Cafe Food

Had this a while back but remembered it to be a pretty decent meal! Here is what we tried:

Octopus Chorizo ($18); The best item of the night! Born out of a happy accident, the Octopus Chorizo was a product of a double-dare between their Chefs to reinvent the classic Bangers & Mash with octopus. The masterpiece — tantalising golden gravy cascading down a pillowy mash mountain, laden with octopus & chorizo.

Fish Taco ($14); Beer-battered dory with Tortilla, Chipotle Coleslaw, Mayo and Salsa.

Porter House Steak ($49); Seasoned with a simple herb rub to accentuate the meaty flavours, then carefully cut into ideal sharing slices. It took over 35 rounds of experimentation to perfect this tricky cut, from its seared brown crust while retaining a tender and juicy bite.

Mentai Pasta ($21); Smoked salmon with mentai cream sauce, masago, nori and linguine. This could be more flavourful though.

We also had interesting beers in the form of Lychee Sapporo Draft ($11) and Yuan Yang Sapporo Draft ($11).

When your friends replies “anything” to the perennial “What do you want to eat?”, bring them to @culturespoonsg!

Featuring multiple cuisines under one roof and boasting different brands for different meals, every day, this is one spot that you can literally eat at for every meal and not get sick of! And I’m glad that this is literally a stone throw away from my office.

From dim sum to western cuisine to Thai food and more, there is definitely something for everyone! I tried the Pad Kra Pow and the Thai Grilled Pork Neck and both dishes were on point. Servings were huge as well! I also like that the Thai Iced Tea wasn’t too sweet.

I have already made a separate trip back and tried the Penang Char Kway Teow and am glad to report that you can taste the wok hei in it and that it was brimming with ingredients!

Hidden along the fringe of the CBD, newly opened Overworked Gastro Bar is a venue for all occasions! Serving hearty western-asian fusion dishes, you can come down for their all-day brunch over the weekends or on your day off or enjoy their value for money set lunches at $15.90 during your lunch break or unwind after work with their all-day Happy Hour starting from only $9.80 per pint.

We enjoyed the Plaster Seafood Rosti ($15), which is, as its name suggests, inspired by the plaster prata! Hidden inside the well seasoned rosti are quality ingredients like Vannamei Prawns and Norwegian smoked Salmon, you know you are getting value for your money. The rosti was also executed nicely, crisp on the outside yet soft and moist within, one of the better rosti that I have had.

We also tried the Johnny Nutmetto ($22) which is their take on a cold pasta dish. Brimming with seafood such as prawns, clams and seabass slices and tossed in Chef Johnny's secret sauce, this was pretty interesting.

The Moo Ping ($10) is a good dish to order if you are there to unwind over some beers. Savoury yet sweet tender, marinated pork that is grilled to perfection, it really pairs well with a pint or two or... ten!

The Beer Battered Seabass & Gratin ($15), which is available as part of their set lunch at only $15.90, including a soup and a drink is pretty well done too. Even though the Kelong Seabass in craft beer batter and served with salad had been left in the cold for a while before we dug in, the batter remains crisp and does not feel overly oily.

And to round off the meal, my preferred choice of poison is the Jing A Worker's Pale Ale Draught ($10.80/pint)

I have gotta be honest; I was quite skeptical when I first heard of a vegan cafe. I was expecting clean, healthy but bland tasting food but the selections here threw me off and proved me wrong!

The Mushroom Tofu Ciabatta ($9.90) came with a huge thick slab of nicely grilled tofu sandwiched between a soft and lightly toasted ciabatta. The real star of the show, however, was the special homemade dressing that oozes a very umami taste that went really well with the huge tofu slab. I found myself wondering what the spread contained, it was really good! The fresh veggies that came atop the tofu added a nice crunch too.

The Iced Shaken Mixed Berries Earl Grey w/ Strawberry Pearls ($6.50) was a welcoming treat! Refreshing and tangy, this was perfect after the walk that I took from the bus stop to cafe. They were not kidding when they said Strawberry Pearls too; they tasted like actual strawberry bits!

I finished off the meal with a Matchaffagato. The matcha here, using high-quality @naokimatcha matcha, was super thick and it's bitterness complemented perfectly with the mildly sweet vegan vanilla gelato. No wonder so many ordered this!

The Truffle Chicken ($12) with Scrambled Eggs & Mozzarella ($4) is definitely the most perfect way to start the day. Juicy and tender chicken thigh that is super well marinated topped with truffle mayo and a slice of torched cheddar; this is the definition of simple yet perfect. Would definitely be keen to visit Keen’s more often!

The Loxu ($13) was filled with a heap of fresh Norwegian Smoked Salmon, super value for money! Love the addition of capers in it, whetting my appetite further.

The unassuming appearance of the Pork Belly Udon when it came took me by surprise (not of the pleasant kind). Looking super plain and lacking in colours, I thought it would be lackluster in flavour too but how wrong was I. After tossing the noodles, the pork belly clung on to the noodles, making each slurp a flavourful one. If you have always been a fan of Taiwanese Pork Belly Rice (or Lu Rou Fan), then you really ought to try this. Recommended!

The Oyster mee sua here is comforting. It was pretty easy to slurp up the whole bowl without realising it.

The bubble teas here are also worth a mention. They came in large cups but is surprisingly, pretty light. It is not as cloying as other milk tea that you get where it gets a bit surfeiting towards the second half of your drink. We finished the ones here at 8 Degrees pretty easily.

Finally laid my hands on these after lusting after them since forever! These babies get sold out really quickly and I have been let down a couple of times after booking an earlier Boom class just to have them 😅

We tried the Breakfast Sammy ($13) which had some crispy spam lying in a bed of creamy and smooth egg mayo that was really well seasoned that spills out from the buttery brioche buns. I thought that the addition of the chives was a good move, adding some depth to the flavour of the egg mayo. But at $13 though, i'm not sure if I will be back anytime soon 😅 but you should at least try this place out once though!

I legit thought @punch.gram had a connection with the boxing studio upstairs when I was first introduced to this place 😂

The Poached Chicken Breast Salad ($18) was great! Healthy and tasty; perfect for an after workout treat. The plentiful amount of shaved parmesan on top gave it a really savoury touch that complemented the rest of the milder ingredients well.

And the coffee here though, really good! I had the Wicked (Minted Mocha) ($8) and would gladly get it over and over again despite its price. The Generra (Orange Mocha) was fantastic at well. Try it, guys!

For the entrees, we had the Chicken Cutlet Curry Rice ($6.90). Think a huge piece of juicy, chicken cutlet served on top of rice that is slathered with thick and fragrant curry. The runny yolk of the sunny side up that came with it was great as well! I also love the cabbage that came with the meal; the soft cabbage paired with the crunch of the cutlet was a great pairing. Very reasonably priced if you ask me! However, I would love for there to be more curry gravy as the middle portion of the rice did not get to soak up the goodness of it.

We also had the BBQ Baby Ribs ($10.90) which was fall off the bone tender and very well-marinated. The smokiness of the BBQ sauce elevated the meat which had a good ratio of lean and fatty meat. Very reasonably priced too!

A tip would be to visit this place slightly before meal times as it got really crowded at dinner time when we went; with the price and taste of the food here, it is no wonder that they are so loved!