having had a pretty good meal the last time i was there, i was lured into returning to south union park because they'd introduced a weekday set lunch. at $18 for two courses and $21 for three, it seemed to be value for money.
i was there at almost two in the afternoon, and the place was empty save for one other table. there were two choices for each course, but it was an easy decision. to start i got the smoked tomato soup. it came piping hot and was utterly delicious. it was tangy, singing of tomato; the perfect start to a meal. this set the tone for the meal, and i was excited about the following courses.
for mains, it was a choice between fried chicken burger with cajun fries and a beef brisket cavetelli. they had me at beef brisket- of course i got the pasta. like the tomato soup, it came piping hot. the first thing that hit me once i was served was the hit of parmesan- and that sent my mouth watering. i was expecting it to be more pasta than meat, as with most pasta dishes. this one, however, surprised me with its equal proportion of beef and pasta, so each bite i took was perfectly balanced.
it was such a generous portion that i was already satiated by the time i was done with half the plate, but i couldn't stop eating until i'd cleaned the plate. and that, i think, is the biggest compliment i could give. it was so good- i loved the bite of the al dente, handmade cavatelli, how tender the shredded beef was, and that punchy sauce.
i was already extremely full by the time i finished the pasta, but there was still dessert, and of course, i willingly stretched my stomach for that. i picked the banana bread over the compressed fruit medley, because BANANA BREAD. it came with salted caramel ice-cream, but i requested for it to come without. they meant it when they said warm banana bread- it was indeed toasty and warm. not the most spectacular banana bread, but i like banana bread in almost all forms, and it was a serviceable one, especially since it came deliciously warm. paired with the caramelised banana and buttery crumble, i had no problems wiping the plate clean. even the coffee that they served was no afterthought- it was aromatic and paired really well with dessert.
i loved how they'd put so much thought into each course. everything was obviously made with care. i'd come back in a heartbeat just for the beef brisket cavatelli. highly recommended.
south union park
101 jalan kembangan
https://www.facebook.com/southunionpark/
i've heard so much about fatcat ice cream bar and have wanted to try it for so long. glad that the opportunity finally presented itself.
we were there on a weeknight. i was somehow expecting it to be crowded, but thankfully it wasn't. seating was limited, but we managed to get a table for four. spent a while paging through their menu- i wanted to try one of their plated desserts at first, but none caught my attention, so we ended up getting two waffles to share.
of course we had to have their signature charcoal waffles (even though i know the charcoal doesn't actually add any flavour), adding $1 for the salted egg sauce. the other waffle we got was the original brown butter one. we spent a while faffing about trying to decide what ice-cream flavour to get. my mum isn't the most adventurous person, so my sister and i were wary about getting the more out-there flavours for fear that she wouldn't eat it. i tried the butter beer because it sounded interesting, but it wasn't something that i would want to keep eating. so we stuck to the safer choices- strawberry cheesecake and blackforest (which was really more chocolate).
the waffles were served a while later. sadly the brown butter one came with chocolate sauce drizzled all over- one of my pet peeves, so i only ate a bit of that. the waffle's texture wasn't the kind i'm fond of- a bit too airy and crisp.
the charcoal one suffered the same fate. the salted egg yolk sauce saved the day, though. i found myself dunking bites of the waffle into the salted egg yolk sauce, which was more savoury than sweet.
not sure if i'll make a special trip back for their waffles. perhaps for their plated desserts, though.
fatcat ice cream bar
block 416 bedok north avenue 2
#01-25
http://fatcat.sg
wanted needed some dessert after dinner in the city hall area, and after googling i found twenty grammes, which suited our purposes nicely. made our way over, found the place to be quite filled (it was saturday night, after all) but we managed to snag a table. we got one of the small round tables- i mean it when i say small- it was a squeeze even to put all the things we ordered. thankfully there were only three of us.
we got the belgian waffle with a single scoop of salted caramel ice-cream ($9.50) and a charcoal waffle with egg yolk sauce ($8.50) to share. as expected the charcoal waffle was really more for show than flavour, but interestingly enough there was actually a difference between the regular waffle and the charcoal one. i found the charcoal one just slightly more crisp, but it lacked the fragrance of the regular one. for some reason, though, the charcoal one went better with the salted egg yolk sauce- the regular one was just a little too sweet to be matched with the sauce. also would've wished the salted egg sauce to have more salted egg flavour, but it wasn't too bad. still, though, i would much prefer the regular waffle (it's not a belgian waffle, but it's okay since i don't like belgian waffle anyway).
