murugan idli shop, syed alwi road.

i have this ongoing thing about dosai- random cravings would suddenly surface, and i'd have to go eat some to soothe it. i needed a quick lunch in between classes on a sunday afternoon, and murugan idli shop happened to be (somewhat) on the way. since i've been meaning to try it for a while, i headed over.

as with most indian places, the place was sparsely furnished. and of course, i was the only chinese there (but after several such experiences i've gotten somewhat used to it). order chits were placed at each table, so i just had to check off whatever i wanted to eat and hand it over, saving myself the hassle of trying to pronounce stuff. of course i got the masala dosai ($4.70).



after i'd ordered, a huge banana leaf with four different types of chutney was placed in front of me. i had to wait quite a while after that before my dosai was served though (so much for a quick meal). my dosai was brought to me and placed onto the banana leaf.



as with most dosai, it was so long that its edges hung off the side of the plate. its texture was crisp, light and yet chewy, which made it a pretty good eat, though not mindblowingly so. the almost-creamy masala potato stuffed within was one of the better ones i've eaten, though.



what i really liked was actually the chutneys on the plate, especially the coconut chutney. i cleaned off all of it. i didn't know what the rest were, exactly, but i finished off another one entirely as well. yum!

might not make any great effort to come back again, but i wouldn't mind if i was in the area.


murugan idli shop
81 syed alwi road
http://muruganidlishop.com

paper crane, waterloo street.

made a reservation and swung by on a saturday night for dinner; turned out that the reservation was utterly unnecessary. the place was empty when we got there (and remained so throughout the meal). i was surprised by how tiny the place was. it was mostly outside seating, with just a row of three bar seats inside. there was only one person manning the entire place- he was the chef, waiter and cashier all rolled into one. not exactly confidence inspiring, but we stayed to eat anyway.

the menu was written on a chalkboard near the cashier, so ordering and payment was all done at the same time. i didn't need to think much- settled on the pearl barley and mushroom salad ($10), adding on grilled chicken for $4. we also got mussels ($20) to share.

the mussels came first, and even came with bread to soak up the white wine and herb broth. no photo because we were hungry, but the mussels were fresh and cooked just right. the white wine broth was delicious as well, especially paired with the bread. i dunked my bread into the broth to soak it up. yum!



our food came a while after we finished up the mussels. best of all, all our plates came at the same time! given that he was working alone, that was a feat in itself. my pearl barley salad was pretty good, if a little on the oily side. didn't quite take to the chicken though- it was cut too thinly, and leant towards the dry side. should probably have gone for the sea bass, but it was an additional $10 (!) and i was feeling stingy.



it was an interesting place for a quiet dinner. most places are crowded on saturday nights, so it was nice to have the entire place to ourselves. the food was decent, though i found prices to be on the high side given the portions.


paper crane
96 waterloo street
https://www.facebook.com/papercranesg/

curious palette, prinsep street.

i've been meaning to go to curious palette for ages it seems; and then it got struck off my to-try list when someone told me that it was quite meh. and then i saw that they had scotch eggs on their brunch menu- that sealed the deal for me. i'm a sucker for scotch eggs. sadly, the scotch egg only exists on their brunch menu, which happens to be not all-day, so it's been hard to head there to eat it. i finally got my chance when L suggested meeting for brunch on a friday morning- away from the weekend crowd!

the drizzle made the walk from the train station seem to be quite a long one; it also made us doubly glad to finally reach the café. it was my first time there, so i was surprised to note that it was spacious inside despite the nondescript shopfront. it being a rainy friday morning, there were only a few other tables occupied, and we got our pick of tables.

upon being handed the menu, i zeroed in on the corned beef scotch egg ($18.50) straightaway. L was more indecisive, but eventually went with the house citrus-cured ocean trout ($18.90). i was tempted by the gammon ham and cheese croquettes in L's main, saw that it was offered as a add-on for just $2.50, so of course i went for it.

i was expecting to have to wait for our food for a while, as is the case with most cafés, but was pleasantly surprised when our food got served promptly.



the first thing i ate off my plate was the gammon ham and cheese croquette- it oozed cheese the moment i cut into it. best of all, it was piping hot, super crisp and yet, not greasy. i was expecting only one croquette, but i was surprised with two. it was a good start to the meal.



my scotch egg came with the requisite gloriously runny yolk. i found the corned beef to be leaning towards the salty side- i preferred crackerjack's vegetarian version of scotch egg in comparison. still, a scotch egg is a scotch egg, and curious palette's wasn't too shabby. the accompanying sides were really pretty interesting, though- green mango salsa, grilled brussels sprouts, cauliflower cous cous as well as guacamole. not sure how they worked together as a whole, especially the guacamole; they seemed more like separate entities. that being said, the sides were enjoyable separately eaten- i especially liked the tangy green mango salsa.



