Guiding you to good food & best restaurants in Singapore

There are quite a number of cafes serving up bottled coffee around the City Hall area, but Berthold Delikatssen’s slow brew coffee line-up is probably the lesser mentioned one of the lot — a cafe that is located at the shopping arcade area of The Capitol Kempinski Hotel; the same area which you will be able to find other F&B establishments such as Broadway American Diner (formerly known as Capitol Milk Bar) and Frieda Restaurant.

Have actually heard about their slow brew coffee line-up quite a couple of months ago — actually had their “The Cool Santa Brew”; a slow brew coffee infused with orange and cinnamon, which was a Christmas special run during December last year when dine-in was allowed. Found myself going for the Veni Vidi Vici and 5pm to-go for the weekend (as with my usual habit of buying bottled coffee to tide over the weekends during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) where dine-in is not allowed).

To be very fair, the Veni Vidi Vici isn’t quite my cuppa — whilst I generally favour milkier cold brew/bottled coffees that are slightly sweetened (more of a beverage than a serious caffeine booster, the Veni Vidi Vici reminded me of a rather basic brew made using Arabica beans that is infused with milk and toffee cream; that sort of flat, slightly roasty body which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. That being said, while we had the cold brew just a day after it was being bought (and well before the stated expiry), we weren’t fans of how the cream started to congregate and stuck along the side of the mug we are having it from.

The 5pm is one of those flavours that really intrigued me as a black bottled brew — no milk added, but infused with dark rum and maple syrup. Whilst the base note of the coffee is still rather flat and lacks punchiness, I liked how the dark rum here presented a slight balance without being excessively heavy against the lightness of the black coffee; each sip also comes with a whiff of slight sweetness in its finish after the one tastes the body of the dark rum. It carries what it promises — “shifting one’s daytime energy and unwinding the senses to nocturnal possibilities”; a rather mysterious and dreamy concoction.

Berthold Delikatssen also does offer other intriguing flavours for their slow-brew coffee, including variations such as the Local Hero (slow brew coffee infused with Pandan-infused Coconut Milk, Pandan Syrup and Gula Melaka), and the Ready to Matcha (slow brew coffee blended with Matcha, Milk and Sugar). Their range of slow brew coffee, gourmet spreads and food can be ordered via the website of The Capitol Kempinski Hotel (delivery and self pick-up), and also available for takeaway through walk-ins as well.

Their wanton mee is v nice! It’s thin & very springy, coated in a light sauce (I think it might be sesame oil + their charsiew sauce?). V similar to feifei roasted noodles @ yuhua (my fav!). But I did feel like there was a slight alkaline taste.

Wantons had quite a decent amount of meat filling, liked that they used water chestnuts so there was the cronch element.

The charsiew is really good - it’s tender and juicy, there’s a nice mix of fatty + lean parts, and the ends have a nice slight char so those parts are crisp. It is feels “cleaner” and not as sinful compared to other charsiews out there, but still v delicious so I liked it a lot!

They’re closing on 15 June because the owner wants to take a rest! We actually queued almost 3 hours for this on sat. It’s a v nice satisfying meal, glad we tried it before it closed, since it’s been on my wishlist since 2 years ago hahaha

A few slices of fish with a bunch of vegetables for $7. Thick white noodles cost $1 per portion. Soup is ok but not worth the price.

Hence, the best way for now, is to continue with our takeaways, deliveries, or home cooking for an additional week before dining-in resumes if the cases do not increase exponentially. One such place that I miss so much from dining-in is also available for takeaways and deliveries, and that is Ba Shu Sichuan Restaurant.

To satisfy our cravings, we ordered from them for our family dinner and look at the spread of deliciousness that we have gotten. From the 巴蜀水煮鱼 Ba Shu Style Fish Fillet in Hot Chilli Oil to 川香辣子鸡 and 干锅包菜 Fried Cabbage with Chilli, you can still order and enjoy their signature dishes at the comfort of your home, minus the lively environment when dining in. We are counting down till the day we can head back to Ba Shu with our friends @_cecilia_chen_ and @szechuanese to have a feast of a time, who introduced us to this restaurant right from the beginning.
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✨ Ba Shu Sichuan Restaurant 巴蜀演义
📍 219 Bedok Central, Unit 01-122, Singapore 460219
🌐 https://bashusichuan.oddle.me/en_SG/
🍴 [Self Funded]

Tried the degustation menu on offer in burpple. The portions served were what one expects of fine dining establishments. You won't leave feeling hungry, but you won't be very full either.

The star of the five course meal was their spring lamb chop. The meal worked out to be around $120 per couple or $60 per pax. The rest of the courses were pretty good (save for the chowder which was alright). The service staff were very attentive as well.

Would recommend to give this place a try for the experience and the ambience.

Breakfast run to Two Men Bagel House that needs no introduction! Split halves with the sister and got Nova Lux - smoked salmon, scallion cc, onions, dill cucumber, tomatoes with an onion bagel and Sir Nels’ - sage feta, avocado, sunny, tomatoes with the jalapeño cheese bagel.

Nova Lux (below) came in a satisfying portion of smoked salmon, and though some may find it a tad salty overall, the onions and scallion cc help to cut it a bit down nicely. Will always recommend to split halves with a friend as it can get quite heavy for one!

In theory, @ashessgburnnit Pulled Brisket Burger is pure perfection. At $6.90 (nice) for the regular, and $9.40 nett for double the beefy brisket bliss, this is a brilliant bargain. The Australian beef brisket is braised in what is probably a marvellous mirepoix for twenty four hours, which is why all that’s needed for it to fall apart are these hands. That’s right, no knife or fork needed to pull the brisket apart, only hands.⠀
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The salty, rich & unforgettably umami brisket is heaped into a ponderous pile on a leaf of lettuce, which itself is perched upon the bottom half of a charcoal burger bun. A quick drizzling of Ashes’ ‘signature sauce’, which seems to be a cheese sauce, is the last element that goes on the burger before the top half of the bun caps it all off. Supported by a side of French fries that can be upgraded to either cheese or truffle fries, and it’s ready for showtime.⠀
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However, in practice, it definitely did not go according to plan. The scintillatingly savoury & tender beef brisket was so maddeningly moist & saucy that the bottom bun was disintegrating on its own. The protective barrier that was supposed to be the lettuce was definitively breached by the deluge of glorious gravy from the brisket, and the bun was absolutely no match. Another persistent problem was the lack of a backstop. Every time I took a gargantuan gnaw of the tasty burger, a cascade of brisket would blow out her back.⠀
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Forget the knife, this is definitely a fork & spoon affair. Unless Ashes manage to find a way to fortify the burger buns from the onslaught of the saucy beef, this burger is probably better when deconstructed into its delicious components. Perhaps stuffing it all into a bun that isn’t sliced all the way through is a start, so that there’s a burger pocket to trap all the brisket that’s attempting a prison break from my jaw.

Still undeniably unctuous though, and it’s a hell of a tasty burger in my books.