kyushu pancake café, novena regency.
i was super excited to hear about kyushu pancake opening in singapore, even though i've never tried it in japan. but because, KYUSHU + PANCAKE! plus, they use some sort of special blend flour for their pancakes- seven grains, according to their menu.
made a reservation for a sunday lunch via email (i love it when i don't have to call). the place didn't look that full when we reached, but i was glad to have reservations after seeing people without get turned away. apparently all the empty tables were reserved! they even had a waitress stationed front of house to allocate people their tables. when we were ordering at the counter, i witnessed a couple come in and take a seat at an empty table, only to be chased away by the waitress who was halfway through taking our orders. granted, the place wasn't that big, so that probably also accounted for the full house situation.
i wanted something savoury, so i immediately zeroed in on the eggs benedict ($18), which came with their famous pancakes. my sister was oscillating between the $17 great carnival hot dog ("but it comes with fries and i don't want fries!") and karaage chicken waffle ($19). eventually she decided to ask if the fries could be replaced by something else- if not, she'd go for the karaage chicken waffle. they didn't allow any replacement, so she settled for the chicken. being greedy, we ordered the sampler platter ($15) to try as well.
(the woman taking our order thought we were done when i placed the order for two items- she was already telling me the total bill. sorry, we're gluttons.) we were warned that waiting time for the food would be about 20-30 minutes, which i was okay with since it was a leisurely sunday lunch. (and at least they bothered to give us a heads up.) the food came much quicker than we expected, though!
the first to arrive was the sampler platter. being greedy and ordering it was perhaps one of the best things we ever did, because the french toast on the platter turned out to be the best thing we had that day. the platter came with pancakes, waffles and french toast (basically all the carb variations they have on their menu) along with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chardonnay wildflower honey and jam. i ate the french toast first and was blown away- it was soft, just sweet enough, and didn't even need any accompaniments. sadly, couldn't say the same about the pancakes and waffles. i was envisioning something akin to hoshino's soufflé pancakes (thick, fluffy and fragrant) but this was nothing like it. didn't take to the dry, hollow waffles as well. they tasted better paired with the jam, but i'm not really a jam eater (give me plain pancakes, any day). maybe the reason why the pancakes and waffles tasted so... light... was because they were meant to be a vehicle for the delicious jam...?
my eggs benedict came shortly after, followed by the karaage chicken waffle. liked that everything was served at around the same time- none of that here's my food but yours is not here dilemma. i'd asked for the hollandaise sauce to be served on the side (to the confusion of the waitress), so i had a little pot of the sauce instead of it being poured over. the eggs benedict came with a single poached egg, asparagus, tomato, bacon, a stack of three pancakes, and a side salad. it tasted kind of as expected, i guess. the pancakes were the same ones as in the platter, and they did work slightly better paired with the egg, but three still proved to be too many, and i didn't finish them.
maybe it's because it's been a long while since i've had fried chicken, but i really liked the karaage chicken (not so much the waffle). it was crispy, not oily (this sounds slightly delusional) and when my sister offered me another bite, i gladly took it. portions were pretty generous, too- the chicken spanned the entire dimension of the waffle!
given that they charge for service, service was pretty much nonexistent. when we were ordering at the counter, i'd requested for water. however, it didn't come until they served water to another table, happened to glance over, notice that we didn't have water and came over to ask if we wanted water (!). granted, the place is pretty new, so hiccups like these are perhaps to be expected. i'd come back (armed with a reservation) if i have a craving for french toast, but for the waffles and pancakes? nah.
kyushu pancake café
275 thomson road, novena regency
#01-08
http://www.kyushu-pancake.sg
