Having been going around trying different establishments for Filipino cuisine in recent times, it does seem that we are quite in the mood to explore such locations — got to know of Tara na! by Easy Eatz’s existence at Punggol East Container Park which has been operating for a period of time. These folks can be found around the area where one can find stalls such as that of The Smokhaus — other establishments operating within container units within Punggol East Container Park would include that of Idly Kadai and the Singapore outpost of Pho Thin 13 Lo Duc. Whilst establishments serving up Filipino fare has become a little bit more common these days as compared to the past, Tara na! by Easy Eatz falls into the category of halal-friendly Filipino fare that is slightly more difficult to get around. As with most establishments at Punggol East Container Park, most of the dining area for the establishment is located outdoors. The menu at Tara na! by Easy Eatz is being split into sections dedicated to Starters, Salad, Main Course (for sharing), Sizzling Plates, Noodles & Pasta and Desserts.

Tara na! by Easy Eatz does serve up a few dishes which does seem to accommodate to that of individual diners where the dish featuring a certain type of meat is paired with rice, sunny side-up and a salsa. Patrons do get to opt between white rice and garlic fried rice for the Chicken Tocino which we had went for — our choice would be for the Garlic Fried Rice. For those whom are not in the know, the Chicken Tocino is a pan-fried marinated chicken dish that sees the use of brown sugar, garlic, pineapple juice, soy sauce and white vinegar — this does give the dish a sweet and savoury note with a caramalised note that goes along with the savouriness of the chicken that is tender; all that whilst the pan-frying process gives it a slight smokiness as well. The Chicken Tocino works particularly well with the Garlic Fried Rice which hints of a soft note of garlic; all that whilst being enhanced with a more intense garlicky note coming from the garlic chips that also provided a bit of a textural contrast against the rice itself. The salsa does come with a mix of tomatoes and cucumbers giving a soft Brie and a crunch which was refreshing to have in between the rice and the Chicken Tocino, while the sunny side-up that came with the dish also was free from any undesirable odour from overused oil and came with crisp edges; also featured a runny egg yolk eagerly breaks as one pierces through it using the fork — goes particularly well with the Garlic Fried Rice which gives it a silkier, smoother texture apart from the eggy notes that it carries as well.

Those whom have been following the happenings around the Singapore F&B scene would probably have heard about an establishment named Thunder Tree / Fire Flies for a long while now. Fire Flies formerly operates a “health farm” at Lim Chu Kang prior to the closure of the organic vegetable farm due to the change of land usage of the plot which it was sitting on — Thunder Tree was the brand by the same family which runs food stalls with ingredients sourced from Fire Flies Health Farm. Fire Flies had since made their return to the local F&B scene; now being a food stalls situated at the same food court as where Thunder Tree used to operate from but just a few units down — they are now probably best known for their Hakka Thunder Tea (otherwise known as Lei Cha) offerings there. They have since expanded their operations to a new store situated at Quemoy Building at Upper Paya Lebar Road; this would be located across from Kensington Square with other establishments situated in the same stretch of shops including that of Fuel Kitchen. Being an establishment that serves up vegetarian fare, Fire Flies had also expanded the selection of dishes offered at their outlet in Quemoy Building — the menu is now split into sections dedicated to Rice, Noodles, Mains, Specials and Desserts, especially considering how they are operating within a independently-run space here rather than from within a stall in a coffeeshop / food court setting.

