Addictude (Downtown Gallery)

Addictude might be a name that does not quite ring a bell with most — and that is pretty much alright. After all, Addictude is a brand name that is confined within those whom are staying or working around the Marina Bay area. That being said, Addictude has been around for quite a while — the establishment had first started its operations as a takeaway kiosk that is located at the basement of Marina One, focusing on serving various beverages as well as pastries to compliment their drink offerings. Since then, they had expanded their operations and had also moved into a bigger space within the basement of the same building — this time offering patrons with a wider variety of hot food options that mainly comprises of their signature Grilled Sourdough Triple Cheese Melts. August 2023 marks the first time that Addictude has two (2) outlets in operations — taking over the former premises that was previously occupied by the now-defunct Lunar Coffee Brewers on the ground level of Downtown Gallery, this is probably Addictude’s largest location thus far. Not much has been changed to the look of the space since its days of being Lunar Coffee Brewers, though much of the former paint scheme on the walls have now been replaced by a concrete-esque finish — seatings still are being placed on both sides of the space with the shopping aisle cutting through in the middle; the espresso counter facing the shopping aisle directly and still being the centrepiece of the space. Considering how Addictude at Downtown Gallery has a proper kitchen set-up, the menu at this outlet does not only comprise of the usual Grilled Cheese Sourdough Toasties that one can find at their Marina One location, but also features some outlet-exclusives such as the Scrambled Egg Rice Bowls and a section dedicated to “All-Time Favourite Light Bites”. Pastries available for the day can be found in the display cabinet at the ordering counter, while the list of beverages available at Addictude Downtown Gallery includes espresso-based specialty coffee, ice-blended coffee, cocoa-based beverages and citrus juices.

We had previously made visits to Addictude at Marina One for their signature Grilled Cheese Sourdough Toastie offerings, so it is pretty natural that the item that we were looking forward to try at their new location at Downtown Gallery would be their selection of Scrambled Egg Rice Bowls that are exclusively available here. Whilst skimming through the menu, the Scrambled Egg Rice Bowls that stood out the most to us would be the Ikeda Chicken Cutlet Egg Bowl — the menu describes the Ikeda Chicken Cutlet Egg Bowl to come with elements such as Ikeda chicken cutlet, ADT speciality sauce, ADT
scrambled eggs, Kizami Nori (i.e. shredded Nori), and fresh garden greens. Turns out, the Ikeda Chicken Cutlet Egg Bowl does come with an aesthetic makes it look pretty similar to a rice bowl that is typically served out of a grain bowl shop — this is especially so given how the “fresh garden greens” involved consists of leafy greens, cherry tomatoes and shredded carrots. Coming with short-grain rice, the rice was pearly and came with just the right touch of stickiness — not particularly clumpy. The Ikeda Chicken Cutlet was decent but to no surprise — crisp chicken cutlet that featured a batter that was not particularly thick; the chicken being tender and juicy without being greasy as well. Topped with a slightly tangy mayonnaise sauce over the top, the mayonnaise sufficiently cuts through the meatiness and that “fried” feel of the chicken cutlet aptly. The scrambled egg here comes in the form of a “tornado egg”; itself being just being a wee bit runny, providing the rice with an element that is moist and makes everything rather easy to eat. We were not too big a fan of the fresh garden greens though; undoubtedly adds a wholesome and hearty feel to do the rice bowl, though we were not too big of a fan of the slight bitterness that it brought to the entire bowl.

Addictude has always been a spot that is more about serving up crowd pleasers that are light but with a wholesome touch — this can be easily seen from their offerings that are listed on the Grilled Cheese Sourdough Toasties menu, which comprises of items such as Hickory BBQ Chicken Cheese Melt that sees an inclusion of meat into a standard grilled cheese sandwich that makes it more substantial than the usual. While Addictude has expanded its menu at their Downtown Gallery location to include more dishes they are suitable as lunch options for the office folks around its vicinity, we do feel that their offerings felt a tad basic as compared to what others are serving up — this is especially the case for the Scrambled Egg Rice Bowls. One can however still argue that it does take some skill for the chef to be able to execute a well-made tornado egg, though we would think that it needs some extra “oomph” more than just that considering the price tag it commands for. The Flat White that we had went for was decent however; one that was bold with a roasty and earthy flavour profile that should do well as a mid-day perk me up. The Scrambled Egg Rice Bowls at Addictude are priced between $15 to $25; the priciest one being the Grilled Unagi Kabayaki Egg Bowl, while the prices of the Grilled Cheese Sourdough Toasties that they have to offer ranges from $15 for the Classic Cheese Melt to $21 for the Spicy Chipotle Chicken Cheese Melt. Needless to say, we would be missing Lunar Coffee Brewers considering how they serve up more artisanal rice bowls as compared to Addictude — that being said, it would be interesting to see how the folks of Addictude would fare for their Downtown Gallery outlet in the long run.