Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $15-$27
Nearest MRT: Lavender
Instagrammability: Very High -
The Populus of Bugis, sans luxurious napkins. Choose between gloomy, overcast windows or a brightly-lit, air-conditioned alfresco area.
Food:
1) Pulled Pork Eggs Benedict [$18.00]
Brightly-coloured Chipotle Hollandaise was fine. The choice of American-meets-Indian marinade was a little weak for the pulled pork, and ultimately, becomes unmemorable.
2) Orange Cinnamon French Toast [$15.00]
My first reaction after slicing open the bread was, "Oh, it's white!" Orange cinnamon is a unique & welcome take on French Toast toppings, but it isn't aggressive enough to my liking. The two strips of brittle bacon snaps were great, but not enough to make a $15 brunch item.
3) Duck & Waffle [$22.00]
Waffle was hard and devoid of fluff & joy. The duck was good, but hitting just above the ranks of cheaper joints like Saveur. Meanwhile, the sorbet was actually lovely. Again, for its derived satisfaction, it's a bit overpriced.
4) Hot Chocolate [$5.00]
Comes with beautiful yet durable Lion Latte Art. Why'd you always Lion?
To me, the unevenly-coated, pale-in-the-middle $15 French Toast & tough Waffle represents everything disappointing with 20F; easy on the eye, but without inner substance to inspire a return.
Come Here: Maybe?
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $15-$20
Nearest MRT: Bugis
Instagrammability: Moderate -
The artsy Timbre-esque space inside has quite poor lighting, so head out under the awnings for some alfresco sunlight.
Food:
1) Blackforest Waffles [$15.00]
Unmemorable waffles, just okay dark chocolate ice-cream & 70% couverture sauce, and a couple of intensely-Kirsch-soaked cherries, make for a misinterpretation of a deconstructed Blackforest.
There are much better things at Artistry to drop $15 on; perhaps the much raved about PB&J toast is still a safer option.
Come Here: Never (for this).
The Short Review
Price Range: $8-$14
Nearest MRT: Beauty World
Instagrammability: Moderate -
The Stirling's hosted space at Cheong Chin Nam Road can get a little dim at times.
Beyond Plate's food is decently plated for its budget, while The Nomad's beverage aesthetic could fit into most upmarket joints like Pacamara.
Food:
1) French Toast & Caramelized Bananas [$7.90]
Two fluffy squares of brioche, drenched in maple & topped with caramelized bananas. The sugar glass tends to crumble off the fruit, producing a nice surprise crunch to the dish. Simple, delicious, and most of all, comparable to the cheap prices of JB cafés.
2) Popcorn Waffle [$9.90]
This charcoal waffle, which comes with a scoop of Popcorn Ice-Cream & a nicely-balanced Salted Egg drizzle, holds its own against the likes of FatCat (which delivers way more on plated desserts). Basically, for westies too belaboured to complete a Journey to the East.
3) Jigglypuff Rose Latte [$5.50]
Being a non-coffee drinker, I really enjoyed this cuppa as the pleasant floral notes of Bandung & milk really balanced the bitterness of the double ristreto shot. More enjoyable than The Replacement's.
4) S'mores Hot Chocolate [$6.00]
Coming fresh out of Rise & Grind's earlier $5 attempt, this way more "gao" mug of Hot Chocolate also comes with torched marshmallows, and ends up being a lot more satisfying.
Students familiar with pilgrimaging to Al-Azhar should have no problem finding the adjacent Stirling, which hosts promising pop-ups like Beyond Plate & The Nomad. Taking over Kaffle's earlier slot, both open only on weekends, from 10am to 5pm.
Special thanks to Eunice of The Nomad for offering your drinks :)
Come Here: Again.
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $19-$24
Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru
Instagrammability: High -
Tranquil atmosphere, soft natural light and a great place to watch the world go by.
Food:
1) Eggs Benedict Brooklyn Style [$19.00]
Well-executed Hollandaise, highly fluffy brioche & disposable greens, though you're probably getting what you pay for. Pulled beef is satisfyingly flavourful, and dusted with Cajun powder. One of the eggs had burst before landing on the table.
2) Eggs Benedict Rodyk Style [$19.00]
Again, it's a competent salmon eggs ben, fulfilling its $19 expectations. Don't expect anything more though.
3) Mocha Chai [$6.00]
"Simply divine, the unbeatable cuppa." (Tay, 2015)
While the coffee's reputation at Toby's precedes itself, its food is well-executed, but not mindblowing for its price. At least its 2016 Entertainer slot is reprised.
Come Here: Maybe?
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $8-$16
Nearest MRT: Tanjong Pagar/Telok Ayer
Instagrammability: Moderate -
The Deli packs all sandwiches to-go.
Food:
1) PB&J Sandwich [$8.00]
"I was sent to Cloud 9 immediately." (Tay, 2015)
Oozing in peanut butter, lathered with chocolate & jelly, and crusted with heaps of cornflakes, my only gripe is my personal peanut dislike. Sub it out with hazelnut, pistachio or macadamia, and I'd probably love it as well.
2) Cheese Steak [$16.00]
At first, we were hesitant to drop $16 on a sandwich. But it's TOTALLY worth it.
PBD describes it as "sliced beef many many", and it's not a superlative. The sub looks almost made by a child; overstuffed with as many well-marinated, tender beef slices as the bread can carry, broiled in molten cheese, and doing away with any green formalities. Caramelized onions will be the only accepted vegetable here.