Stalls serving up Hakka Thunder Tea offerings are aplenty across the island these days — whilst still a rather niche offering, it had most certainly become a little more conventional over the years. Whilst most establishments served up their Hakka Thunder Tea offerings in the form of white rice or brown rice options rather than that of the same but with Kolo Mee. With this in mind, the Fire Flies X Enjoy Tea Leicha Kolomee (Top Grade Iron Goddess) was an item of choice for us when we were skimming through the menu here. The line-up of the Fire Flies X Enjoy Tea Leicha Kolomee is also available with rice, and this line-up would be one that is served with a curation of tea that is sourced from Enjoy Tea where patrons are encouraged to mix the tea into the Thunder tea paste. The menu describes the Fire Flies X Enjoy Tea Leicha Kolomee (Top Grade Iron Goddess) to come with elements such as Top Grade Iron Goddess, Natural Spring Water, Kolo Mee, Peanuts, Sesame, Black Eye Pea, Chye Poh, Leicha Tofu, Long Beans, Cabbage, Chye Sim and Manis Sayur. Adding the Top Grade Iron Goddess tea to the Thunder Tea Paste, it does seem that doing so does sort of intensify the umami notes of the Thunder Tea Paste — it also does give a slight bitter undertone that Iron Goddess tea is known to carry in its finishing notes as well. Pouring the Thunder Tea Paste into the bowl of noodles gives the noodles that same strong saltish and umami flavour; the Kolo Mee here does come springy with a good bite — all that whilst the addition of other elements like the peanuts, Leicha Tofu, Long Beans, Cabbage, Chye Sim and Manis Sayur adds different contrasting textures that either came with a crunch or a soft bite.

Those whom have been following us for the last decade would probably have recalled our visits to South Union Park in the past — situated along Jalan Kembangan in a shophouse unit that is located within a short walk away from Kembangan MRT Station, South Union Park is a favourite with us for quite a while best known for their handmade pastas that they had been serving up before other establishments with the local F&B scene had caught on with such fare. These folks celebrate their 10th anniversary of their establishment this year — South Union Park being where they had first started out their journey in the local F&B scene before expanding to other concepts such as that of Tombok Tombok and Eleven Strands over the years. With them marking their first decade in operations, South Union Park has also refreshed their menu to include new offerings whilst serving up familiar favourites over the years.

The Porcini Ravioli with Mixed Mushroom is one of the few new dishes that has been added to the menu of South Union Park in conjunction with their tenth anniversary celebrations — the dish can be found in the Pasta section of the menu. The menu describes the Porcini Ravioli with Mixed Mushroom as a dish that comes with elements such as mixed forest mushrooms, mushroom cream sauce, Arugula and Parmesan. South Union Park had established its name from their handmade filled pastas ever since its founding, and the Porcini Ravioli is a showcase of that finesse that they are already known for surrounding the handmade filled pastas as is an extension of what they already have been carrying on their menu. Shaped like dumplings, the Porcini Ravioli comes with pasta dough that carried sufficient bite, with the ravioli coming well-stuffed with porcini and cheese giving it a good balance of earthiness and a slightly more neutral flavour profile that gives a bit more depth of flavours to the mushroom cream sauce that accompanies the dish which carries a slightly more intense note of earthiness and creaminess here. Further supplemented by the mixed mushrooms that adds an earthy, bouncy texture. Whilst the addition of Arugula is the one that adds a hint of its inherent bitterness to cut through the cream and earthiness that comes with the dish, though it does seem to carry an extra note of basil that seems to bind all of the flavours together nicely.

Got to learn about the new Accompany Coffee that had just opened its doors at Joo Chiat Road — Accompany Coffee is the latest addition to the Katong neighbourhood, having taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Same Days Coffee situated within the Grafunkt store at 292 Joo Chiat Road right at the junction of Joo Chiat Road, Dunman Road and Koon Seng Road. The entire set-up looks more like a re-branding effort considering how the space could not be substantially redesigned or refitted with the master tenant being Grafunkt. There are two seating areas for Accompany Coffee; one being around the partition segregating the cafe element with the retail shop element where high chairs are lined along the partition to double up as a table, while there are also low stools and low tables located right in front of the counter. As with how things were with Same Days Coffee, the menu centres around its beverage offerings — the categories of drinks available at Accompany Coffee includes Coffee, Matcha, Others and House Specials. There is also a list of rotating House Bakes that are available for patrons whom wish to pair up their beverage orders with some light bites.

