Toa Payoh

When we read about this place on food bloggers, we decided we just had to visit this place. The first impression about the cafe itself: it speaks loud about it's ambience. Industrial yet casual, somehow sleek yet managed to induce a sense of relaxation in any of your occasion.

However, the same loudness for ambience can't be found in their food and beverages.

We started off with Matcha Latte and Cappuccino, with Apple Galette. The matcha was concentrated and has a great balance with the milk, although it didn't came hot enough to our preference. The disappointment on this starter was the pastry, where it didn't arrive fresh and crispy enough to be enjoyed with the custard and fruit in the middle.

We went on with three other dishes: Scotch Eggs, Big Breakfast, and Salad. The quality of the food could be better for an average of $20-25 per dish.

The Scotch egg has a good sauce and herbs accompanying to it, however the smokiness that comes from the pork overwhelms and throws the balance off the dish. Unfortunately, the Scotch Egg arrived cold when it reached our table.

Glean's big breakfast is way more hearty than it looks. The sausage, along with the side salad, is the star of the show. It has a meaty, savory taste packed with herbs and pepper to it, and I believe the sausage they have here is rather unique to their own. However, the scrambled egg that came with it is rather questionable. Was it a soft-boiled egg, or was it a scrambled egg? We could see part of the egg whites still rather raw and not completely mixed in with the yoke. Nevertheless, the food came hot, and it was very hearty meal to start the day.

The outlier in our order was the salad, where the dressing compliments really well with the choices of fruits and vegetables accompanying it. The taste was very fruity and fresh, so much so that you could have this salad as both appetizer and sweet ending to your meal.

Our verdict:
🌸Ambience : 9 of 10
🥗Food : 8.5 of 10
💸Value for Money : 6.5 of 10

We will visit Glean again for their other food too! They deserve second chance and I believe they can improve their food quality. Thank you!