5dot7 Western

Was scrolling through social media one day and found out about 5dot7 Western which is situated at the KPT coffeeshop located at Blk 401 Hougang Avenue 10 — for the uninitiated, this is the same coffeeshop that is best known for the Oyster Omelette within Hougang, and is also within the neighbourhood where is best known for being a spot where Pokémon GO players from all over the island used to gather to catch the Pokémon, Gyarados. It seems that there has been a bit of a revamp done to the coffeeshop some time back, considering how the coffeeshop is pretty brightly lit with fittings that seem to be synonymous with coffeeshops that have been renovated in recent times. 5dot7 Western is one of the stalls that occupies the corner stall units within the coffeeshop; one of their neighbours situated adjacent to it is 晶鱼汤 which is a fish soup stall that also operates at multiple locations around the island. While the bright pink signages of the stall do seem rather eye-catching on first sight, it is worth mentioning that most of the stalls here do have signages with similar colours installed; thus it does take a bit of an detailed eye to actually find the stall here. Being the only tenant in the coffeeshop here to serve up western cuisine, 5dot7 Western does offer a number of dishes that one can typically find at such stalls in coffeeshops — think the likes of Spring Chicken, Fish & Chips and Carbonara. What made us intrigued enough to head down to 5dot7 Western after seeing the post on social media though was how they seemingly also offer some uncommon dishes as well such as the Chicken Corden Bleu and Seafood Risotto. Of course, those looking for something suitable to share across the table can also order items from the “Shareables” section of the menu as well.

Being folks who absolutely love Chicken Corden Bleu and having made the trek all across the island to search high and low for the dish, it can be said that we made a mental note on having to visit 5dot7 Western on the premise that they do serve up the Chicken Corden Bleu after having came across the social media post that mentioned about the stall serving up the said dish — it is needless to say that we that there is no way that we would have made our trip to 5dot7 Western without giving their Chicken Corden Bleu a go. Based on the description on the menu board at the stall, 5dot7 Western mentions that their Chicken Corden Bleu consists of elements such as breaded chicken breast stuffed with ham and cheese, and comes with mashed potato, corn cheese and creamy mushroom sauce. We actually quite liked the plating of the dish here as compared to the other Chicken Corden Bleu dishes that we have had at other stalls serving up western cuisine elsewhere — the breaded chicken breast already comes sliced to reveal the stuffing of ham and cheese inside when it is served; this meant that patrons would have a clear view of what they had ordered even if they have never had a Chicken Corden Bleu prior to having this one. Digging into the dish, we would say that the most disappointing element of the dish here was probably the bed of mashed potato that is doused in the creamy mushroom sauce that sits beneath the breaded chicken breast; the mashed potato was decent in flavour but lacking in warmth and seem to have sat around in room temperature for quite a while — the temperature contrast it had with the other elements does somehow stick out like a sore thumb.

Moving on from the mashed potato, the entire dish was pretty much on point; one can already see the beautiful layering of the stuffed ham and cheese within the breaded chicken breast from the way it is plated — as one slices down the breaded chicken breast, the melted cheese stuffed within the breaded chicken breast starts to ooze with that slight cheese pull effect that is a pleasure to look at. As we went for a morsel of the Chicken Corden Bleu, we liked how the golden-brown breaded batter was crisp without being greasy, while the meat remained tender and moist — the oozy and molten cheese adding onto the moisture of the dish while providing a slight savouriness that finishes off with the distinct note of cured meat that came from the ham; nothing too salty, but just aptly savoury to provide a good flavour. Of course, the creamy mushroom sauce provided a briny, savoury and earthy note with thin slices of mushrooms typical of most brown sauces served up at such stalls elsewhere; itself matched well against the Chicken Corden Bleu. Meanwhile, the corn cheese doesn’t really carry the cheese element that it promised, but was otherwise a good choice of side considering how these were just corn nibs that provided a sweetness and a good bite that provided a bit of respite from all the saltish notes that came from the Chicken Corden Bleu — in fact the lack of cheese perhaps being a thing that played well in its favour since it might have added a bit of heaviness to the dish as a side otherwise. At $9, the Chicken Corden Bleu might be a dish that is slightly pricier than the typical western fare elsewhere. That being said, considering the rarity of the dish, it does seem to be pretty much a neighbourhoodly-gem at the location where it is served — definitely a rendition that would make good on any cravings for the dish, and one that we would be happy to have any day especially if they could fix the temperature of which the mashed potato is served.