Despite the long list of House Bakes being listed on the menu at Accompany Coffee, only the Citrus Olive Oil Cake and the Chocolate Chip Cookie were available during our day of visit. We found ourselves going for the Citrus Olive Oil Cake — the menu at Accompany Coffee describes the Citrus Olive Oil Cake to be an item that comes with elements such as fresh cream and orange zest. The Citrus Olive Oil Cake comes in the form of a slice out of a loaf cake; coming with the fresh cream piped above with orange zest coming above the fresh cream itself. Thought the cake element itself here was pretty delightful considering how the Olive Oil Cake was sufficiently moist and easy to eat; not too sweet overall and does hint of a very very slight note of olive oil at the back of the tongue if one is really picking into the small details here. The fresh cream adds a creaminess to the Citrus Olive Oil Cake, while the orange zest gives it a slight zing to balance everything else out.

Got to learn about the new Xaroma Cafe whilst scrolling through social media — these folks are located at the foot of Blk 554 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 which is a bus ride away from Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange / MRT Station being tucked deeper into the heartlands, though those whom are familiar with the area would probably know that this is the same block which houses an outlet of 蔬方斋 SHU Vegetarian that is in walking distance away from Cheng San Food Centre. Located right beside a beauty and skin care parlour named Dermal, Xaroma Cafe is actually a concept by the folks behind Dermal as well. Xaroma Cafe should be rather easy to spot considering how the establishment has an outward-facing opened window that allows for quick takeaways of coffee from outside the establishment. The interior of Xaroma Coffee can be described as rather tight and cosy with small tables that mostly accommodate to patrons visiting the establishment in pairs, though there is an outdoor seating area that features bigger tables where it is more suited for groups visiting the establishment in groups of four (4) pax. Despite its small size, Xaroma Cafe serves up a good variety of food on its menu; the food menu is split into sections dedicated to Pasta, Sando, Snacks, Shokupan Dessert / Signature Shokupan, Bingsu and Gelato, while the beverages menu sees a line-up of Coffee, Signature Coffee and Tea & Refreshers being offered.

The Mentaiko Tiger Prawn Capellini is a dish that is being listed under the Pasta section of the menu; the menu describes the dish to feature elements such as grilled tiger prawns, Mentaiko mayo and premium Tobiko. One thing to note is how the dish actually does come with five (5) pieces of tiger prawns; this does seem quite value for money especially considering how the dish is priced at $14.90 — with that being said, it is noted that the tiger prawns does come lightly battered rather than actually grilled as per what is being described on the menu. With all that being said, the choice of Capellini does keep the dish pretty light overall; the Capellini comes with a softer texture than the usual spaghetti and is served warm here — mixing it up with the Mentaiko mayonnaise does help to rid the slightly watery feel caught by the strands of capellini and adds a hint of umami and a creamy texture to the pasta. Inclusion of Tobiko adds a popping sensation for more texture, while it does seem that cloves of garlic were also added to the Capellini to give it a savoury, garlicky note to provide a bit more depth of flavours to the Mentaiko mayonnaise. Meanwhile, the prawns do seem reasonably fresh and comes with a hint of crustacean flavor; the batter also being light and crisp, while the accompanying cherry tomatoes are seared and provides a tang to reset the tastebuds especially from the Mentaiko mayonnaise.

Was scrolling around social media and got to know about the opening of a relatively new stall situated at Taman Jurong Food Centre. Located at the second level of the food centre, Nomad Kitchen (not to be confused by NOMAD that serves pasta, pizza and salads at Depot Heights Shopping Centre) had recently found home there — these folks are situated right beside Butternut which should be fairly easy to find for those whom frequent the food centre. Nomad Kitchen sports a white signboard that contains its logo and simple text — should be relatively easy to spot since it is a stark contrast against most of the signboards of the stalls situated in the same row of stalls. Nomad Kitchen is a Muslim-owned establishment; the brand does adopt the slogan “Culturally Inspired” which does seem to hint of its menu offerings which comprises of cuisine from the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions. Offering seven (7) dishes on its menu, the food items available at Nomad Kitchen includes Rotisserie Chicken, Saffron Jujeh, Iskender, Shakshuka, Lasagna, Moussaka and Street Wraps.

