Easties Unite!

Not the most accessible - I go there every couple of weeks for my TCM appts - but if you like the rich local or Malaysian kopis, you’ll have a blast here. Celebrity-owner Mark Lee and his partners have brought in coffee beans from 13(!!) different Malaysian states, each with its unique taste. First-timers can go for this triple-sampler, the Gem of Three States ($4.60 hot, $5.20 cold, $0.40 less for “kopi-o”), using the pre-selected Perak, Sembilan and Pahang blends. These are the sweeter coffees of the lot in my opinion, so if you prefer stronger coffees like me, try the Terengganu, Sabah or Sarawak coffees, the latter two roasted with some margarine for a buttery flavour. #Burpple

Out of the three Ugnuts we tried, I liked Berry Pockie the most. The girly donut is filled with strawberry pastry cream, then coated with raspberry white chocolate glaze, and adorned with dried rose petals, white chocolate pearls and crushed pistachio. The fruitiness is a welcome contrast to the other donuts that can get overwhelmingly heavy.

After months of R&Ding, Group Pastry Chef and fellow #BurppleTastemaker @fionatingx came up with these beauties called Ugnuts ($5.50), short for "Ugly Donuts"... Well, not in the eyes of us foodies for sure. Quite a number of varieties are available like the Banamel Brûlée that has banana pastry cream filling with a long brûlée-d banana half on top; the Crunchy Xmas with sweet potato pumpkin mash filling and cranberries, pumpkin seeds and katafi fritters sprinkled; the heavy-duty Dirty South with honey buttercream icing and fried chicken skin, plus you can drizzle hot sauce on top as much as you can bear.

If the Durian Softie Pie sounds too sinful for you, the Fresh Fruit Parfait might be more to your liking - cool palate cleanser with refreshing rose-macerated watermelon cubes, raspberries, tart lime curd and honeycomb surrounding the strawberry beetroot softee.

Another dish that I could not stop eating was the Sticky Curly Fries, house-made Idaho potato strips drenched in maple soy syrup, sriracha and kewpie mayo. The thin coils were so crispy and easy to gobble, and I just kept wanting to scoop up more of that sweet maple soy left at the bottom of the bowl.

The portions are generously covered in Za’atar spices that are usually made with thyme, oregano, marjoram, and sumac - you can imagine how flavourful it was! My favourite part was dipping into the addictive garlic toum, so wonderfully pungent and prickly. If you need more heat to all these, the restaurant has a special shelf storing several types of hot sauce that could potentially burn your tongue, but hey YOLO 😜 All the fried chicken are served in “half bird” ($25) and “the whole damn bird” ($49).

I had the Durian Softee Pie ($16++) during Savour, and it is still my favourite among the three we had. Toasted milk softee that is slightly reminiscent of malt candy, decked up with durian pudding (almost like purée), crumbly almond crust, white chocolate, and finished with swirls of gula melaka caramel all over.

What better way to indulge than downing a plate of delicious fried chicken... Not KFC - don’t spoil your weekend like that. Gather your friends and take a trip down to the laid-back Frankel Ave neighbourhood where Bird Bird resides - trust me, you'll need more than one stomach.
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You might have eaten their Southern Fried Chicken with truffle mash and gravy at Savour last year, almost the same is offered at the diner (without the truffle though), along with two other flavours - Bangkok style and Lebanese style. The Bangkok Fried Chicken is fragrant with the Thai aromatic spices added to the batter, though the experience is not complete without dipping the meat into the green chilli nam jim, a spicy blend of fish sauce and lime juice with green chilli, coriander and onions.

I have cravings for Muslim Indian food on some late nights after work, and Ariff’s is one that I can head to on the way home home. The air-conditioned restaurant in Kallang Bahru is supposedly open 24 hours every day(? Online searches gave various timings).
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I love how their menu is so extensive that I need at least 5 minutes to read through everything before I can decide. I was juggling between kothu prata and murtabak before this paper thosai chicken masala caught my eye, and boy was I in for a treat. I stared at the arm-long thosai for a good 15 seconds before I attacked the crispy thin crust at the sides, dipping the pieces into the thick sambar/dhal. It never cease to amaze me how people manage to achieve such a thin intact layer almost to breaking point. The big portion of the masala chicken is inside the roll, and that’s where the real heat is at. The spice-coated chicken chunks negated the air-conditioning in the room, turning the sweat tap on, though my tongue was enjoying the momentary bursts of flames. This was definitely overly ambitious for a single person - I left probably 40% of the crepe on the plate. Masochistic as this sounds, I am looking forward to getting burned again. #BurppleSGLateNight

Butterfly pea flower itself doesn't have a strong fragrance, so don't expect anything more than tasting the base flavour. Which is good that it isn't as sweet as it potentially looks. If you're ordering a cool beverage at the cafe, go for this! #Burpple

I was pleasantly surprised by the cook of the chicken thigh. Ok, maybe I lowered my expectations thinking that it's an overpriced food republic gimmick. The size of the chicken thigh, though substantial for single portion, was also much smaller than in pictures, so I wasn't looking for wow on my first bite, but it happened.
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The texture of the skin was springy like white chicken, but tasty like marinated roast chicken. I found out online that the salt which covers the packed chicken absorbs heat from the oven or bottom of the wok, and dissipates it gradually to ensure the perfect cook without any loss of flavour. That explains the smooth and tender meat which slid down the throat easily. The mixed rice has some lup cheong and cherry tomatoes added, but the wet mushiness leaves much to be desired.
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Note that the likelihood of getting a dry throat/major thirst after the meal is high!

The brioche is baked in-house, fluffy with a crisp golden shell. It is adorn with arugula and glossy slices of smoked salmon, but if you ask me, I’m pretty satisfied with the plain buttery bun.
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I just think that their price point is quite high for a snack like this to cost $15. The tea was $13, also expensive. Guess I paid for the attentive service and peaceful surroundings… because I was the only customer around.