It is robust in flavour and milkiness. While I find the caramelized apple hitting the right level of sweetness, I like my ideal apple tart to have a more crumbly texture.

As of now 7th Heaven KTV and Cafe is running a series of promos some of which I find attractive like the $15 Set Lunch with an hour free karaoke session. I'm not much of a singing person and honestly, it is the food that appeals to me. The food here is really awesome and it's a pity that the cafe is left largely undiscovered. I'm very impressed that a KTV kitchen can produce food of such quality. You got to try it to know I'm not exaggerating.

7th Heaven KTV and Cafe
1/A Tampines Street 92, Safra Tampines, #03-02, S528882

*this is not a sponsored article. I paid for my food.

Ice Cream Skool - Affordable Instagrammable Desserts

I'm shocked. I just realised I didn't put up any content for the entire month. Sometimes you need this sort of reality check to know how much work has consumed you. Then there's the Chinese New Year break... and I didn't manage to buy much new year clothes this year or new shoes! The pay check better be worth it haha!!

This post is made up of 2 visits. I actually went back two days in a row because they opened late on the first day and we sort of had our lunch before heading back to try our luck for dessert. I went back the next day for the highly raved about Tom Yum Pasta. In a nutshell, Ice Cream Skool is popular for wallet friendly desserts that caught my eye because of their instagrammable nature. It's said to be popular among school going teenagers (obviously I'm too old to fit in) but interestingly enough, the two days I visited, the cafe was empty.

I'd kick off the post with the Tom Yum Pasta ($10.90) that many food bloggers rubber stamped as tastes good. It certainly lives up to its reputation. I like the tangy spiciness that follows every bite of the tom yum infused noodles. It's so addictively good I devoured the food in minutes. For $10, I consider this a steal.

I ordered the milkshake at the staff's recommendation. Basically I asked, "if I want to take picture what drink should I order?" Yes superficial me. I'm really glad she recommended me the milkshake because I found my favourite drink in Tampines through this experience. The blue drink you see in the photo is a double flavoured milkshake ($4.90) comprising of Mr Smurfie ice cream mixed with Cookies and Cream ice cream. Mr Smurfie is basically cotton candy flavour. As someone with a relatively strong sweet tooth, this is an awesome treat! 

And then... there's the double chocolate waffles I had with dark chocolate ice cream and Mr Smurfie. Together with their afternoon tea set it cost us $13.90. Dark chocolate is a premium flavour apparently. I found the waffles to be crispy and nice but lacking in fragrance. It was leaning more to the dry side which reduced the desire to finish the food. Incidentally, I was very engaged in an intense discussion about fengshui with my friend. Yeah, we didn't finish it.

As a whole, I enjoyed my experience. I loved it that the shop was empty so I could enjoy my food in peace. I hope for their sake, business is good on weekends because I'd still want to come back here occasionally! I'd be willing to give their waffles another shot given that I really enjoyed the milkshake and pasta. So if I'm back why not? This is an awesome place to dine if you want to impress someone and not blow a hole in your pocket. There's no gst or service charge. How awesome! Considering the talk of the town right now is Budget 2018 haha! The only drawback is that the location is rather obscure.

Ice Cream Skool
Blk 445 Tampines Street 42 #01-10, S520445

.Elia

This is a throwback post for Deepavali, It was quite a long awaited rest from running around due to work. I took the time to do some shopping for winter clothing. In any case, anyone who wishes to buy winter clothing in Singapore can visit Uniqlo or Universal Traveller. They have the most stylish winter wears from my observation. Universal Traveller is having a sale at Changi City Point now for interested parties. I'm looking forward to my first trip to London and hopefully catch Manchester United live in the stadium!

.Elia is one of the new kid on the block along the long stretch of cafes in Keong Saik Street. The restaurant is considered huge with two stories. .Elia serves homemade pastas and sandwiches and have earned some strong approval from the food blogging community so far. To be honest, to hear raving reviews about food in new cafes these days is few and far between. So given the rarity of finding such a place, I was raring to give it a try on my first break.

Usually, I won't bother to blog about the beverages because I tend to stick to boring flat white. What's there to write about flat white right? In this instance, this is one of the best flat whites I've had. The .Elia flat white ($5) comes in 3 different sizes - 3Oz, 5Oz and 7Oz. The one I picked was the standard 5Oz. I've tried multiple flat whites in cafes everywhere, some lacked the sweetness which meant I needed to add sugar, some used coffee beans I deemed too bitter, blah blah, just not perfect. This version on the other hand got the mix just right. I didn't have to add sugar because it was sweet enough. The coffee beans was aromatic, and didn't have an overwhelming bitter taste. I enjoyed the creaminess of the milk which meant that the balance of coffee, sugar and milk was just right before it was served. It really made me look forward to give their other coffees a go now.

