The O List
Price Range: $16-$22
O for: Okay
What is popular here?
Shoyu Ramen [$12.90++]
Perhaps Shoyu's not my kind of broth; instead I prefer a heartier, thicker Tonkotsu base. The overabundance of beansprouts also introduces an unwelcome flavour dimension to the broth.
The Aburi Chashu is the only positive for me, though Santouka's divine Iberico Slices still hit a sweeter spot. Overall, Otoko's still far from cracking a personal Top 5 Ramen spot.
Volcano Egg [$1.50++]
A picture perfect, yolk-flowing companion to ramen. Served cold to the touch.
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $17-$29
Nearest MRT: Outram
Instagrammability: High -
Renovated & revamped for the gram.
Head to the shelf at the back to recreate everyone else's shots.
Food:
1) The Populus Scramble [$17.00]
Cubes of marinated feta cheese sound promising, but the texture actually interferes with the scramble's silkiness. Eggs-wise, Ronin is far superior, and the bacon & croissant does little to make this dish really stand out.
2) Buckwheat Pancake [$18.00]
We've all been Curious Strangers on a paddy hill, but this take on the oven-baked hotcake uses Buckwheat and Cornflake Crunch to escape the mould of its predecessors. I liked it a lot more than Irene & Kieffer, for its significantly hotter warmth, taste and pleasant golden crunch.
While it's not as pretty as other hotcakes elsewhere, it helps that they're now pricier than $18 nett.
EDIT: Now adjusted to $20. Go Capitalism!
With a decent menu, the only thing more faultless than Populus's ambience is their serviettes. Luxurious enough to wipe a baby's behind.
Come Here: Again.
The Short Review
Price Range: $15-$20
Nearest MRT: Buona Vista
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Choose between gnarly lighting inside & the huge Bodacious logo, or enduring the heat outside.
Food:
1) Greek Meaty Balls [$15.80]
Portioned by Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. Nicely-toasted brioche to soak up whatever little tomato purée in the pan. Meatballs are okay.
2) Pulled Pork Burger [$14.80]
Serviceable. Fries are dusted lightly with Cajun powder, albeit lightly enough to not taste like Cajun fries.
3) Bodacious Signature Mocktail [$4.20]
One of the more impressive items on our table. A concoction of lime & ginger ale, littered with crunchy passionfruit, murdered mint leaves and slices of lemon & pink grapefruit, make for a very tropical, refreshing affair.
One-for-one-ed with The Entertainer. In times of perpetual inflation, it's nice to see cafés buck the trend. The last I visited, all prices excluded taxes, and the meatballs actually got a dollar cheaper.
Come Here: Never.
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $33-$45
Nearest MRT: Labrador Park
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Set in the heart of Gillman Barracks, but its indoor dining area shuns most natural light.
Food:
1) Tripani Senza Pizza [$28.00++]
Satisfactory. Prawns were nicely cooked. Sporadic broccoli on the pizza evokes an "Inside Out" gag. The crust below is slightly burnt, and its faint but distinct taste shows.
2) Tortellini Truffle [$28.00++]
Right up my alley, with its creamy, earthy base and truffled aroma.
3) Chilli Crab Pasta [$28.00++]
The second best dish of the day.
Again, falling short of The Halia.
4) Confit of Duck Pasta [$28.00++]
Bland and banal.
5) Iced Chocolate [$6.00++]
Very dilute; as if an hour of ice-melting had already elapsed. Nice glass though.
6) Tap Water [$2.00++]
That's right. Not still, not sparkling, but still paid for with notes. At least the manager capped it at $4 for our table of 4.
If you're armed with the Entertainer and stuck between Masons & Da Paolo, the latter's a safer choice.
Come Here: Maybe?
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $23-$25
Nearest MRT: Chinatown
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Pitting a novel interior concept & cutlery against yellow, unnatural light.
Food:
1) Pork Belly Linguine [$19.00++]
Distinctly Asian-inspired, this petite bowl of black pepper-tossed pasta tastes exactly how it smells. Pork is amply tender & fatty.
2) Soft-Shell Chilli Crab Linguine [$21.00++]
As Kieffer pointed out earlier, they did a pretty good job of deshelling the crab. Pasta's good but not impressive, losing to the likes of The Halia at Raffles Hotel.
Newly added into the pantheon of Entertainer collaborators in November, for your December consumption. Definitely better than the mixed reviews we heard going in, though not by a long shot.
Come Here: Maybe?
The O List
Price Range: $8-$10
O for: Okay
What is popular here?
Little Maki-san [$7.90]
Mega Maki-san [$9.90]
It's really up to you, but a good mix of "Essentials" would include Ebiko, Steamed Ebi & Tempura Enoki Mushroom. Parmesan's really overpowering, so only go for that if you enjoy emptying packets of powdered cheese on pizzas.
For "Sprinkles", Tempura Crunch adds a nice crumbly texture, while Chilli Crab pairs surprisingly well as a "House Sauce".
All "Specials" sound palatable, but from our experience, tempura soft-shell crab gets a little lost in the mix of flavours, all competing for your tongue's attention.
Great for secondary school meet-ups just before catching a movie upstairs. If you haven't used your Entertainer 2015 before the year ends, now'd be good.
The Short Review
Price Range: $14-$20
Nearest MRT: one-north
Instagrammability: High -
Warehouse-esque furnishings with ventilation to match. I could literally smell food on my clothes after just walking in to grab some menus.