L's house citrus-cured ocean trout also suffered the same somewhat schizophrenic fate. hers came with the croquettes, poached egg, cauliflower hummus and lemon-infused yogurt, which sounds okay on paper, but in actuality, they didn't seem to come together as a whole, though the separate elements, like mine, were good. L was commenting that she didn't know how to eat the poached egg, since there weren't any other things to match with it.

despite the somewhat haphazard throwing together of sides, i really quite enjoyed the meal. spied another table having the hand-pulled pork on sourdough, which looked really tempting as well. i'm definitely coming back for their other brunch items.


curious palette
64 prinsep street
https://www.facebook.com/curiouspalette/

the bravery, horne road.

i got tempted into buying a groupon for the bravery, reasoning that since it's been around for quite a number of years, the food would be alright.

the shopfront was so nondescript that i walked right past it, before doing a double take. the café was quiet, with only two other tables occupied (both its occupants doing work on laptops). we grabbed menus and pondered over it for a bit. there weren't many choices for mains, especially when items like pizzas and pastas are eliminated. i went with a steak ($19.90) that came with peppercorn sauce and roasted vegetables; J, of course, went with scrambled eggs on toast ($8), adding on mushrooms and smoked salmon. we wanted to share the S.A.M. salad, but upon ordering, we were told that they were out (!) because the supplier hadn't been in yet (!!). hmph, okay. ended up ordering an additional set of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon (without toast) to share, to make up the cost of the voucher.



our food was served shortly after we ordered. surprisingly enough, my steak actually came first. and while it wasn't of the best quality, it was reasonably tender and actually cooked to the requested medium rare. the steak had been laid on a bed of roasted vegetables, mainly made up of red and green peppers and a whole load of garlic (which i proceeded to pick out). i actually quite liked the accompanying peppercorn sauce- i found myself dipping my steak into it. that in itself wouldn't have been a complete meal though- for the price, there just seemed to be something missing. i guess it was good that we'd ordered an extra set of eggs and salmon to share, else i would've been hungry.



the scrambled eggs were really quite ordinary- nothing like the creamy, buttery ones i've come to expect from cafés.

so while i didn't have much to complain about regarding the food, i didn't have much to commend as well. it was all pretty average, and i wouldn't bother making a special trip down if not for the groupon. without the groupon, the prices would be on par with other cafés, and honestly, i've had much better café fare elsewhere. nah, just not my kind of café.


the bravery
66 horne road
http://www.thebravery.sg

xiao ya tou, duxton hill.

we were in the tanjong pagar area, searching for brunch options, and decided to head over to duxton. i was intent on trying thirteen duxton hill, but they weren't open (though they should've been). in a rare show of decisiveness we settled on xiao ya tou, which was (almost) just next door.

i decided on the XYT breakfast ($21), because scrambled eggs! beef! potatoes! sounded right up my alley. J wanted the kimchi scrambled eggs but not the cheese sausage that came with it, so she asked if they could replace it with anything else, but they flatly refused. she then asked if they offered chicken as an add-on (the chawanmushi & asian salad main that she wanted was a purely vegetarian meal, and protein is important to us) but they were also equally inflexible about that. (or maybe we're just the picky ones who always need some sort of special order.) in the end she went with the chicken salad ($17) off the starters and snacks column, which i was eyeing as well.



my main came with a complimentary starter- a fried mantou, served (in true hipster style) skewered, hanging over a bowl of tau suan. the fried mantou was hot and delicious, but the tau suan was a letdown. having more water than actual mung beans, its only saving grace was that it was not too sweet. i left it largely untouched. i'm of the opinion that if something is to be served (even complimentary) it should be cooked with heart; or else why even bother? i know it's free and all that, but if the item is subpar, i really don't mind not having it.

our food came after quite a long wait. we were craning our necks trying to spy for our food. J's came first, and for a starter, it was quite a good portion (then again it was $17). i stole bites of the pearl barley and charred sweet corn salad, and liked it.



my main came a while later. the scrambled eggs was the best part of the dish- it was perfectly cooked; buttery, creamy and smooth. the corned beef and potato preserved turnip (?) was buried underneath the eggs. for all its "asian fusion" label, it was really a glorified hash, and i actually would prefer a regular hash. they were too stingy with the corned beef and too heavy handed with the chili jam coating the hash. the corned beef and potatoes were sticky with the chili jam, which was too sweet, throwing everything off balance. i found myself scraping off the chili jam to my best ability just so i could get at the beef and potatoes.



the concept is a good idea, but execution was lacking. i found the food to be quite meh for the price. highly unlikely that i'd make a return. there are much better brunch options in the duxton area.


xiao ya tou
6 duxton hill
http://www.xyt.sg

pacamara boutique coffee roasters, upper thomson, 3.0.

every time we make a trip here for brunch, i end up having the duck confit hash, because it's the item that tempts me the most off the brunch menu. this time, however, i was forced to not have it, because they didn't have any of the duck items. one good thing about their service, however, was that the waitress actually bothered to tell me even before i'd placed my order, saving me the hassle of rethinking. after some consideration, i settled for the steak & eggs ($19.90).

