All posts filed under: Café Hopping

Food Review: Lime House @ Keong Siak Belt, Singapore

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When Lime House first opened its doors in 2013, they introduced the Caribbean concept of “liming”, which means the art of sharing food, drinks, conversation, and laughter. The restaurant and bar is set in a heritage four-storey shop house in Chinatown’s Keong Siak belt. The owner of Lime House, Chris Morris wanted his customers to view Lime House as an extension of their own homes. This is clearly reflected in the interior and décor of the space, as well as the warm and welcoming staff that instantly made us feel at home! The space gives out laid-back, vacation vibes which complements the home-y taste of the dishes served. After celebrating 5 fantastic years of Limin’, Lime House launched their new Caribbean Tapas and Cocktail menu which features some of their old favourites as well some new delectable selections. One thing is for sure, by the end of the night, we were so stuffed that we could roll out of the door! Lime House prides themselves in their house-made sauces and curries that are all made …

Food Review: The BAKERY by Woodlands Sourdough

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Although it is a little hidden shack at Serene Centre, their many alfresco diners makes it difficult to miss. Famous for their great breads and bagels, we just had to try The BAKERY by Woodlands Sourdough for ourselves. As they do not have a standard menu, their display featured the few sandwiches and buns that they had for the day. I decided to pick up their Mixed Mushroom Arugula Sandwich (S$9.00). The sandwich was a little too soggy as they did not toast the sides of the bread, and mushrooms tends to hold a lot of moisture. However, the flavours were really nice. The Sourdough Bread is quite sour (some may not like the sourness) but had a lovely rustic taste that went perfectly with the rest of the ingredients. I also grabbed a cappuccino (S$5), which I personally did not like. It had more sour notes and is quite strong and robust. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to try out the rest of their menu but I would sure love to come …

Food Review: Canopy @ Bishan-AMK Park, Singapore

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Nestled among the lush greenery of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park is Canopy Garden Dining. It is located at the part of the park between Bishan Road and Marymount Road, near the car park entrance along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 (just after Ang Mo Kio Street 32). The location itself is peaceful and unassuming, making it a great form of getaway from the bustling city whilst remaining accessible. It certainly doesn’t hurt that they serve up a wide range of brunch offerings to appease a variety of cravings. They have an alfresco dining area which immerses patrons in a garden dining experience amidst the integrated park space. The day that we visited Canopy was rather hot, so we opted to dine indoors instead. The interior itself is decked out with full-length glass windows allowing a generous dose of natural light to shine in (making it perfect for photos!) whilst giving you a view of the surrounding greenery. To cool us down from the hot weather outside, we ordered the green mint Italian Soda (S$7) and …

Food Review: Tolido’s Espresso Nook @ Crawford Ln

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Tolido’s is a neat little cafe located along North Bridge Road. It has a rustic and industrial look whilst remaining cozy due to the small space inside.   We ordered the Rosti with Smoked Bratwurst (S$17). The Rosti itself was nice and crisp on the outside, lacking much flavour, but the Smoked Bratwurst definitely made up for it. Overall it was a balanced dish.   The Spaghetti Vongole (S$17) is loaded with clams. The noodles is cooked al dente and the sauce just has a nice kick to it and isn’t that spicy.   We of course ordered some coffee to go with our dishes, I got my hands on a Cappuccino (S$5.50). It was smooth, closer to the bitter side, but masked up by the milk. They do have a lunch time special where if you order a main, you just need to top up another S$2 for the drink!   Last but not least… Dessert!! Well, the choices on their menu itself wasn’t that great, so we took the Banana Almond French Toast …

Food Review: Miyama Café, Saigon

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Miyama had us smitten from the start. Using organic ingredients from their garden in Dalat, their desserts have less sugar and doesn’t use and artificial colouring. So all the colouring in the desserts and food is natural. This allows you to indulge in their yummy desserts without the guilt. It’s been one year and half years since the opening of this specialty dessert café, and they have constantly been revamping their menu to better suit their customers. So don’t be surprised if the desserts that we mentioned are no longer available! The café is a modern Tokyo-styled café based in the centre of the bustling city of Saigon. The glass panes that encloses their minimalist space casts plenty of natural light into the café whilst providing you with a sense of escapism from the urban city. It is a rather tough gem to find as it is not located on the same floor as the rest of the eateries. It is situated on the 3rd floor, in the corner lot of Saigon Centre, right next to Levi’s. …

