All posts filed under: Café Hopping

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 …

Food Review: Word. @ Upper Thomson Road

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Located behind the upcoming Springleaf MRT station of the Thomson-East Coast Line is a newly opened cafe called Word. It has an industrial, rustic theme going on. Their menu focuses mainly on Asian fusion-ed with western cuisine, and quite punnily-named menu items as well. Cut the Crab (S$15) which is their homemade crab cakes was nicely breaded and pretty salty on its own. The sauce tastes like a combination of a Thousand Island Dressing and a lemon vinaigrette. The pairing went perfectly with each other, toning down the saltiness from the crab cakes. The Vongole Le Cream (S$14) was kind of bland and a tad bit more salt would have been nice. It has quite a large portion, pretty creamy and has a similar taste to a carbonara. However it lacks some sort of meat, so this dish is kinda pricey. We also ordered the chix lollipop (S$14). The chicken was cooked perfectly. The meat comes off the bone nicely and was tender. It is quite an interesting fusion dish, using the Chinese stir-fry black pepper sauce …

Quick Coffee: Habitat Coffee

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One of the well known cafes at Upper Thomson Road is Habitat Coffee. It has a very simplistic interior with minimal decor. Habitat coffee has a sizeable menu; consisting of breakfast items, pastas and various sandwiches. They also have a limited choice of cakes and waffles as well. We tried their Tiramisu; it had a very strong alcohol taste, soft and creamy but the coffee sponge was at the bottom. Overall it was quite well balanced. Now moving onto the coffee. We had a cappuccino(Regular – S$4.9, Large – S$5.9), piccolo latte(S$4.2) and a normal latte(Regular – S$4.9, Large – S$5.9) as well. The cappuccino was strong, bitter and smooth. The piccolo gave quite a strong kick and was smooth as well. The latte however tasted kind of tangy, the coffee taste sticks to the tongue and actually tasted stronger than the cappuccino. We really enjoyed Habitat’s coffee a lot and it is a must try! Coffee Rating: 7.5/10 Located at: 223 Upper Thomson Rd, Singapore 574355 For more information visit their website: http://www.habitatcoffee.com.sg/