strangely enough, they didn't ask me for the doneness of my steak- that in itself should've been an indication. i only remembered after we'd placed our orders, so i went back to the counter to tell them that i wanted mine medium-rare. i was told that they do the steak medium-rare by default. hmm.



we waited a while for our food. mine came exactly as i'd ordered- they'd separated all the sauces like i'd asked. the only thing... was the steak was way overdone. i took a bite and pondered whether i should return it; i did in the end because it was way too tough. they were nice enough to replace it without much fuss. the second one was much better, though leaning towards the rare side. one thing though- they'd barely salted it, and i had to go grab a salt shaker.



note to self: steak is definitely not their strong suit. the accompaniments were thankfully really good, especially the potatoes which had been roasted till they were golden. the skin was deliciously salty and crisp, while the inside was fluffy. best of all, they were all piping hot. it was supposed to be topped with sour cream, but i found myself dipping it into the creamy chive hollandaise instead. perfection. i didn't expect the plate to come with a slice of sourdough, since it wasn't stated in the menu. not complaining though, because the sourdough was pretty good.

definitely prefer the duck confit hash, even though the roasted potatoes tip the scale slightly.


pacamara boutique coffee roasters
185 upper thomson road
http://pacamara.sg/#home

privé, wheelock.

i was uncharacteristically confused about what to eat that night- i wanted all-day brunch, but we were both lazy to move far from orchard. J suggested trying privé, and while i wasn't too excited by the menu, i didn't mind giving it a try since it was nearby.

i was surprised by how wallet-friendly their menu is, compared to the other privé outlets. most mains were below $20. they do also offer all-day breakfast items, but... up till 5 p.m. (how is it all-day if it's up till 5 p.m.?) and so, i got the braised lamb shank ($18) off the mains menu instead.



i wasn't expecting much, so i was surprised by how much i ended up liking my food. they'd braised the lamb shank till it was fall-off-the-bone tender; i barely had to prod it with my fork to get it to come off the bone. i found myself really liking the rosemary sauce as well- i mopped it up with the lamb shank and the accompanying mash. even the carrots were cooked till they were tender, going well with the entire dish. now that i look back at the menu, it had mentioned balsamic onions, but i don't remember seeing any sign of it. hmm. 



portions were generous as well. i was decently full after my food. one thing, though, was the service. not sure if it was because they're new... J wanted to know if the peppermint tea was caffeine-free, but the waitress misunderstood her question, so J ended up not ordering it after all. the wait for food was also pretty long. plus... after we'd passed them a credit card for the bill, our bill took what seemed like forever to process. we were wondering what happened to it, and even had to go to the extent of waving the waitress over to ask. it turned out that the bill was just sitting on the counter waiting for someone to process it- but no one was doing it, and they only got around to doing it after we asked.

aside from the strange service, i quite enjoyed our experience there. even J's baked halibut in parchment ($19) was good, too. might be worth coming back.


privé, orchard
wheelock place
#01-k1
http://www.theprivegroup.com.sg/prive-orchard

crackerjack, tanjong pagar.

the scotch egg was what put crackerjack on my radar, but upon walking in and seeing their menu, i got a teeny bit distracted by the other items. and because ordering was done at the counter, which was placed right at the entrance, i stood there for quite a while, trying to make up my mind- chicken or egg? 

in the end, the lentil mushroom scotch egg ($18) won out. i made my order and paid at the cashier. no service charge, but they still brought the food over to me.



once i saw the scotch egg on another table, i knew i'd made the correct choice. the yolk was gloriously runny- and so was mine, when mine was served. all the other scotch eggs i've had were meat-based versions, so it was refreshing to have a vegetarian one this time. i'm totally a meat person, and all my meals revolve around meat-based protein, but i was surprised to note that i didn't miss meat at all. the lentil-mushroom coating around the egg was tasty and surprisingly filling. i hate it when lentils are cooked till they've become mushy, but there was no such issue with this one, which was perfectly al dente. the scotch egg's crust was a thin, golden crisp- just enough to give a textural contrast to the other components. best of all, it wasn't greasy, and i could almost pretend i wasn't eating something fried.



the scotch egg came presented on a bed of mixed greens, which added a pop of freshness to the dish, balancing everything out. it also came with preserved lemon hummus and flatbread. when i saw flatbread on the menu, i was already envisioning something dense and heavy. that was what almost steered me to ordering the chicken instead. glad i stuck to the scotch egg, because the flatbread was light and crisp- the perfect vehicle for the hummus. i hoovered everything up (and even wished for more of the flatbread).



the meal even came with a cookie, which was a nice touch. i was determined not to eat it, because self control; besides which i'm not a cookie person. i took a bite anyway, since they'd already served it- and then found myself eating the entire thing.

crackerjack might've just opened, but i found myself impressed by how much care and thought they'd put into the food. when they said a balanced meal on their lunch menu, they really meant it. i'm definitely coming back.


crackerjack
43 tanjong pagar road
http://crackerjack.sg