First of the Imperial set lunch menu, the dim sum platter came with a slice of Imperial charsiew, roast pork, otah siew mai, seafood & spinach dumpling, salted egg prawn roll & Peking duck. It was a slice of all things great in a platter! The imperial charsiew was thiccc and delivered a great mouthfeel. However, it was lacking in charsiew gravy. I remember having it a la carte - it was way more flavourful with slightly more charsiew gravy. Similar to the roast pork - the a la carte version was served with mustard and it tasted way better! Otah siew mai was a rather creative fusion to the typical pork charsiew. I found it a lil’ too coconut-y tho. Seafood dumpling was generously stuffed, so yumms! The highlights of the platter (in my opinion), would be the peking duck and salted egg prawn roll - rather than the typical popiah roll, Empress version was a prawn based patty coated in salted egg batter. The salted egg - prawn mix was unique and this fusion certainly did impress.

Al-dente spaghettini with crab meat and pasta sauce infused with lemongrass! We liked how there’s a refreshing spin to the traditional tomato pasta. Our only gripe was the slightly small-ish portion size and pasta sauce - would have been way more delectable with way more gravy!

There wasn’t any mistake. This is indeed braised beef curry from Halia’s brunch menu. I was slightly puzzled when my brunch item was served; totally expecting a bowl of beef curry and sourdough toasts on the side for dipping. Well, in a way, this was a pleasant surprise. I guess I could do with less mess in a beautiful brunch setting. The presentation of this brunch item very much resembled pulled pork benny/ pulled pork on sourdough. This was served with herb yoghurt sauce - which in my view, could have been more generously drizzled. Unfortunately due to the meagre portion, I couldn’t quite taste any herb-y yoghurt. Braised beef was well done - no chewy, overcooked strings of protein (phew!) There weren’t much curry notes and the braised beef curry pretty much tasted like beef rendang instead. The Asian-fusion brunch was topped with pickles and delightful pink bulbs which were tangy and refreshing, cutting through the more heavily flavoured meat in a nice way. Also, a shoutout to the well toasted sough dough which weren’t overly doughy and stretchy! `love it when the knife cuts through the sourdough so easily!

$5.20/cup, +1 for oat milk and +$0.50 for iced. This set me back at $6.70, pretty much around the same price as an ice drink from established coffeehouses. It was a relief that the flavoursome drink did justice to the steep price point - imagine rich, matcha notes with a good balance of freshly brewed coffee! I intentionally tasted the coffee (sipping only at the top) and matcha milk (sipping through the straw at the bottom) separately to assess the individual flavours - the matcha was wowww! While the coffee layer was pretty much the same as a typical cold brew. Following a good stir, a dirty green appeared. Each sip was velvety smooth - with coffee, matcha and sweet notes all hitting a right balance! Now, bearing in mind the social cause of Mad Roaster, I would gladly pay for another cup again!

Fluffy, buttery cinnamon brioche slice that makes a good tea time snack! It’s light in taste, with beautiful cinnamon swirls that isn’t too overpowering. Somehow, the sweet, buttery mix and mild cinnamon fragrance reminds me of speculoos, rather than cinnamon. Relative to the chocolate babka, the cinnamon brioche was less of a ‘wow’ factor but definitely a healthier choice without the custard cream and extra chocolate bits!

Mad(ly) impressed with the Choco Babka by Mad Roasters. The chocolate brioche was delightful with a good balance of buttery and chocolatey aroma. I liked how the chocolate swirls were so beautifully twirled! Each babka slice is lightly toasted upon order (even if it’s takeaway!), slathered with a thin layer of custard cream and topped with loads of chocolatey bits. The custard cream reminded me of condensed milk, but a less sweet version of it. As decadent as this sounds, it was surprisingly ‘light’ and not at all cloying - perhaps due to the soft, fluffy brioche

Amazing pesto fettuccine - cooked al dente and looks healthy with the green hues (of course, I’m kidding). The addition of sun-dried tomatoes added a tangy twist to the mix. Chicken breast was nicely done - not overly dry nor tough due to overcooking. One thing to note tho - the pasta does dries up so be sure to polish them asap!

A sister brand under the Spizza group, the woodfired pizzas here were on par in terms of standards. I tried La Nonna’s signature pizza which was served with an abundance of truffle paste, eggs and meat. It was delicious! While the amount of truffle spread appears overwhelming in this pic, the truffle taste wasn’t overpowering. It’s definitely a great choice for truffle lovers!

A must-try for seafood and asian food lovers. This dish was not for me at all - largely due to the heavy laksa-ish/ lemongrass/coconut flavours in the mussels. I prefer my mussels to be served in white wine or creamy broth. My husband loved his dish very much tho! Dish is served alongside 2 lightly toasted sourdough, which were crisp on the side and soft within. Love the sourdough here!

My forever favourite from Rider’s! First recommended by then-boyfriend and now husband, there certainly is some degree of bias towards Rider’s burg. But hey, putting on an objective lens, it’s a decently priced burger (not too overly priced!), with juicy, succulent patty in just the right thickness. I love how fluffy the buns are too. I requested for the caramelised onions and thousand island to be served on the side. Otherwise, the standard burg comes with these condiments assembled within the burg. It’s served alongside a massive portion of fries as pictured!

This is a chocoholic’s dream come true. Beneath the velvety blanket of thiccc fudge is a huge slice of moist, dense chocolate cake. I like how there wasn’t an overdose of cocoa/ dark chocolate. Looking at the dark mess, I was slightly concerned about the possible bitter after notes with each bite. Happy to share that there wasn’t any hint of dark chocolate! Hooray! My husband found it a lil’ too too much

At $8, the OG from Two Bake Boys doesn’t come cheap. Taste and flavour wise, given it’s a recipe from the owner, a Thai, it’s in a way, guaranteed good! The mille Thai tea crepe came served with a pouch of Thai tea drizzle, enhancing the tea-liciousness of the cake. Thanks to Burpple beyond 1-1, this is certainly way more affordable!