Welcome to Dempsey.

saffron rice, chick peas, grilled octopus, pork chorizo sausage, fava beans, mediterranean spices, piquillo pepper aioli

Nice ambience although it’s much more cramped than under previous ownership as Jones the grocer. Excellent, attentive service. The food is good but nothing extraordinary to write home about. Certainly not worth $60-70 per pax! You can get same-quality food for much less elsewhere. Vast majority of customers are expats - even wealthy Indians who come here to eat curry!?!

Nice ambience although it’s much more cramped than under previous ownership as Jones the grocer. Excellent, attentive service. The food is good but nothing extraordinary to write home about. Certainly not worth $60-70 per pax! You can get same-quality food for much less elsewhere. Vast majority of customers are expats - even wealthy Indians who come here to eat curry!?!

Nice ambience although it’s much more cramped than under previous ownership as Jones the grocer. Excellent, attentive service. The food is good but nothing extraordinary to write home about. Certainly not worth $60-70 per pax! You can get same-quality food for much less elsewhere. Vast majority of customers are expats - even wealthy Indians who come here to eat curry!?!

Nice ambience although it’s much more cramped than under previous ownership as Jones the grocer. Excellent, attentive service. The food is good but nothing extraordinary to write home about. Certainly not worth $60-70 per pax! You can get same-quality food for much less elsewhere. Vast majority of customers are expats - even wealthy Indians who come here to eat curry!?!

Did a short stop over at the Singapore outlet of Merchant Coffee Roasters after we had dropped by the new Bellersbys House — both establishments being situated at Dempsey Hill within the Loewen Gardens area. While Bellersbys House is located at Blk 75G Loewen Road which is essentially a compound comprising of various buildings and tenants that is easier to navigate around, Merchant Coffee Roasters is located at Blk 71 Loewen Road; the path leading to Merchant Coffee Roasters is actually from a flight of stairs that is hidden away at the back of the building which houses Chang Korean BBQ and Terra Madre. It should get relatively easy to find Merchant Coffee Roasters from there on, considering how one will find the signboard and banners of Merchant Coffee Roasters after reaching the end of the flight of the stairs. For those whom are unaware, Merchant Coffee Roasters is a brand that hails from Melbourne, Australia — the outlet in Singapore operates as both a coffee roasters and a cafe. There is quite a number of outdoor seats that are located around the exterior of the cafe; that being said, there is only one communal table indoors with a space segmented out for its coffee roaster. The counter is where one will be able to find the various danishes and sandwiches which they have to offer, as well as the espresso bar — one can also pick up some Nespresso-compatible coffee pods and packed roasted coffee beans from the shelf that is located beside the espresso bar and counter. As one would easily notice, Merchant Coffee Roasters does not have a proper kitchen area hence no hot food is available here; beverages offered here are confined to tea, drinking chocolate, juices, cold-brew coffee and espresso-based specialty coffee.

All orders served at Merchant Coffee Roasters are served in disposable ware — this is irregardless if one chooses to dine-in or perform a takeaway order here. Grabbing a danish to go along with our coffee, our choice of Danish was the Chocolate Twist — truth to be told, the Chocolate Twist offered at Merchant Coffee Roasters does look rather familiar to other similar offerings available at other specialty coffee cafes; probably one of those which are produced by a supplier and delivered here to be sold and served to their patrons. We actually did not really like the consistency of the Chocolate Twist; a little soft and limp and somewhat bread-like; lacks the lightness and crispness of the layering from such pastries from the lamination process — an item that we could definitely skip on. For our choice of coffee, we went with the Magic. Not the first Magic which we are having; the concoction usually being described as a double ristretto shot that comes with a “magic proportion” of milk. The Magic at Merchant Coffee Roaster does seem to be one of the stronger Magic that we have come across thus fat, having tried different variants of the same drink across multiple establishments — one with a medium body with a fruity body and a nutty finish; quite a bold cuppa that would serve well being a perk-me-up in the morning. considering the trek required to get to Merchant Coffee Roasters from the nearest MRT station or the nearest bus stops, Merchant Coffee Roasters isn’t exactly that spot that most would like to make that special visit there just to check them out. That being said, we could definitely see the reason to do so for coffee lovers to make their way down here — definitely a spot that brings one close to a name tightly-related to the Australian coffee scene here for sure.

