Curiously Different; Excitingly Fresh

[ Food Review – Fishop: From Marketplace to Table ] For the past couple of weeks, a certain someone and I have been excitedly eyeing this pretty large, soon-to-be-opened unit within Link@896. Besides having a – fresh and frozen – seafood selection, there is a dine-in area that does fish & chips, fish burgers, and… tze char-styled fishes?

While we were intrigued by the concept, we wondered how a limited sized kitchen and staff count could pull of that variety. But once we noticed the bass (geddit) bit – dining in a semi-restaurant whilst shelling out near-marketplace prices – we were set on trying it.

Fast forward to our visit, during which we decided to sample a bit of everything!

To start, we had a tasting plate of their salmon sashimi ($6.50/4pc) and the only cut of tuna I can stand, chuutoro ($9.50/4pc). For the price, I’m really not going to nitpick – the salmon was fresh, sweet and smooth (wish we’d gotten more); the chuutoro was a little too close to bone for my liking, but was defo fresher than I’d expected for the price.

The next item was more exciting – otah omelette ($5 for otah; $8 for cooking). An off-menu item suggested by the owner, who ordered the same item for his dinner, the otah had good body, and the omelette had good texture without being too oily. My only gripe? Wish the otah had a bit more flavour!

Our star of the night was the canto-styled hybrid grouper ($25 for the fish + $10 cooking)! A pretty hefty fish for two, this comes in significantly cheaper than most tze char places, let alone restaurants! Since we get to pick our fish from their live batch, we got to enjoy its natural sweetness and smoothness. While the sauce was pretty standard, the fish was still cooked decently. And honestly, the luxury of being able to enjoy a fresh catch at this price point really negated everything else!

A last min order, the English Fish Cake ($16) was larger than expected, and a surprise hit of the meal! Good golden crust, smooth fish filling, and punctuated with pops of potato – perfect for livening up any table. Likewise, just wish this had a little more flavour so we didn’t need to rely on the sauce!

And yes, whelk defo be going back!

[ Cat Cafe Review ] For those who’ve known me for a while, I’ve always been a cat kinda girl. The only problem? I’m allergic to fur. Welp. So a certain someone came up with the solution of loading me up on antihistamines, then dragging me for a short visit to a cat café (my first!), and whisking me home before any damage is done!

Animal cafés are not a novel concept. I’ve seen many but because of the less-than-ideal conditions/rules many have, never felt comfortable visiting them. So what makes this café different?

1) The rules: Let’s be real. The main reason you’re patronising a cat café is to get some of that sweet feline attention. While there are many places with the generic “please treat the animals nicely” or other variants, I do appreciate TCC’s rule of not picking up or carrying the cats + not disturbing cats when they’re in the rest area. Gotta love a place that puts its animals’ safety and wellbeing first!

2) The food: Most themed cafés and the likes suffer greatly from a mediocre menu that’s grossly overpriced. The selection here isn’t too wide, but they make up for it with moderate pricing and decent size. A certain someone’s pie was not only pretty hefty with much more filling than we’d expected, it tasted pretty good too.

3) The staff: Always nice to see the staff so passionate about the animals! One of the cats was older and sounded like it has a history of digestive issues, and after it started choking/hacking up part of its meal, the staff was immediately up and sending details over the phone try and figure out if it required med attention or if rest would suffice.

4) The environment (for Rail Mall’s branch): Accessible, open, spacious, and pretty comfortable — and that’s all my checkboxes for a good café spot! You’ve the option of being seated on the floor or at a proper table, but both put you in intimate view of the feline residents without being intrusive. (If you’re “lucky” like me, you may even get used as a trampoline for an eager cat trying to race towards its meal!)

5) The cats: These cats are either adopted or rehomed strays! They’re plenty cute, plenty greedy (keep your food close!), and plenty mischievous — perfect characters to watch on a slow day!