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So this dish was prepared by special needs people. The pork belly was extremely good cause the meat was tender and the skin was super crispy! The mash potato was very velvety and soft and it melts in the tongue. The price is very standard for a cafe but i support this cafe cause it really gives these special needs people a chance to work in the society. So thumbs up cause it's worth the try!!!
Set up by the parents of Joan Bo Wen, a young lady with special needs, this social enterprise in Jalan Wangi (Potong Pasir is the nearest MRT station) trains and imparts kitchen skills to youths with special needs, and the cafe is run almost entirely by its team of young staff with special needs. The menu is pretty basic but the food is beautifully plated, generously portioned and delicious — it can certainly rival any cafe at the same price point! — and the service is cheerful and heartfelt. Out of our several favourites here, we highly recommend the Chilli Crab Pasta ($18), with a sauce that strikes the perfect balance between sweet, spicy and umami, and the delectable Rosemary Lemon Chicken ($12). For something less heavy, try the Oriental Chicken Salad ($12).
Avg price: $20 per person
Photo by Burppler Cedric Lim
While the super meaty Chilli Crab Pasta ($18) was my favourite here, this rarer find is worth a try too. We were told that an Italian chef shared the recipe and taught the kitchen staff how to whip this interesting dish up, so you know it's legit. 💪🏼
Capretto translates to the meat of a kid (as in, young goat 🐐) in Italian, but the waitstaff said that they use lamb here (though their menu online says herb-roasted goat meat so... the jury's still out on that). In any case, the chunks of meat were very tender – although a tad gamey, esp if it was really lamb. I particularly liked the rich cheesy sauce (enriched with Parmigiano-Reggiano, methinks) that coated the streamers of tagliatelle was an umami party in the mouth. It can get a little too much after a while, so it's best to share this with someone and get another pasta/main to share. 🍝
The sauce is as authentically Singaporean as it goes. Sweet, spicy, full of umami and eggy goodness with loads of fresh crab meat and a shell or 2.
My only gripe is that they do not serve buns for dipping. Perhaps I'll snuggle my own buns in next time. 😂😂 #hungryhungrymonster
Good blend of spices and just enough of spiciness to keep my mouth drooling.
Sadly due to unforeseen circumstances, Chef Shen Tan ended her 3 Month Pop Up. But you can still go for their regular menu.
Essentially a crispy chicken cutlet/fried chicken hybrid served with a fluffy egg atop rice whose intense fragrance suggests the ruthless dejuicing of seven coconuts' flesh. Elsewhere, you find two varieties of sambal - the feisty, jungle-esque left one scythes at your tongue with a most brutal efficiency while the sweeter, lipsticked one on the right may feel comparatively more sociable upon initial contact but ultimately reveals its similarly sweat-inducing fangs. 4/5
This was a hosted meal courtesy of Joan Bowen Cafe, a social enterprise situated in MacPherson that is run almost entirely by staff with special needs. [Edit as of 18 April 2016: the pop-up has been cancelled.]