One of the newer pasta dishes, this sees a luscious blend of turmeric, carrot and cheese as a base, with fresh crab meat on top. Tasty and not at all cloying, which is great. The menu describes it as an old English recipe, and so I’m pretty impressed by how this came to be on the menu.
Roasted chicken, corn, black beans, salsa and tortilla chips — their take on a Mexican-inspired wrap. Tasty and tangy, although I suspect it would’ve been more enjoyable as a bowl instead.
Yep, you can get most of the dishes here either as wraps or bowls.
What seems to be the top dish to order at Keong Saik’s Loloku, this sees a delicious combi of marinated salmon, kimchi, avo, tobiko and jalapenos on red rice. There’s a good amount of avo and sesame tahini dressing, which gives it a nice and creamy touch.
And while the chillies and kimchi sound like quite a handful, the similarly spicy, zesty toppings hit it off together to add a good kick!
While on the milkier side, Mikro’s flat white is done well. Silky frothed milk + well-pulled espresso from Aitch Coffee Roasters’ El Salvadorian beans.
Yum. I often avoid espresso-based black when it’s piping-hot, mostly cos that’s also when it’s the most bitter. This, however, was extremely pleasant even at the start. Its tart acidity blends really well with a touch of bitterness for an easy-drinking cuppa.
Dubbed their house favourite for breakfast, the Oliver James is a strange fellow. The dish features beef bacon and scramble on pancake stacked with sourdough, then topped with a drizzle of maple syrup. The sweet-savoury flavours kind of work, but the pancake-sourdough combo was somewhat boggling. Also found the beef bacon a tad tough. Not making it to my list of cafe fare, but Mikro wins me over with awesome coffee, nice vibes and good, friendly service too.
Will be back to give their mains a chance — the lamb meatballs look super promising!
The one-man-show at Polecats pours a kickass flat white, made with RG beans. Expect a dark and toasty first sip, followed by smooth, milky balance.
Polecats is one of those places that makes me happy there are cafes that care enough to make good food. This board special-turned-mainstay sees garlicky Greek yoghurt with browned chilli butter, dill and a poached egg, served with buttered sourdough toasts. Simple, hearty stuff that makes a morning.
This beautiful spot of an African-inspired cafe is a quaint new addition to Jiak Chuan road! Fancy yet down-to-earth woody decor aside, the drinks are worth paying a visit for. And if you’re here for just drinks, sit upstairs at the lounge where plush leather couches await.
Pink peppercorn and peanut butter doesn’t sound like a pair, but it works when rimmed on this cup of hot mocha. The result is interesting; shocking at first, but definitely grows on you.
Cheerful guys doling out all things duck at this Geylang coffeeshop. Pretty awesome braised duck — every piece was tender and bathed in that rockin’ sweet and hearty dark gravy. Innards like intestines and liver were also done well, sans the unpleasant offal taste. Love that it comes packed with eggs, beansprouts, peanuts, fish cakes and the oh so flavourful tofu.
Extra points for that punchy sambal and lime chilli mixture!
Recommended by the staff, this pork cutlet is strictly for sharing. That said, what looks like a massive slab of pork is mostly a blanket of stringy mozzarella (an overkill, really) atop a decent piece of pork chop. Beneath, some pretty tasty rosemary-soaked potato wedges. Wasn’t quite sure what the toast was doing there lol.
Delicious giant thing of a pork sausage; not so great carbonara — think excessive cream and not enough flavour. I did enjoy the use of radicchio, which gave the dish a nice bittersweet bite.