Visiting Nomad Kitchen on a weekday dinner service, a number of the items on the menu at Nomad Kitchen were already sold out by the time we arrived in the early evening. Of the lot of dishes available, the Saffron Jujeh is the one that caught our eye — the dish is described to come with elements such as that of grilled chicken, persian rice, tomato, green chili, Mast-o-Khair and Salad. Nomad Kitchen usually serves the Saffron Jujeh in a portion size of two skewers; ours came with three at an additional cost as they were closing for the day and left with an odd number of skewers which they were not intending to keep in stock. The Persian Rice features long-grain basmati rice; came with a slight hint of saffron and a buttery note — light and fluffy on its own. The grilled chicken skewers were grilled upon order; moist, tender and firm with a good, chunky bite whilst being marinated with turmeric — flavourful with a slight smokiness from the grilling process. The tomato also comes grilled; juicy, refreshing and provided a tangy note to cut through the flavours of the rice and grilled chicken. The Mast-o-Khair can be described as a Persian Yogurt and Cucumber Dip; best paired with the grilled chicken skewers for a bit of creamy zing and tang with a bit of a refreshing crunch, while biting into the green chili adds a relentless burst of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds even for those with high tolerance to spiciness.

Those whom have been following us for quite a while would have probably seen us posting about an establishment named 2 Chefs Too Many not too long ago — whilst these folks are a relatively new addition to the local F&B scene that are operating from an independently-run shop unit at the foot of a HDB block in Changi Village, these folks had expanded their operations to several locations in recent times. Aside from expanding beyond the borders of Singapore into Johor Bahru, Malaysia within KSL Mall, they have also ventured into opening stalls at food centres such as that of MarketPlace@Expo (formerly Timbre+ Eastside @ Expo) and that of Hong Lim Food Centre as well. Their Hong Lim Food Centre stall is located along the same row of stalls such as that of the outlet of The Noodle Memories there. Such outlets are named Omu Place; they offer a more condensed version menu as compared to that of 2 Chefs Too Many and emphasises on their Omu Rice offerings whilst also serving up hot and cold Udons as well — they also do offer a few options for sides for those looking for something to supplement their meal with.

A dish that we were particularly impressed with during our visit to 2 Chefs Too Many at their Changi Village location was the Cheesy Wagyu Hamburg Omurice — we were glad that Omu Place does serve the same dish. Omu Place does not describe the elements that is included in the Cheesy Wagyu Hamburg Omurice, though it can be observed from our order that the dish does feature quite the same elements as the one served at 2 Chefs Too Many at Changi Village; a Wagyu Hamburg Patty, tornado egg, mushroom-infused short-grain rice, Demi-Glace sauce and a cheese-based sauce drenched over it. Digging into the dish, we did find that the quality of the dish is pretty consistent to what we have had at 2 Chefs Too Many as well; the Wagyu Hamburg Patty was juicy with tender meat that didn’t come with any fatty or veiny — savoury enough but also without any gaminess while the meat was easy to chew through without being too crumbly as well. The tornado egg itself was well-executed being soft yet slightly runny; carried an eggy note whilst the Demi-Glace sauce provided the slightly briny and savoury notes that not only brought the flavours of the rice, egg and beef together, but also enhanced the notes of the entire dish as well. The mushroom-infused short-grain rice was the element that added another dimension of flavours with a light earthiness that perfumed the tastebuds and gave complexity to the dish. The added cheese sauce gives it a creamy note to the Demi-Glace sauce and the Wagyu Hamburg a bit more depth of flavours. Whilst a little pricey for hawker fare at $12.90, the Cheesy Wagyu Hamburg Omurice does present itself as a pretty interesting choice to go for at a hawker centre to treat oneself to once in a while!

