strangers' reunion, kampong bahru.

wanted some café food for brunch with L, and strangers' reunion came to mind, because of how much i enjoyed the food at their sister café curious palette. we came over on a late friday morning, and were surprised to see that while the café was not full, it was buzzing with activity. (i guess that's how strangers' reunion has managed to survive through the years.)

it's not my first time to strangers' reunion. i went once, when they were still considered new, to try the buttermilk waffles that everyone was raving about. long story short: wasn't impressed, and that took them off my radar since then.

so this time, back again, i was interested in trying their savoury brunch offerings. the brunch menu was compact, but there were still several items i was interested in. i flip flopped between a few before finally settling on the salmon & kale ($19.90). L got the crabcake reunion ($18.90). having seen photos of the avocado smoothie bowl ($11.90) on instagram and upon seeing its menu description, i really wanted to try it (and managed to convince L to share it with me, even though she wasn't too enthusiastic- i love my friends). however, when we were ordering, the waiter told us that it wasn't available because they were running low on avocados, though they were expecting a delivery soon. he also recommended the acai smoothie bowl instead, but i already had my mind set on the avocado one. service was good, though- he told us that he would let us know if the avocado smoothie bowl became available again.

it turned out to be our lucky day, because ten minutes later he returned and told us that the avocados had been delivered. yay! (sometimes stubbornness does pay off, then.) it was a good thing we managed to have the avocado bowl, because it turned out to be really, really good.



we had it after our mains, so it was kind of like a dessert, but a healthier one. i loved all the toppings- the crunchy bits went together really well with the creamy avocado smoothie on the bottom. best of all, they'd been light handed with the sugar, so it turned out to be refreshing. even L who wasn't that interested in the bowl at first, enjoyed it.

but i digress. our mains were pretty good, too! and surprisingly, we were served our food within ten minutes or so of ordering.



i'd asked for the hollandaise sauce to be served separate, but they'd forgotten. thankfully the food was good enough that i decided not to make a fuss. the kale salad, along with japanese seaweed, was tangy and refreshing- the perfect offset to the creamy hollandaise and crispy skinned salmon.



i didn't quite get the addition of the poached eggs (though they were poached to perfection)- they didn't quite go with the other elements of the dish, and i wished i had some sort of carbs to have the eggs with. that aside, i did like the dish.



L liked her crabcake, too. i managed to steal some of it; and while i would've liked it to have less potato and more crab, i guess at that price point, it was a pretty good rendition. plus, portions were good. her only complaint was the wilted looking asparagus ribbons.

so yes, i'd come back to strangers' reunion for the savoury brunch options. there are a number of items i have my eye on, and i'll love to come back to get my hands on those.


strangers' reunion
33/35/37 kampong bahru road
https://www.facebook.com/StrangersReunion/