Some of you will know I'm not a fan of new places.
As in, I am not the type who will be so eager to go try.
On the other hand I am the type who will be questioning, skeptical, unsure, and half critical (sometimes) until such time I take my first bite of the food, and repeat, doubts, mind, otherwise.
Such was the attitude I had when my friend told me of this new cafe he had discovered and suggested, as part of the birthday month, we go try.
It wasn't because of the location, mind.
Who cares whether or not the cafe is at Blk 744 Bedok Reservoir Road in Reservoir Village?
Coffee cafes and brunch cafes have been opening up a dime a dozen in our local housing block estates, and most of them, I have to say, have not only not disappointed, but are amazingly worth a second, third, fourth, even fifth time.
I wasn't concerned about the location as I was more about the food.
Especially after we got there and I realized the menu was really, very good.
Now, one expects the (typical) brunch fare, but oy, they had things like Bacon and Pancakes, Croffle Eggs & Avocado, Truffle Mushroom Bruschetta, and Bagel Pulled Pork & Cheese.
All these were just part of the All Day Breakfast, and which, to be honest, the Bagel Pulled Pork & Cheese, and the Croffle Eggs Avocado I had wanted to try. The Bagel had fried egg and fried shallots and came served with tortilla chips. The Croffle had miso scrambled eggs and mushrooms and tomatoes.
Sure, some might want a Mentaiko Waffle, which, I have to say, sounded quite appetizing- it had chicken karaage- or even the Refuel Pancakes, which here came with scrambled eggs, salad, maple beans, three pancakes, and a selection of either chicken sausage or smoked salmon.
But then there were the mains to look at, all of which too, I have to say, sounded equally good.
It was quite a challenge trying to choose between the options of Salmon Mentaiko Don, Miso Baked Salmon, Honey BBQ Ribs and the Unagi Don.
Not to mention the varieties of pasta they had, which included lovely things like Meatball Gochujang, Bacon Mac & Cheese, Mentaiko Mac & Cheese, and the all regular Spaghetti Carbonara.
I was all for the Honey BBQ Ribs, because, mind, so seldom is it that we have ribs these days, plus they had whipped/mashed potato and coleslaw.
But the toughest fight was between the Miso Baked Salmon and the Salmon Mentaiko Don. If one had the salmon baked in miso broth, plus broccolini and mushrooms, whilst the other had teriyaki salmon cubes plus mentaiko plus avocado, trust me, it was hard to decide.
In the end we chose the latter.
And it was not a bad choice, I tell you.
The food was absolutely appetizing.
And the portion was perfect.
What surprised me most was how they had measured out the portions carefully, so much so that none of the flavors, nor texture, overwhelmed. nor overpowered each other.
Not only was the dish aesthetically pleasing- just look at the symmetry of the avocado and the perfectly cubed salmon- but the portion of mentaiko sauce was also appropriated just right that it almost felt like you were meant to have your meal eating spoon by spoon of salmon and slice of avocado with the mentaiko sauce and rice all mixed together.
I ought to have tried how it tasted like.
But because this evening we were sharing, so everything we ate separately.
I first took a few cubes of the salmon with the rice.
I then took a few slices of the avocado whilst my friend had the rice and salmon.
Back and forth this way we went until the entire bowl was finished.
This Don was so good.
The salmon was tender, with a distinctive chew, and despite it being served under a ladle of umami-type sauce, you could still taste the fresh of the salmon underneath. No staleness, no mushy softness whatsoever. The flesh was firm.
My only gripe was that it seemed a bit too small for two to share.
Perhaps that were their measurements; that one order- bowl, plate etc- be more than enough for one person, but so satisfying that it would feel too little for two.
I'll want to have their Honey BBQ Ribs next time.
Or maybe their Bacon Mac & Cheese.
Pretty sure both be good.
We opted to have a dessert this evening.
And although, like the mains and pastas, there were a fair bit to choose from, we decided on a Pancake Stack, enabling us to try their pancakes whilst getting to have an ice cream, and salted caramel sauce at the same time.
Their pancakes were really good.
I had worried they'd be like flapjacks, or McDonald's Hot Cakes, which, although I love, won't have the same feel as fluffy, soft pancakes will.
Theirs might not be as thick as how the Americans do theirs, but it had a softness, a smoothness, a faint sweetness, easy to cut, and so nice to have.
I tried them with the ice cream, without the ice cream, with the salted caramel sauce alone, without the sauce.
Pancakes kosong really did taste just as good.
Perhaps next time we might go for two desserts instead of one.
I want to try their Salted Caramel Waffle, I also want to try their Biscoff Croffle and their Homemade Apple Crumble.
Apple Crumble always sounds like a great way to end the meal.
Then again, any dessert will.