Was passing by Millenia Walk and got to learn about the opening of a new ramen restaurant within the shopping gallery named Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke — these folks had takeover the former premises of the now-defunct location of Yoshinoya within the mall (more on this later). Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke mentions that the brand is established since 2002 in Hiroshima Japan; the brand does seem to have multiple outlets located within Japan — the Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke outlet at Millenia Walk is their very first outpost in Singapore. Whilst not immediately noticeable, we did seem to notice an affiliation between Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke and Yoshinoya here considering how the congratulatory flowers placed outside of the restaurant during its initial opening phase had messages addressed to Yoshinoya. As one would have derived so from its namesake, Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke is an establishment that specialises in their chicken broth shoyu ramen offerings; its menu is being split into sections dedicated to Ramen, Side and Curry Rice offerings — they also do offer desserts where ice-cream is being sourced from ice-creamery Udders.

The Waraji Katsu Toripaitan Kara Miso is actually the priciest offering at Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke — the menu does not describe the elements that are featured in the bowl of ramen though it can be derived from its namesake that this would be a chicken broth ramen that comes with Miso — it also comes spicy as per the mention of “Kara” in its namesake. The Waraji Katsu Toripaitan Kara Miso is one out of three variants of Toripaitan Kara Miso Ramen that Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke offers; the other two being the Toripaitan Kara Miso and the Ajitama Toripaitan Kara Miso. Whilst Toripaitan Ramen Torinosuke does not describe the elements featured within the dish, it can be observed from our order that the Waraji Katsu Toripaitan Kara Miso does come with elements such as Yasai (i.e. vegetables), Chicken Soboro (i.e. ground chicken), and Waraji Katsu (i.e. big, flat-shaped katsu). Going for the Toripaitan Kara Miso broth, we did find that the broth does carry a savoury note here — perhaps even a little salty for some palates; we did notice how the Toripaitan isn’t quite the rich and collagen-filled sort and is rather on the lighter side that isn’t too heavy on the tastebuds. With that said, much of the saltishness does seem to come from the inclusion of miso, whilst the broth does come with a spicy kick that should be manageable for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The ramen noodles are done to a consistency where it carried a good bite, while the Waraji Katsu was crisp and not too greasy; there wasn’t much to shout about otherwise apart from how it does come with tonkatsu sauce piped over for a slight hint of sweetness and a light tang for some contrast. Meanwhile, the inclusion of Chicken Soboro adds meatiness and savouriness to the elements within the bowl, while the addition of Yasai and chopped raw red onions helped to add a refreshing crunch with the latter also giving slight zing to refresh the tastebuds.

For those whom have been following the happenings in the local F&B scene of the late, the expansion of OMMA Chicken Soup has been pretty aggressive to say the least. Whilst the establishment had only first made its entry into the local F&B scene with the opening of their Blk 216 Bedok Food Centre and Market location not too long ago, they had since opened multiple stalls in various hawker centres all over the island. Apart from operating from just hawker centre stalls, they had also made their entry into food courts in major malls and even hospitals. One of the most recent locations of which they had set up their stall at within a food court would be that of the Kopitiam food court at PLQ Mall — they can be found around the same stretch of stalls as the outlet of Palapa Express and Sing HK Kitchen there. As most would probably know by now, OMMA Chicken Soup is best known for their iteration of Korean-style chicken soup that comes with their very own twist — offering patrons with the Collagen OMMA, Ginseng OMMA and the Sesame OMMA, patrons get to pair it with either Short Grain Rice or Mee Sua. The outlets situated within food courts also features a line-up of Mandus that can be ordered ala-carte or as a part of a Value Set Meal at an extra cost.