Food:
1) Gula Melaka Pancakes [$14.00]
Revolution's signature dish ticked the right boxes again. While noticeably more charred & dry than usual, Kieffer didn't seem to mind lel.
2) Café Latte [$5.50]
"Good" (Tay, 2015).
Come Here: Again (for Pancakes).
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $14-$26
Nearest MRT: Lavender
Instagrammability: High -
Decently plated food, internal skylight, what's not to love?
Food:
1) Butternut Mushroom Risotto [$13.80]
Combining my appreciation for pumpkin & creamy risotto, this delicious bowl packs earthy flavours that you can just sink into happily. Cloves here and there are soft to perfection, and a joy to eat, unlike their usual hard & pungent selves.
2) Truffle Omelette [$15.80]
Good, but hardly as memorable as the solid risotto dish above.
Both mains are served with slices of toasted bread.
3) The Soursop [$15.80]
This plated dessert's star comes in the form of an orb; a hemisphere of desiccated coconut-coated cheesecake fused immaculately with a hemisphere of soursop, an unusual but inspired pairing with cheese. It works much better than the cubes of Malibu-infused vanilla sponge, which comes off more as pandan pound cake.
4) Key Lime Tart [$7.80]
Say "Two Bakers" and Julius immediately replies "Key Lime Tart".
We enjoyed this as much as the orb, then enjoyed this even more after bringing price into consideration. TB's rendition checks all the right boxes.
It's nice to see a café deliver on the two sides of sweet and savoury, and you can use the Entertainer to make the bill all the more sweeter.
Come Here: Again.
Reposted cos @chelseacreekbakes is finally on Insta!
Seriously, go check it out. My photo is literally uglier than all of hers.
Inspired by Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar and MasterChef fame, @chelseacreekbakes offers some of the best and affordable homemade cakes this Christmas!
Starting with a generous coat of malted milk frosting and piped with airy mascarpone, the light sponge inside hides milk jam & an impossibly crisp filling of honey-coated cornflakes, making each bite explode with a tantalizing crunch. Topped with another variant of milk powder-infused golden cornflakes and finished with a glorious, dripping glaze of dulce de leche.
For more homemade cakes like this Breakfast Cake [$45.00] or an exquisite Christmas Tree Croquembouche [$45.00] with matcha-glazed choux pastry, DM @chelseacreekbakes on insta for enquiries!
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $20-$35
Nearest MRT: Outram
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Lighting's pretty crappy except for this one table overlooking the chickens outside.
Food:
1) Ricotta Hotcake [$20.00+]
Their signature brunch item stars a beautifully-stuffed cheesy pancake. But $20 for one good, anorexic pancake and a novel, popping-candified cream topping? Daylight robbery, mate.
2) Eggs Benedict [$20.00+]
Great to see sourdough once again giving my knife-sawing skills a good workout. The other components are handled well, with the prosciutto being nicely-salty but almost imbalanced. Basically, it's fine.
3) Milo Thick Shake [$9.00+]
It desperately needs a more emphatic punch of Milo. Has an equally hard case as the Hotcake to justify its price.
As a café, it's fine.
But it's at Keong Saik.
And if nothing really stands out on the weekend brunch menu, you'll not be hard pressed to find another just down the street. At least you can use The Entertainer here?
Come Here: Maybe?
The Short Review
Price Range: $9-$12
Nearest MRT: Buona Vista
Instagrammability: Moderate -
Psychedelic tilework, marred by some very disposable utensils.
Food:
1) Grilled Steak Chipotle Quesadillas [$8.50]
Thicker slabs of beef, that are more balanced than the latter below. This would be my filling of choice.
2) Slow Cooked Beef Quesadillas [$8.50]
Intensely flavourful, which treads into oversalty territory after a few more bites. Still not as noticeable in the quesadillas, as with their rice bowls.
3) Slow Cooked Beef Burrito Bowl [$10.50]
Quite salty. Didn't really appreciate the abundance of black beans, and more Pico de Gallo could have been scooped in to lend a tart acidity to this assault of sodium.
It's interesting to observe their hustling food assembly line, though I'm not a big fan of limp quesadillas, which really could use better-grilled wraps & glorious cheddar.
Come Here: Never (until tweaks are made).
Singaporean's Guide To Ulu Café Hopping
Price Range: $18-$26
Nearest MRT: Redhill
Instagrammability: Very High -
Think a secluded Pacamara, complete with an outdoor patio & fairy lights.
Food:
1) Eggs Florentine [$18.00]
Pleasant rendition of a normal Salmon Eggs Ben. Hollandaise was good; 1 of the 2 eggs was a tad shy of hard-boiled. Spinach is always welcome, but salmon was just alright.
2) Brioche French Toast [$19.00]
What sets this apart is the presence of addictive almond crumble, which evokes the taste of Kellogg's Waffle Crisp cereal. The Cream Chantilly was also light & delicious.
3) Boufe Cake [$8.50]
Their signature cake looks perfectly glazed from the outside, but the inside falls slightly short of the precision you might expect from say, Mad About Sucre. Still, the mix of passionfruit-mango cremeux & hazelnut nougatine pleases, rather than impresses.
Perfect for brunch dates where ambience is just as important as food. Its taste isn't spectacular, but it isn't superficial either.
Come Here: Again.
