I came intrigued by the Pooh theme. It is a small ice cream parlour decked in yellow main decor with wooden accent and some Pooh toys and quotes on the wall for photo-ops. They offer some standard, some unique flavors. I had a double scoop of Honey Chrysanthemum with Cacao Nibs and Roasted Pistachio [$9.5 due to premium and gourmet flavors, $8 for double scoop with standard flavors]. The former was quite heavily chrysanthemum [which I like] with hints of honey that added a natural sweetness, and cacao added a nice crunch to it. Roasted pistachio was mostly nutty, which I welcomed but not everyone may like it. They offer waffles and Vietnamese coffee too. The staff were friendly and willing to give recommendations. A good quieter place to go in the area!
This is not the fluffy, airy, jiggly, for-the-'gram Japanese pancake (soufflé) that people may expect or are more familiar with. Their dense, Macs' hotcake-style pancake is made of wheat and other grains from various prefectures in Kyushu, an island in the south of Japan. It felt less egg-y and not jelak even after the third piece! It might feel bland as compared to the the usual buttery soufflé, however I could taste some hints of barley and grains. It complements the toppings really well and let the toppings shine alongside the pancakes. The cream and ice cream taste so commercial, but still alright nonetheless. Will come back to try their savoury waffles next!
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in frame: berrylicious pancake [$16.9]
Located very accessible to the CBD crowd and CBD bar hoppers, at Amoy Street. Price wise is real steep (about twice of another hyped burger joint SS) but I guess you pay for quality uh? AFAIK everything is served in disposables, though they say those are biodegradable I am not sure if they compost all the trash generated:/ They also collaborate with local charities in providing food for the needy.
In frame is one of the Singapore special burgers which consist of a meat patty, chimicurri, and locally-grown or organic veggies. For the not-a-burger-fan me, I think the buttery bun was not dry and therefore great, and the patty is so tender and flavorful! For non-beef eaters they serve chicken and vegan burgers too.
I visited during the soft launch phase and as I find the burger quite big and I was turned off with all the disposables, I did not get any of the sauce and the promotional, free set of much-raved fries and soda or mineral water. Maybe next time, and with so much packaging waste yet heavily raving on eco-friendly they try to be, I wonder if they would accept BYO.
The place offering nice mint mocha nearby closes early, and this is a good alternative that opens till later! It is also a nice place to hang till later with indoor and outdoor seatings.
One of the two affordable Japanese seafood bowls in the area, Unagi vs Salmon is the closer one to the MRT. I'm not a fan of unagi in general so I got myself the salmon poké. The salmon supply is fresh daily, they say, and yes it taste quite fresh and not fishy. The sauce is not very strong, therefore the taste of the salmon came through. Interestingly, for takeaways they offer two free toppings, I had the seaweed edamame and onsen egg (with a bit of roe on top). The onsen egg is not excessively eggy and yet still quite flowy, I like! The seaweed compliments the dish very well. I also like that they use red rice instead of normal sushi rice, it feels healthier that way. Also the normal salmon poké comes with lettuce!
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In frame: BYO Bowl [$9.9]
Don't think I have ever made an appreciation post for my favorite bagel here - Hangover Helper [$13]. It is the typical big brekkie, say scrambled eggs, bacon, tater tots, parmesan and aioli in bagel form. They also stock up on drinks, both in-house and canned/bottled. Since they open only till the afternoon it's where you can get your morning/brunch/noon booze too!
A slightly more affordable, healthy option at the CBD area. The rice was moist and cooked to a just-nice softness. The meatball is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. These are combined with tofu, seaweed, some of the usual lei cha veggies - manicai and long beans, and drizzled with some sauce that taste savory but a bit like thinner mentaiko sauce which is actually, my least favorite part of this bowl. I will definitely patronize them if I'm in the CBD!
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In frame: Hakka Tofu Rice Bowl [$7.8]
Another atas cai png.
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• base 1: chestnut brown rice - quite fluffy and not dry! with big grains.
• base 2: romaine lettuce - your typical lettuce, nothing so special heh
• protein: herb baked dory - not quite dry, especially because I had olive oil as the sauce. the herb gives another dimension to the taste.
• side 1: sichuan tofu - it is not strongly sichuan-y in terms of flavor, just minutely spicy.
• side 2: cucumber - your typical cucumber.
• side 3: fried tempeh - the way I had it growing up! some chopped chili and kicap manis would be good:( no sour taste like how some hawker stalls do it. fried just nice to feel healthy.
• topping: scallion - nothing special. actually ordered by mistake.
• dressing: garlic and thyme olive oil - taste just like muted olive oil to me. it is a good grease but that's about it. one thing I note is that they pre-package the dressing into plastic containers. I requested to drizzle it to reduce plastic waste but they can't accommodate. sadly.
Love the tofu and cauliflowers! Will be back when time permits.
One of their bottled d'infused collection. It has a pretty strong earl grey and lavender flavors, and some hint of mint.
Got the rather strongly-advertised Baileys Earl Grey Tea [$9.1 with extra shot of Baileys]. If you do your alcoholic drinks well I would recommend getting the extra shot as it is so muted in this drink. Probably it is to avoid people getting so much influenced from a BBT brand. They mention an alcohol content of 2% and other warnings in their fb page so you can make yourself well-informed before coming over. The price is steep even with the addition of real alcohol (not Baileys flavored syrup) there, if you are looking for Baileys just go straight to a proper bar.
Intrigued by the crème brûlée strawberry latte as I love the two. Okay-ish. The topping is not strong in flavor, the latte is also quite thin.