For those whom have been following the happenings of the local F&B scene around social media, the mention of Whiskdom’s brand new outlet at Smith Street had been going around lately. Whiskdom is a brand that is probably best known for their cookies and brownies — the brand had first started out as a home-based business, though has already seen quite an expansion of its business over the last couple of years with the brand now operating at four other locations apart from its Smith Street location; the others being at One Raffles Place, Galaxis, Orchard Central and Jalan Pari Burong. Their Smith Street outlet is located along the same stretch of shophouses are as where one can find the outlet of Boon Tong Kee, Killiney Kopitiam and Starbucks which used to be part of the now-defunct Chinatown Food Street. Considering so, the facade of Whiskdom here does feature the Chinese namesake of the brand, while the facade and interior of the shop adopts the same shade of blue that Whiskdom had settled for when they had first started out their operations. For its Smith Street store, there is an entire retail section dedicated to selling merchandise related to the brand that is located at the entrance before one reaches the dining hall; the entire space features a mix of blue, wooden and white elements that creates a chic and modern, but fun appearance for the entire space. Tables at Whiskdom are mostly configured in a manner that would sit patrons visiting either in pairs or in groups of four (4) pax, though one can find a communal table that would sit a group of ten (10) pax. Being one of the few Whiskdom outlets to serve up hot food, the food menu at Whiskdom is split into sections such as Bagels, Sides, Rice Bowls and Pasta — various cookies, brownies and cakes that are available for the day are prominently displayed in the display shelf at the counter. For beverages, Whiskdom offers a variety that is split into Coffee, Milk Series, Matcha Series, Ice Shaken Tea and Ice Series.

Considering how this outlet of Whiskdom is located within quite a touristy neighbourhood in the heart of Chinatown, it is little wonder how the menu at Whiskdom does see quite a number of items that comes with locally-inspired elements into the cafe fare that they serve. One such item would be the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese that is listed on the Pasta section of the menu here — Whiskdom’s menu does not describe the elements that are featured within the various dishes that they have to order; that being said, one can observe from our order that the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese does come with nacho cheese sauce that has been infused with that of chili crab sauce, macaroni, panko breadcrumbs, Tobiko, spring onions and shredded crab meat. All elements come in a cast iron pan, and the menu does mention that the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese is a dish that requires 20mins waiting time to be served. Digging into the dish, the macaroni comes laced with the nacho cheese sauce infused with chili crab sauce; we had initially expected that the dish would end up being a little bit on the savoury and cheesier side considering how nacho cheese sauce tends to overpower the flavours of most things. That being said, the chili crab sauce does provide the dish with quite that sweet and spicy note that one would usually associate with the Singapore-style chili crab dish; quite a tasty combination of flavours overall. The addition of Panko Crumbs does add an element of crispness to the dish that further provides a dimension of textures, whilst it does come with a good portion of shredded crab meat over the top to further replicate the likes of the classic local Chili crab dish. The addition of Tobiko not only adds a popping sensation to amp up the textures of the dish, but also serves as an element that adds colour to the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese for an aesthetic appeal.

During the same visit, we had also went for the Mentaiko Bomb from the Sides section of the menu; this is essentially a dish that features popcorn chicken that is drizzled with a Mentaiko sauce that has been flame-torched — all of which being topped with shreds of Nori and Tobiko. Whilst an item that looks good on the illustration on the menu, the flame-torching of the Mentaiko sauce atop the fried popcorn chicken also does mean that the fried popcorn chicken pieces do get inadvertently charred as a result — it does come with a slight bitterness that can be noticeable for some, though doesn’t impact the dish too much. Perhaps being slightly more generous with the Mentaiko sauce would help resolve this. The fried popcorn chicken pieces were thankfully not greasy; the batter delivering a little bit of a crunch factor whilst the meat within is still reasonably easy to chew — the Mentaiko sauce that comes over the top adds that element of umami-ness and smokiness to the dish whilst also providing the fried popcorn chicken pieces with an element of creaminess similar to that of a dip.

Ending off the meal, we found ourselves opting for the Pulut Hitam With Gelato; yet another dish at Whiskdom’s outlet at Smith Street that involves the use of a locally-inspired element. It is worth nothing that the Pulut Hitam With Gelato is being offered with two (2) different types of Gelato; one being the Blue Pea Gelato and the other being the Coconut Gelato — we went with the former during our visit to Whiskdom at Smith Street. By far, the Pulut Hitam is actually pretty well-executed; the thick and rich black glutinous rice porridge also does come with a drizzle of coconut milk as what one would expect out of the standard Pulut Hitam that is being served elsewhere. The Pulut Hitam itself does come reasonably sweet; all that with that slight nuttiness, roasty-ness and earthiness inherent of black glutinous rice, while the addition of coconut milk helps to provide further fragrance and depth of flavours to the black glutinous rice pudding. The Blue Pea Gelato is made with blue pea flower that helps to give it this beautiful shade of pastel blue similar to that of blue pea flower-infused rice; the underlying flavours likely being that of either milk or vanilla that helps to further provide the Pulut Hitam With Gelato with another element of richness.

Not giving their famed Cookies a miss, we went with their Chunky Walnut Cookie; other flavours available would include that of the Chunky Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate Overload, Creme Brulee, Dark Cocoa Speculoos, Matcha Lava and Chocolate Smores amongst others. Slicing into the Chunky Walnut Cookie, the soft cookie reveals an interior that sees it being filled with smooth chocolate ganache and walnut chunks filled within; being a little bit on the sweeter side of things (though still not quite overly so) whilst providing a slightly crunch texture on the exterior before one reaches the soft cookie within. The combination of chocolate and nuts is one that is pretty classic that the masses should find being pretty easy to agree with. We went with the Brulee Einspänner to accompany with all of the food items that we had ordered. This is an espresso-based specialty coffee item that can be found in the Coffee section of the menu, and is described on the menu to come with elements such as Vanilla, Coffee and Condensed Milk — the “creme brulee”layer over the top that consists of the crystalised sugar does come pretty crisp and provides the element of sweetness that we are looking for, further enhancing the sweetness of the beverage from the condensed milk that was also being described to have been added to the item; all that whilst the cuppa was one that came with a light body and a nutty and earthy flavour profile.

Truth to be told, Whiskdom isn’t quite a brand that we had been paying attention in the past couple of years — we aren’t quite a cookies-cum-brownies sorta person and we have always thought that there are other establishments (i.e. Two Men Bagel House) that serve up more artisanal bagel creations around the island. That being said, we do find ourselves being fairly impressed with Whiskdom’s outlet at Smith Street — they do seem to be pull off cafe fare with an element of local-infusion fairly well as evidenced in the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese and Pulut Hitam With Gelato that we have had. The service staff in this outlet also does seem to be warm and genuine in their service though also albeit quiet in person; their intents for the patrons to have a good experience does come through somewhat. Prices of the dishes listed under the Bagels, Rice Bowls and Pasta sections of the menu are priced from $9 to $26; the lowest priced item being the Almond Butter Jelly listed in the Bagels section of the menu, while the highest priced dish would be the Chilli Crab Mac & Cheese that we have had; most dishes hover around the price point of $17 to $22. A spot that is worth considering dining if looking around for some locally-inspired cafe fare whilst being in the Chinatown area.