i also got a flat white ($5) to go along with the waffles, but it wasn't the type i like- not enough body and way too milky.
not a bad place overall to get desserts, but it got a bit crowded and loud as the night wore on. still, for waffles, my favourite remains as creamier.
twenty grammes
753 north bridge road
#01-01
https://www.facebook.com/twentygrammes/
i've been to hoshino coffee at its first outlet at plaza singapura multiple times. i've loved their soufflé pancakes ever since i had it the first time, which was probably two years ago. at every single visit, i found that standards have been kept consistent. the 25 minute wait has also stayed largely the same, but i guess awesome pancakes are worth the wait.
X and i wanted a little more food after dinner at the betterfield, and were initially headed to clinton st. baking company (i was somehow craving their thick, fluffy pancakes). we called ahead to ask when was their last order timing, were told that it was nine. we made it there on the dot, but they told us the kitchen was closed, wasting our trip there. so hoshino coffee came to mind- soufflé pancakes are quite a good substitute, anyway.
headed over and quickly ordered the double pancake soufflé style ($12), with an extra $1.20 for matcha softee.
the service there was eye openingly bad, though. we were seated at a corner, and were made to feel completely invisible. i had to ask for water twice before we finally got it (after a really long wait). even then, the waitress plonked it down onto our table wordlessly and unsmilingly. that would've been the end of it, but our pancakes arrived without the softee we'd ordered. upon asking, we were told that it was unavailable (!), but we'd already been served the bill charging us for it. the waiter who served us scurried off after saying that it was unavailable, and we were left dumbstruck. X went over to the counter to ask if we could have the vanilla softee instead, and it was then that she found out that the matcha softee was, in fact, available.
thankfully, the pancakes made up for it. it was just as delicious as i remembered it to be. the melty knob of cream-lookalike perched atop the pancakes was actually whipped butter. it was salty, buttery and awesome (and i ate it all).
atrocious service like that makes me wonder why we have to pay service charge. if they don't want to serve us water, i'm perfectly fine with getting it myself- it'd be more efficient, for one. this is really one of my pet peeves- having to pay for service even when it's crap. i still love the pancakes, but i'll probably not go back to the capitol piazza outlet for it.
hoshino coffee
capitol piazza
#b2-55
http://www.hoshinocoffee.com.sg/m/index.html
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
there is seriously a tart craze going around- first cheese tarts, and now egg tarts. while i'm not about to queue two to three hours for cheese tarts (i have better things to do) i didn't mind braving the queue for egg tarts, given that it was reportedly about half an hour. especially for awesome egg tarts! these are the ones that C hand carries back from hong kong for me, so i was interested to see if they were as good as those she brought back.
the queue looked deceptively short when i first reached takashimaya's basement, but i knew better. poked my head around and saw that it looked short only because it was separated into sections so as not to disrupt traffic. still, it wasn't too bad, though, so i joined it. time actually passed fairly quickly because... i was entertained by people who thought that the queue ended there, but then were taken aback when they were notified by a staff member posted there to join the queue behind. (and then there were people who got curious because of the snaking queue, and poked their head around wondering what it was for.)
the system was, thankfully, a pretty efficient one. the staff posted at the sectioned off part also did double duty as order taker. payment would be made later along the queue (cash only- which i thankfully had) with collection after that.
i spent the time being fascinated by them making egg tarts. they were making them right on the spot- filling the tarts with egg mixture, baking them, and taking them out of the tart case. (i never knew that the tarts weren't baked with the disposable aluminium casing- they had to take them out of the baking cases and then put them into the aluminium casing. all while piping hot.) they worked really quickly and efficiently- pretty impressive.
the tarts were literally fresh out of the oven when i got my hands on them, but i didn't have time to eat it on the spot. i brought it home and heated it up in the toaster later that evening, and it was just as good as the ones C brought back! i especially love the tart base- buttery, slightly milky, and crisp. totally worth the queue, given that i only waited slightly more than half an hour. (then again i went at an off peak timing- and was still surprised by the number of people there. don't people have to work?! okay, i know the same could be said of me.)
tai cheong bakery
pop-up, takashimaya food hall
