Butter

With the opening of Trifecta, we do think that Somerset is likely to be the most happening neighbourhood around the island for a while now — after all, the compounds of Trifecta which is located conveniently opposite 313@Somerset right beside where the skatepark beside Somerset MRT Station is comprises of a few interesting segments; a skate bowl, a surf arena and a snow arena. Of course, there are retail and F&B segments that also finds a place within the compounds of Trifecta; this includes a shop retailing skate-related items named The Ride Side, as well as a F&B concept that is named Butter. Turns out, Butter is a concept that is run behind the same folks that has brought us Two Men Bagel House and the recently-opened Two Men Rice Bar; these guys are seemingly on a roll with the way that they are opening new establishments all across the island. In typical Two Men Bagel House / Rice Bar fashion, the Butter carries a rather rowdy-looking aesthetic that is pretty much in the DNA of the brand now — think of an interior that is decked in an industrial design language seeing the use of some rather raw elements with a splash of colours in the murals found within the premises; this is also not forgetting the use of neon lights which is almost guaranteed with their concepts by now. It seems that there is a different focus adopted by Butter in their day and night operations; the establishment seeing more focused on their bagelwich, croissant sandwich and pancake roll offerings during the day while the dinner offerings revolve around rice and noodles in the evening (sounds familiar?). Of course, Butter does not miss out on serving up sides for those whom are into sharing something across the table; there are also two desserts being listed in the menu as well for those looking for a sweet end to their meal here. The beverage listing is actually fairly extensive at Butter — whilst espresso-based specialty coffee are only available in the day, bottled cold brews are available all-day at Butter; same goes to the range of non-alcoholic “All Day Drinks”, juices, protein shake, wellness drinks, Kombucha and a variety of alcoholic beverages.

We are pretty much fans of anything salted egg and creamy butter, so it does seem like the dinner offerings available at Butter were pretty much designed to our liking — after all, Butter is an establishment that seems to be very focused on the usage of butter as a main ingredient to what they have to offer. With an item that has a name like that, it is needless to say that it was the item that first captured our attention when we skimmed through the menu at the table. The menu describes the Not Salted Egg to come with elements such as Spicy Takana Butter, Creamy Butter Sauce, Fried Squid, House Salsa, Asian Greens and Sunny Egg — this is definitely the dish that attempts to recreate the tze-char classic that one can find at coffeeshop stalls; the Salted Egg Squid. On first look, the presentation of the rice dishes at Trifecta does look less messy and abstract as compared to what we had seen at Two Men Rice Bar.

In true Two Men-fashion, their interpretation of the dish sees the use of two types of butter integrated as one to replicate the notes of salted egg. Truth to be told, we were quite expected some sort of spiciness from the Spicy Takana Butter, though the two butter elements doesn’t really quite carry any kick of spiciness; instead, it is creamy and a little bit on the sweeter side – we do know of folks who do not particularly like this interpretation of creamy butter sauce, though we felt that this was still something pretty tasty despite the inherent heaviness that it carries on its own. The deep-fried squid came with a crisp, golden brown exterior that encases the squid ring within; the texture of squid ring was alright, though we like how they weren’t particularly greasy especially given its deep-fried nature. Aside from that, the house salsa comprises of diced cubes of tomato, onions, cucumber etc.; this provided quite a refreshing crunch that takes away much of the heaviness from the carbs, fried items and butter sauce. Meanwhile, the Asian Greens that came with French beans, carrots and Shimeiji mushrooms provided a bounce and a crunch; the folks here have added salt to give it an elevated note. Sunny side-up comes with a crisp underside from pan-frying; not greasy and did not came with any undesirable stench of overused oil — the yolk being all flowy and molten as one pokes it using a fork. Needless to say, the Not Salted Egg feels like a very Two Men-style creation — this especially considering how we had just tried Two Men Rice Bar when they had just opened their doors at Guoco Tower not that long ago. That being said, price tag for its dinner items are not that affordable — we do understand the sort of space it is being located at, though $20 to $24 for their rice / noodle items might not gel well as an idea to some. Still, for the vibe and that whole concept of what Trifecta, a meal at Butter is what we would recommend so that one can try it for themselves to see what they are all about — there’s definitely a novelty to this somewhere, and the food’s definitely gotten a stamp of approval especially considering the folks that run the kitchen here!