Food Review: Chye Seng Huat Hardware

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For the longest time, I’ve heard that Chye Seng Huat Hardware (or CSHH) has pretty good coffee. So I finally made a trip here to check it out! Located in the heritage district of Jalan Besar, CSHH is the flagship store of Papa Palheta, an independent coffee boutique, which boasts a decent sized menu ranging from their breakfast choices to their desserts. CSHH, which means to ‘flourish again’, adopted it’s name from the hardware company of its past and has been refurbished whilst maintaining it’s 80s rustic vibe. We ordered Iberico Pork Rack (S$24.00) which was below my expectations. The pork itself had very little flavour without the sauce and the wine braised red cabbage was a tinge too sweet for my liking. For the price, I expected more but in my books, it did not hit the mark. We also tried their Teriyaki Salmon Donburi (S$19.00). Do not be fooled by the good looks as the salmon lacked flavour as the rice had absorb most of the teriyaki sauce. To me it was nothing fantastic, …

Food Review: Populus Coffee & Food

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Populus Coffee and Food Co. is discretely tucked away in a row of heritage shop lots located near Outram Park MRT station. They offer Japanese-inspired food with a tinge of western fare. I really like their rustic-industrial decor, however the lighting was a little bit overkill.       After contemplating on what to order, I decided to go for the ‘Truffle Wagyu Beef’ Donburi (S$21.5). I was really pleased with the dish as the beef was seasoned perfectly and the pickled vegetables and eggs complemented each other very well. We also ordered the Buckwheat Pancakes (S$19.5) which we thought was a little pricey. But when the super thick and full pancake landed on our table, it was worth every cent as it was surprisingly quite filling. It was also quite fragrant and packed with flavour. Unfortunately, we personally did not like the coffee. It had a really strong acidic flavour and I did not enjoy it at all. Location : 146 Neil Road Singapore Opening Hours :  Monday : 09:00 – 19:00 Tuesday : 09:00 – 16:00 …

Food Review: La Ristrettos

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This hidden café is located on the 8th floor of Novena Medical Centre. Wait what??? Medical centre?? Yes, you read that right! It was pretty difficult to find but after you’ve found its location, it is pretty easy to get there. It has a nice, cosy and homely feel to the place. Although the place looks small, there are ample seats outside. Having browsed through their menu, which didn’t have too big of a selection, I decided to try the Breakfast Crab Cakes (S$15). The crab cakes itself was nicely seasoned and fried perfectly; a nice crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. They served it with a very rustic mash potato, wild rocket, bacon, a poached egg, and drizzled with it with balsamic vinegar. All the flavours blended well with each other. The only downside was that the poached egg was overcooked. We also ordered the Panni Cotoletta (S$13). The chicken was nicely seasoned and fried and the bread was toasted nicely. It had a good bread to meat ratio so nothing was overpowering …

Food Review: Gordon St Garage

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Gordon St Garage was the place where I had my first proper Perth cuppa and so you can imagine that it holds a special place in my heart. However over the past few years, apart from occasional quick stops to get some takeaway coffees before heading to Watertown, I’ve not stepped foot in here to try the food. So on this hot summery day, and with the spur of the moment decision, it was finally time to head back to the first gorgeous place that I fell in love with in Perth. Admittedly, it was daunting at first… Staring at that menu and trying to figure out what to eat. (I usually do a bit of research of the place I’m heading to before I go.) But after that initial setback, I finally selected my meal and waited in anticipation. I ordered the BBQ Salmon with quinoa, fennel and orange salad. When it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised at dish that sat before me. The presentation was definitely different from what I had in mind. …

Food Review: GRUB cafe @ Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park

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Grub is nicely located in the middle of the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park. It has a nice brick-wall interior blended with the glass planes. It boasts its responsible ingredients-inspired menus and delicious food. For dinner, they have slightly more items compared to lunch. They mainly serve western food, with a few fusion dishes. Their Chilli Crab Pasta(S$18) had a good balance between the sweet and the spiciness. The linguine absorbed the flavour from the sauce nicely, making it very tasty. The soft shell crab was well seasoned and gave the pasta a bit more texture to it. The GRUB Cheeseburger(S$13) was nicely done. The meat was well seasoned, and flavourful. The proportions were balanced so that none of the ingredients overpowered the other. My only complain is that the bun was too sweet for my taste. The fries on the side was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Lastly we ordered a Truffle Bacon Baked Eggs(S$9). The mushrooms absorbed the truffle and bacon flavour nicely; but still able to taste the mushroom …