Cafes

Visited this Italian place on a Tuesday afternoon. As I had a rather substantial brunch earlier, I decided to order one of their salads.

Their salmon salad came with a generous serving of fresh smoked salmon slices, avocado cubes and shredded egg that would satisfy your tummy and keep you full till the next meal. For sources of fibre, the salad came with arugula, iceberg lettuce and baby tomatoes. For the dressing, olive oil and a wedge of lemon were served in a saucer. Perhaps just a personal preference but I would have liked their egg to be served sliced or while instead.

Overall, it’s a pretty decent salad with a generous serving to justify its higher price tag apart from its location. As we used our Burpple voucher here, this salad only came up to $11 including GST and service charge! The dining partner order a pasta and we also saw diners around us enjoying sandwiches. It’s a place worth considering for traditional Italian cuisine and for a quiet afternoon hangout where you can chat with friends without being rushed to leave when you’re done with your meal. We also saw some patrons doing their work at this spot. It might be a less convenient place if you’re coming by the MRT but for that you do get a really peaceful environment for your meal.

Visited Elixir on a Tuesday morning and it was a chill place to enjoy brunch with a cup of coffee. We had two cups of white coffee to go with our brunch items and it was nice that the place wasn’t too crowded such that we could chat without any pressure to leave after we were done with our food.

The Sausage and Tomatoes on Sourdough Toast was a simple but satisfying dish, with two links or savory and peppery sausages grilled to a crispy outside and juicy inside. The sourdough slice was also toasted well, offering a crisp outside and fluffier inside. Apart from butter, we were also given honey and a mixture of nuts and herbs (dukkah) for those who desire either some hint of sweetness or herby fragrance to go with the savory notes from the sausage.

As for Beet and Eggs, the eggs were poached well but the partner found it a bit too sour for his liking, most likely due to the addition of white vinegar into the water used to poach the eggs. The falafel pieces were nice but not extremely crunchy, which could be dipped with the beetroot hummus beneath the poached eggs. The crunchy and fresh kale salad on the side was also nicely executed.

Prices at this cafe were on the high side but the portions were decent and the service was good too. Free flow water was also available. For who prefer Al fresco dining, outdoor seats were also available.

We visited Keong Saik Bakery on a Saturday morning. It was a nice place to chill, with families and couples around us similarly having pastries and coffee for breakfast. For pastries, ordered a Miso Salmon Kouign-Amann ($7) and KSB Big Breakfast ($7). The Kouign-Amann had savory notes due to the salmon and the mozzarella layer above it, while the caramelized and flaky layers of the pastry below provided some level of sweetness. The amount of salmon given was decent given the price. If you have less of a sweet tooth, consider going for the KSB Big Breakfast. Cutting through the pastry, the runny yolk oozes over the pastry layers, as well as the chunks of potato cube and smoked ham sitting above. The potato cubes were coated with creamy Gruyère cheese; it didn’t make the dish overly cheesy but enhanced the savory notes of the dish. For those who enjoy dipping your Kaya toast in the soft boiled eggs, you’ll similarly enjoy the richness of the runny yolk in this dish as it coats the layers of pastry beneath. As for the pastry layers on the surface, they remain crisp and retained the flakiness much desired in regular croissants.

For breakfast, KSB offers a deal where you get a dollar off if you order a pastry with a beverage. You may also opt for regular milk alternatives such as almond and oat milk for your coffee. There was also an option to upgrade the coffee beans to Arabica beans at an additional cost of $0.50. For those looking for an additional protein boost, or are fond of having soft boiled eggs as part of your breakfast set, KSB offers 2 soft boiled eggs for $1.20, which are served in a metal cup. Just like Ya Kun, you’ll be able to pick up the soya sauce and pepper bottles at the side to season these soft boiled eggs to your liking.

Overall, it’s a nice place to have breakfast/brunch and you get to try out interesting pastries that have a local twist (e.g., otah baguette, otah danish, orh nee cube). While we ordered lattes, those who are fond of our local tea and coffee may also get their dose of caffeine in the form of Kopi O or Teh O. Would love to try their dessert items like cheesecakes and cruffins some day!

Visited Matchaya on a Saturday evening and it was rather empty. The matcha beverages remained warm for quite long as they were served in glass cups, which most likely helped to retain the heat of our drinks. The hot straight matcha was nicely bitter and was whisked to a smooth enough consistency. When reaching the bottom of the cup however, please do note that there will be quite a lot of matcha powder and it is recommended that you slowly sip the drink instead of gulping it down to prevent irritation to your throat. The matcha powder used for both beverages was of high quality and those who prefer a slightly less bitter version can opt for the matcha milk over the straight matcha, where you can also choose the sweetness level (no sugar, less sweet, normal) that you prefer.

Very interesting dish. Accompanying the hummus, we were given two slices of Turkish bread that were well toasted with butter. Slightly toasty on the outside and fluffy on the inside, the bread went quite well with the hummus dip. An egg was cracked in the middle of the hummus dip and the egg whites are still soft. It was nice dipping the bread into some of the egg as well. Apart from the egg, crunchy roasted chickpeas and juicy tomato cubes were sitting above the hummus dip. The crunch from the chickpeas offered varying texture in this dish and there was a hint of fragrance that these roasted chickpeas have over regular steamed/boiled chickpeas. The tomato cubes on the other hand introduced some acidity to the dish and were quite reminiscent of salsa, which went quite well with the bread too. However, this dish can be on the drier side for some but recommended to try if you’re there!

Pesto linguine with generous amounts of swordfish slices. We liked the swordfish as it was not fishy and quite flavorful but it can be a little on the drier side. While chili was added to the dish, it wasn’t too spicy if you leave those chili pieces out. The dish was also slightly sour due to the addition of lemon but the flavors came together rather well. On top of the pasta was also a generous serving of Parmesan cheese. Pasta was al dente and the serving is rather generous too.

The dish came with a huge piece of cod loin, fresh Japanese scallops, a scoop of crab meat on top of a mixture of brown and wild rice. The seafood tasted really fresh and we enjoyed the varying texture of the different ingredients. The bowl also came with some pickled cucumber, ginger and purple cabbage, which went rather well with the rice. The rice was also well-cooked, which was neither too mushy nor hard, and has the characteristic chewiness desired for those who enjoy brown rice. It can be a bit pricey (at $24++) but the quantity and quality of ingredients do justify the price tag. The Populus was really crowded when we visited on a Saturday afternoon (do reserve before heading down!) and we were given a dine-in time limit of 75 minutes. Food was served pretty quickly after ordering.