Having tried the Sesame OMMA during our visit to their very first location at Bedok, we found ourselves going for the Collagen OMMA this time round during our visit to their PLQ Mall outlet after realising how the Sesame OMMA isn’t quite up to our liking. We opted for the Collagen OMMA to come with Mee Sua — it can be observed from our order of the Collagen OMMA that it does come with stewed chicken, while the soup itself also does come with jujube, goji berries and Gingko nuts. Going straight for the soup itself, it is noted that the Collagen OMMA comes with quite a clean and light savoury note — not quite like other collagen chicken soups that we had come across at other establishments. OMMA Chicken Soup’s main selling point would be how light and hearty their collagen chicken soup is; a formula that is easy to drink rather than one that is thick, rich and sticky to the mouth that could be too cloying and dense for some — the version of the collagen chicken soup at OMMA Chicken Soup being one that is suitable as daily fare. Coupling it up with the Mee Sua, the Mee Sua gives a silken texture with a soft bite, while the chicken flesh included in the soup with the bone-in came with fall-off-the-bone, tender meat that is juicy and skin that seemingly disintegrating into the broth itself. The inclusion of elements like the red jujube and goji berries adds a soft bite and provides a sweetness to the broth — adding to the wholesomeness of the soup.

While Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen isn’t exactly a new stall that is located at Old Airport Road Food Centre at this current juncture, the stall is still a relatively young one as compared to some of the more seasoned tenants within the popular food centre. Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen is located at the side of the food centre closer to Blk 39 Jalan Tiga; other establishments that is located within the vicinity of where Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen is located includes that of Arabiano Kebab — a fairly new addition to the food centre serving up Turkish & Mediterranean cuisine. As one can probably figure out from the namesake of the establishment, Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen is an establishment that serves up Indonesian fare — mentioned in the menu just below the signboard of the stall would be the variety of Nasi Ayam dishes alongside Nasi Beef Rendang and Nasi Lemak Chicken Set. Aside from those, Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen also serves up a few noodle dishes, Lontong, as well as a few Nasi Padang dishes that are prominently displayed behind the display case at the counter.

One thing that is rather noteworthy about Warung Pojok Rasa Indo Yati’s Kitchen would be the availability of some renditions of Nasi Ayam that is less common in Singapore but could be found in Indonesia. Between the Nasi Ayam Kremes and the Nasi Ayam Kalasan, we picked the latter — patrons do get a choice to opt between chicken drumstick or chicken breast to be served with the order; we went for the chicken thigh option, while the dish is observed to come with elements such as Sambal Balado, Fried Tempeh, Fried Tofu, slices of cucumbers, cabbage and a bowl of soup on the side. Digging into the Nasi Ayam Kalasan, we did notice that the dish came a little less warm than we would have liked it to be especially given how we had made our order during lunch peak hours on a weekdays. With that being said, the fried chicken here does seem to come with crispy crumbs that is similar to that of the Serunding that typically comes with Ayam Goreng Berempah; light, crisp and not too greasy — all that with a slightly hint of spices. The fried chicken does come with crispy and light fried skin; even lighter than that of what one would expect out of Ayam
Goreng Berempah or even Ayam Penyet — the flesh of the chicken also being especially tender for a Nasi Ayam dish (at least the ones that we are exposed to thus far). It also carries hints of turmeric which is being used in the marination process. The Sambal Balado here is bright and spicy; tickles the tastebuds of those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness but also being slightly saltish enough to bring more flavour to the rice and the fried chicken. Both the the Fried Tofu and Fried Tempeh were good-to-have elements, that were executed above average here; the Fried Tofu managing to keep its moist and soft texture within while the Tempeh was actually quite easy to chew through as well.