There was so much beef, lumps kept falling out of my sandwich and the thing still looked full. That's how much meat you're getting; when you lose meat to the floor and you ain't even mad.
I even remember just sitting in silence, working through a substantial half of the sandwich and going, "This is great."
The place literally overlooks Amoy Street Food Centre, but if you're feeling rich & in the mood for a quick Western bite, definitely check out Park Bench Deli.
Come Here: Again.
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $6-$12
Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/Rochor
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Lighting's almost in the same boat as Montana, though its monochromatic tiles & carpet help with the photo op.
Food:
1) Dark Chocolate [$5.50]
Simply a mantou-esque donut, fried to order, glazed with dark chocolate orange ganache, topped with crunchy granola bits and finished with an injection of apple cider salted caramel.
Didn't really get any citrus acidity from the glaze, but the freshly-fried donut was still pretty dang delicious.
Top up $0.20 to pick your own glaze, topping & filling instead of the preset selections.
Much of Fab Dough's lamentations lie with its space largely obscured by Montana itself, and perhaps its steeper pricing for a perceived donut. Shave a dollar off, move to a more visible location, and it deserves to resuscitate the upmarket donut trend.
Come Here: Again.
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $14-$23
Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/Rochor
Instagrammability: Moderate -
It's all little baffling how the renovated space, with all the textured surfaces & menu items, still bathes in dim, industrial light.
Food:
1) Black Velvet Waffle [$14.00]
Elected the fluffy waffle over its crispy counterpart.
The batter's infused with black sesame & drizzled over with miso caramel, and topped with a chocolate-encased scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Definitely prefer this over a perfunctory, charcoal waffle; where a difference in taste is as cosmetic as Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder, but even this hyped dish was overshadowed by the delicious simplicity of its side joint, Fabulous Dough.
Montana's revamp has added even more intriguing selections to their already-established collection of waffle flavours, so I'll probably have to try more them soon. But for now, the cheaper, guiltier pleasure of Fab Dough is calling my name.
Come Here: Maybe?
Spread a little Christmas cheer with these dolled-up festive macarons! It's a little bank-breaking at $5.60 apiece, but hey, you'll be a lot cooler with the kids than with a last-minute, store-bought, marked-up, clichéd log cake~
Ride a sleigh into everyone's dinner memories, because by this date, someone's already getting the turkey.
Thanks to Shawn's friends at Bonheur and Burpple for allowing us to sample Santa's little belly at The Great Escape! :)
The Short Review
Price Range: $10-$13
Nearest MRT: Holland Village
Instagrammability: High -
Waffles are still as pretty, and the cramped place is still as noisy.
Food:
1) Single Waffle - Earl Grey Lavender [$9.90]
Earl Grey's a great flavour, Earl Grey Lavender's a great potpourri scent. Add $1.50 for 4 cubes of Matcha Royce chocolate.
2) Double Waffle - Pistachio [$12.90]
Stuck to my familiar preference of flavour, that comes lightly dusted with pistachio crumbs. Waffles still maintain their standard from months ago, though it's now a dollar pricier.
With Daily Scoop & 2am:dessertbar sitting at both ends of the budget spectrum, Sunday Folks still firmly defends its position as the go-to dessert stop in HV.
Come Here: Again.
Seems like FatCat's a regular fixture on this list, but it's deservedly so.
This budget plated dessert features crumble-studded banana caramel ice-cream, sitting on a chocolate sandwich cookie base, and wrapped up in a golden-brown torched marshmallow. It's wonderfully nutty, sweet and gooey, comes with a side chick of a caramel tuile, and best of all, paid for with a single $10 note.
Dubbed Singapore-style Ramen, these young hawkers serve up something closer to Wanton Mee. Though Amoy's not short of cheap & good fare, ANS justifies its premium price with novel, competently-executed components.
While the springy noodles are comparable to most stalls around, its 2 wantons are plump, its potato-wrapped prawn interestingly uncommon, and its 36-hour sous vide chashu amply tender & fatty. A bit on the miserly side to include just half an egg, though it's as good as any ramen stall's offering. Soup's great too. Ask for the moderately spicy sambal to tie the ingredients together, and ask yourself if you can spare the time to queue, which can stretch beyond half an hour due to each bowl's careful assembly.
Definitely not a daily order in light of queue-times & pricing, but a worthy weekly treat for any working adults in the area.
"Lots of people assume that a Fire Ramen is spicy, but no...it's because we really use FIRE!"
Before you can partake in the $15.80++ spectacle, you'll have to fulfill some conditions:
1) You should call in first to check if the Senior Chef is in that day.
2) You must tie up your hair.
3) You must wear a provided protective apron.
4) You cannot move your hands beyond past your back. That's right; leave the photo-taking to your friends.
The addition of burning flavoured oil alters the taste of the Fire Ramen's thick tonkotsu broth, bringing out the aromatic fragrance of the spring onions and a taste similar to tempura oil.
Shin-Sapporo's also reviving a crowd favourite by demand - Sake Ramen [$15.80++].
While the dry Abura version features a sweet, vinegar base, our pick is the soup version, a thick, tonkotsu broth laced with potent sake to satisfy your inner degenerate.
Lastly, while most dessert options at ramen stalls tend to be gnarly or nominal at best, the owner of Shin-Sapporo also owns Atmosphere Café & Bistro, and the Molten Lava Cake [$8.80++] exceeds the typical, microwaved-straight-from-the-freezer tortes that so many subpar Japanese chains provide.
Thanks to Burpple, Shin-Sapporo, Elva & Frederick for hosting this tasting!