One thing I need to gripe about is how cafes have weekday and weekend menus. Seriously for working adults, we only ever get to try the weekend menus but most of the much raved about food is on the weekday menu! Does the cafe really think people will visit them to eat their food on a weekend if they work nearby or specially take leave or taxi/drive over on a weekday if their workplace is faraway? There's no logic in appealing to different crowds on weekends and weekdays.

Due to their weekend menu, I settled for the Spice Girls ($16.90), This pasta is made up of fried chicken with curry sauce. The curry has a very authentic Indian flavour, just like how a good curry chicken would taste. It's definitely an interesting way to blend it with pasta. I felt that while the sauce, pasta and chicken was well executed, the combination didn't work for me. It reminded me of curry noodles in Hong Kong cafe with thick mee pok. Not a good match in my opinion.

On the other hand, Vain Pot chose the Italian Job ($16.90) which was a combination of brown butter and egg yolk cooked with generous chunks of Italian Bacon. This combination is very delicious and gives me the eagerness to devour the food. A perfect choice if you love pastas.

.Elia has shown a lot of potential in terms of food execution. I would love to try their weekday menu some time but it's really a bad idea to offer different menus for weekends and weekdays in my opinion. I noted that the waiting time is really long. I finished my flat white before our food arrived. Vain Pot finished her pasta before mine arrived. I wonder how they coped with a weekday lunch crowd with their current efficiency. So good food with slow service, you can give them a chance if you aren't in a rush!

.Elia
10 Jiak Chuan Road, S089264
(remember your parking coupons if you drive here)

Supply & Demand

This week for Saturyay I finally got to meet Vain Pot after work has kinda overwhelmed us. The month of August hasn't been my favourite month but it also marks the beginning of a new project I've just embarked on... so exciting times ahead! This week, I wanted to go to the National Design Centre to see the lego exhibition there but heard the queue is more than 2 hours! Then there's the Night Festival at the National Museum but I heard it's spilling with human traffic. I think I'll stick to food... seems safer!

Supply & Demand is known for Italian Casual Dining. I've shortlisted them since last year but never got round to trying them out so I'm really glad I finally did! It's also great they have a constant stream of business but their venue is big enough that there's always pockets of seats around which doesn't require much waiting time. On a weekend in the heart of town, it's awesome!

I wanted to order a feast but Vain Pot stopped me. Thankfully she did, I'm really getting rounder. We kicked started our meal with garlic truffle fries ($17) one of their specialties. Truffle seems very popular in this place, the entire place was oozing of truffle aroma. We found the fries to be very generous, sufficiently garlicky with salsa and tartar dips to satisfy you in every way fathomable. The truffle wasn't overwhelming, in fact, some may find it insufficient. I'm not a fan of truffle so I didn't mind. I liked the potato cuts which were chunky and not overly soft or crispy. Just right!

We had a very late lunch thanks to Vain Pot's uber that took an hour to send her over and my work schedule. Hence we tried our best not to over-order. We shared a tasting portion of the Al Granchio ($20) which was made of crab meat, aglio olio, cherry tomatoes, capsicum and white wine. It was very rich in flavour and the portion is just right if you are eating other stuff. I enjoyed the tangy spiciness which wasn't overwhelming and it wasn't too oily unlike some aglio olios. The crab meat flavours gelled well with the white wine making the dish very addictive to eat.

We also ordered the Truffle and Egg Pizza ($21). The pizze is very delicious. The truffle infused taste was distinct and I enjoyed that the black truffle paste spread across the pizza gave the pizza as much flavour as one topped with veggie and meat. I'm impressed by the simplicity of the dish and it's quite a joy to dip the pizza into the soft boiled egg yolk smacked in the middle. Normally, I'll only settle for 2 slices of pizza but with this pan, I see my hands going back for more.

Would I be back? Yes! I think this is an awesome place for gatherings because you can share food and try lots of very good Italian cuisines. It's the perfect kind of place for group outings where you chill, talk and relax over good food and wine. The location is perfect too!

Supply & Demand
277 Orchard Road, #02-13/14 Orchard Gateway, S238858