Prices below $10, Merriment Cafe’s selection of mains are simple and rather affordable. Nicely marinated, the piece of braised pork belly had a good balance of fats and lean meat. Also be sure to mix the yolk of the sous vide egg into the gravy-soaked rice and when you think it can’t get better, the luscious combination is completed with preserved vegetables that was sweet and salty with a slight pleasant sourness that just complements the dish.
Opened by the same folks behind Drury Lane within Drury Lane @ JTC Summit, Merriment serves rice bowls, pasta, noodles and salads with a random daily special (Nasi Lemak on the day I visited) alongside Drury Lane's menu of coffee and tea. No doubt it looks almost cai png-ish, but the bowl which only costs $6.50 (before 15% discount for JTC staff and tenants) is pretty worth the money here. You get a slab of pork belly, deeply marinated and braised evenly throughout that although is slightly dry on the leaner parts, is really soft and jiggly around the fatty areas. Preserved vegetables were crunchy and gave the dish an element of zing, all of the ingredients sitting atop white rice drenched in braised sauce. And not forgetting the sous vide egg which you should definitely poke and mix into the rice. No doubt there are better versions of this dish elsewhere, but this works especially if you are working in JTC Summit where it's a little far off to walk to JCube in the scorching heat and yet wanting to grab something still relatively easy on the pockets. Besides, how could you ever order a main that only costs $6.50 in a cafe? Definitely beats me!
