49 Seats @ Centrepoint

Someone told me about this (not so new) casual cafe in Orchard's Centerpoint. 

It was right at the back, he said, near the drop off point of the shopping center, and I'd find it faster if I were to go by the side instead of finding it from inside. 

My friend was right. 

49 Seats sits on the side that looks out towards the back of Cuppage, and I found the place in no time at all. 

Good thing, too. 

I was hungry. 

It's said that 49 Seats is a very casual diner. 

Yeah, it's true.

It is a place where the floor is shiny, grey cement, where the tables are easy to move around, and where the chairs are (literally) a light, easy garden type.

Decor on the walls is plain- don't expect anything IG-worthy here.

But it doesn't really matter.

Particularly since the place does have a sort of industrial chic vibe. 

We were taken by the way they had done the menu. 

Reminded us of this diner (I forget its name) that used to sit in the very same unit where Five Guys at Plaza Singapura is now. 

For a while we wondered if this place had been opened by the very same people.

Cos even the offerings seemed somewhat the same. 

There were, for instance, a lot of pastas. 

There were, also, a good selection of appetizers, desserts and drinks. 

We thought of having the pasta. 

But then we looked over the menu one more time and decided the fried fish looked more interesting instead. 

The menu said that it came with a side of salad and a sauce of salted egg and tom yum. 

Very unusual it seemed, so we ordered. 

The most outstanding thing about this dish was, really, the sauce. 

I'm going to say that it exceeded our expectations. 

Because, in all honesty, does this look like a sauce to you? 

This?

No way. 

It's a soup. 

A bowl of relatively thick soup that's got the strong taste of tom yum lemongrass, and the distinctive taste of salted egg (seasoning) cleverly stirred inside. 

We were expecting a sludge of a sauce. 

We got a soup. 

My companion was surprised. 

So was I. 

It's not every day you get to dunk a piece of fish into a bowl of delicious sauce-soup. 

Neither is it every day that you find a prawn (or two) inside it. 

In fact, so much of a soup it was that we christened it Fried Fish Seafood Tom Yum Salted Egg Soup. 

The only thing missing from the concoction were the vegetables, and the tofu.

But I didn't mind. 

I liked it anyway. 

This is a dish that I might order if I come here again the next time. 

Not so, unfortunately, for the fries. 

It isn't because I didn't find them good. 

They were hot, and crisp when served, and there was a lovely mix of condiments and mayonnaise.

But maybe the Asian palate that is mine couldn't get used to the American-style chili that had been scooped onto the heap of fries, and maybe the nitpicker that is me found it a tad hard to appreciate the chili-soaked (soggy) shoestrings at the bottom of the pile.