Was scrolling around social media and got to learn about the existence of Homida | Korean Taste of Home in the Kopitiam coffeeshop situated at the foot of Blk 231 Sumang Lane — this would be one of the neighbourhoods that is situated slightly deeper within the Punggol area. As one would be able to tell from the namesake of the stall, Homida is an establishment that serves up Korean cuisine — whilst stalls serving up Korean cuisine are aplenty within food courts, coffeeshops and hawker centres all over the island, one thing that stands out about Homida to us would be the offerings that they carry. The menu at Homida is split into sections dedicated to Bibimbap, Noodle, Kimbap, Rice and Sides. Whilst a number of the more unique sides that are usually not served up by Korean cuisine stalls situated within food courts, coffeeshops and hawker centres in the heartlands have since been removed from the menu permanently, the availability of Kimbap is a noteworthy highlight at Homida.

Homida offers three different variations of Kimbap on its menu — this would include the Classic Kimbap, Bulgogi Kimbap and the Salted Egg Chicken Floss Kimbap; we went for the Salted Egg Chicken Floss Kimbap during our visit to Homida during a weekend dinner service. It was unfortunate that we were unable to give their variety of Korean Pancakes a try since those were sold out for the day during the time of our visit there. Homida does not describe the elements that comes with their various offerings; with that being said, the Salted Egg Chicken Floss Kimbap can be observed to feature elements such as egg, carrot, salted egg chicken floss, cucumber and yellow pickles — all wrapped with short-grain rice and seaweed. One thing we did manage to observe on first impression is how the Kimbap at Homida are sized smaller in terms of width but made longer to include more slices in one single portion as compared to the other Gimbap / Kimbap offerings we had come across at other establishments. Considering so, we did notice that the Salted Egg Chicken Floss Kimbap is rolled rather firmly; served warm, the rice does hold up to bites taken into the Kimbap. Whilst the portion of most of the elements within the Kimbap is smaller, there is no denying that the star is indeed the Salted Egg Chicken Floss where its savoury notes and saltish notes take precedence over most of the other elements in the Kimbap — the cucumbers and the yellow pickles providing an element of crunch with the former being a little more refreshing whilst the latter is more of a palate cleanser and delivers a tang to cut through the saltish-ness of the dish.

There has been quite a number of brick-and-mortar cafes that had been opened by the folks previously operating as a home-based business for quite a while — one of the latest establishments that had jumped onto this bandwagon would include that of Kin Joe Coffee. Whilst having been established as a home-based business previously, Kin Joe Coffee has now found new digs within a shophouse — they are located at 23 Eng Kong Terrace; this would be an area that is a bus ride away from Beauty World MRT Station. They had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Le Dessert there. The space does seem rather tight considering how the shophouse had been split into two different units on the first level; the interior space sees a narrow walkway in front of the counter that flows all the way through to the counter seats at the back of the space — most of the seating space is located outside of the establishment instead. Whilst being an establishment that focuses slightly more on their specialty coffee offerings with beverages split into sections dedicated to Coffee, Non-Coffee and Seasonal Specials, they also do serve a variety of Bites that includes a selection of toasties, breads, Madelines and Croffins — just to name a few.

Kin Joe Coffee does offer its patrons quite a variety of different flavours for their Croffin offerings — think the Croffin as their version of mini muffins that are served in a croissant format with different cream fillings piped within. We went for the Lychee Croffin during our visit to Kin Joe Coffee, though we note that other flavours of Croffin offered includes Matcha Ganache, Passionfruit Curd and Choco Hazelnut. Patrons can order these ala-carte, though one can also in packs of threes or sixes. Sinking our teeth into the Lychee Croffin, we did find that the Danish itself seemed rather fresh; its crisp and flaky yet free from unnecessary grease — carried a light buttery fragrance but didn’t feel particularly jelak. The Lychee Croffin does come piped with a lychee-infused pastry cream within that carried a sweet and yet slightly floral fragrance that lingers around the tastebuds — all that whist not being particularly heavy on cream at the same time. Despite the relatively small size of the Croffin here, the pastry cream filled within the Cruffin seems to carry traces of lychee pulp that doesn’t only further enhance the flavours of the pastry cream, but also adds a different dimension of texture to the pastry as well.