Caught wind of the new Bellersbys House that had recently opened their doors at Loewen Road in Dempsey — despite being located within the Dempsey Hill neighbourhood, Bellersbys House is a situated slightly away from the main cluster of upscale restaurants and establishments in the area. In fact, its location at 75G Loewen Road meant that it is located in a cluster of buildings where other tenants such as The Yoga House and FLYPROJECT (i.e. a Pilates studio) are also at occupying the other buildings in the same cluster. Bellersbys House isn’t considered large; within the building itself where it is located would be the espresso bar and four dine-in tables good for pax in groups of two to four — there is an outdoor deck that seems to be in the works when we made our visit. Patrons can also dine-in at the tables located outdoors just outside of its main entrance — those table generally are meant for groups of two. Much of the look of the cafe for its interior is rather raw — think walls featuring exposed bricks, as well as cement-esque floors and counters; a look that is rather befitting of the greenery it is set in. Considering how there is a lack of a proper kitchen in Bellersbys House, the menu largely features light bites such as a Kaya Butter Toast; they were also serving up a Tuna Brioche as a special for the day during the day of our visit. Otherwise, patrons can also pick from the various danishes and fruits that they have stocked up and are available on display at the counter. For beverages, Bellersbys House offers a variety of espresso-based coffees, drinking chocolate, freshly-squeezed fruit juices and smoothies to go along — some interesting concoctions of espresso-based specialty coffee includes the Pandan Latte and the Lemongrass Latte.

Dropping by Bellersbys House for a light bite for breakfast to start the day proper, it is needless to say that our food item of choice from the menu was the Kaya Butter Toast. Here, a single portion of the Kaya Butter Toast comes with two (2) pieces. Prepared upon order, the Kaya Butter Toast features the usual brown toast that we are all pretty familiar with — the same ones which we would be served up with if we were to drop by any outlet of Ya Kun Kaya Toast around, with slabs of butter and Kaya sandwiched in between the toast. The rendition of the Kaya Butter Toast at Bellersbys House does seem to be one that is created with the fitspo folks in mind (especially considering the various fitness studios operating within the same compound in different buildings), the toast is toasted just slightly to achieve some sort of crisp but it still remained its soft texture for the most part, providing a light and fluffy bite as opposed to the biscuit-y crisp texture of such toasts that we are more familiar with. There was, however, sufficient butter in their rendition of the Kaya Butter Toast; chilled slabs of butter providing a savoury bite while the Pandan-infused coconut jam provided some sweetness that goes along with the butter just about right — not too much that it sweetens up the Kaya Butter Toast substantially. We had also given the Lemongrass Latte a try; basically a Latte with an infusion of lemongrass, the concoction was no different from a latte that comes with a more prominent hint of lemongrass in the body akin to that of Iced Lemongrass that one can find at Thai eateries around. One could still taste the coffee in the finishing notes though; something more of an earthy and nutty cuppa with a light body that is rather soothing — refreshing with the lemongrass infusion. Overall, a spot that seems to be poised to serve those from the fitness studios around it; no doubt still a spot away from all the buzz and the beaten track for some me-time while it still remains relatively unknown for now.

Warabimochi, Orange, Cherry

(Part of the Utsukushi Menu $280)

Magurozuke, Botan Ebi, Isaki, Tai, Shima Aji, Chutoro, Kanpachi, Kinmedai, Aji, Ika, Otoro, Uni & Ikura Don, Toro Temaki, Botan Ebi Miso Soup, Tamagoyaki

(Part of the Utsukushi Menu $280)

Raw Tako, Wakame

(Part of the Utsukushi Menu $280)

Aburi Shime Saba

(Part of the Utsukushi Menu $280)

Hirame, Ponzu

(Part of the Utsukushi Menu $280)