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/