Suprette @ Jalan Besar

Jalan Besar is fast becoming another Tiong Bahru estate with hippie coffee joints opening up at every other corner. I chanced upon Suprette from Burpple (my food bible) and I was so damn excited to try the lamb shakshuka during their breakfast hours. From the pictures that other Burpplers took, it looked like the baked eggs we had back in Melbourne! And as some of you may know, I'm a total fan of Aussie and ever since we came back from our road trip, we've been trying to find coffee and food here that will make us a lil less 'Aussie-sick'.

Suprette is located at the lobby area of Kam Leng Hotel and I was really intrigued by this retro yet hippie looking hotel! So here's some quick interesting facts on Kam Leng Hotel:

1) It was first set up in 1927 by a mysterious owner and was abandoned in the last 20 years.

2) Reopened as a retro 70-room boutique hotel in 2012. 

3) The flavour of the old Singapore (think of cracks and peeling paint) was retained with the addition of a playful twist to the interiors and branding. 

As I walked into the hotel lobby, I did feel like I was thrown back into the black-and-white TV era. The wooden TV console and the props used to spruce up the area were simple yet homely and I giggled a bit at the retro "leilio" that stood at a corner of the table. 

Ok so back to the food and drinks at Suprette!

"OMG, this taste like Melbourne," we said in unison after the first sip of the coffee. It was that smooth, that light on the tastebuds and that heart-warming. Good job Suprette, your coffee captured our gut and heart already.

To be really honest, I didn't have much expectation of the shakshuka initially so as not to be disappointed if it doesn't bring me back to the days in Melbourne where we sat alfresco-style at the litter cafe along Hardware Street with the hot baked eggs and chai latte to warm our tummies. Suprette's lamb shakshuka, fortunately, was simply wonderful. Crusty baguette dipped into the mixture of feta cheese, spicy tomato sauce, baked eggs and tasty lamb sausages and into the mouth - comfort food for soul and the tummy.

Another food item that we ordered was the Breakfast Set where you get to customise your style of eggs - fried/poached/scrambled with 2 sides. The scrambled eggs brought out the essence of the whole dining place, very honest, down-to-earth and tasty without being over-the-top. I liked that they didn't try too hard to make it too runny or milky and it was a delight from the start to the end. The portobello mushrooms were juicy and very well seasoned though there's nothing much to shout about the chicken chipolatas. It's the kind of meal that leaves you with a satisfied smile because you know you had a darn good meal and you wanna keep it all within yourself for a while. :)

I highly recommend everyone to have brunch on a lazy weekend here at Suprette. The service is prompt and the food is tasty yet humble, just like the whole style of the hotel it is housed in.

Suprette
383 Jalan Besar
(Kam Leng Hotel lobby)
Suprette Website
Suprette FB page
Tel: +65 6298 8962

Sun Ray Cafe @ Serangoon Gardens

I got to know about Sun Ray Cafe from Instagram! Haha, the wonders of social media. I posted a picture of a latte and the admin person of Sun Ray Cafe liked the pic and that's how I decided to give this Cafe a visit to give their coffee a try!

Mocha - $5.00

Latte - $4.00

I must say that I was very impressed with their coffee! Good thing that this quaint lil cafe, which is pet-friendly too, was not busy on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The head barista came over to chat with us and it was interesting to learn about the different coffee and the art of coffee from her evident passion in making good coffee. She shared with us about the different types of coffee and the logic for the different terminology, like what goes into a latte, a cappuccino, a macchiato, etc etc. In the end we had a total of 4 cups of coffee at the cafe! The other two - cold drip coffee and americano were not featured above.

 American breakfast - $14.90

Fresh scones - $2.50 each (come with Butter)

I am quite glad they served pretty decent food too! They served all day brunch items and I ordered an American breakfast, which came with sausages, cheese croquette, scrambled eggs (or sunny side-up), rocket salad and fresh scones. I must say that the scrambled eggs were not done to my expectation as they were tasteless and not as "milky" as I like. The other condiments were average but the SCONES were DA BOMB! 

In fact, we loved the scones so much, we ordered extra serving and as you can see, they were HUGE! They were crumbly and slightly cakey, fragrant and went very well with Americano. Can't wait to have it again! They serve dessert and other main dishes too.

I'm glad I made the trip down because it was really nice chatting with the staff and seeing cute dogs. I would definitely come back for the good coffee and nice ambience. Customer service was superb, the waiters were friendly, attentive, and very courteous. It's really hard to find good local service staff nowadays! Do visit the cafe if you happen to be around the area! :) UOB card holders get to enjoy 12% off.

****

Sun Ray Cafe79 Brighton Crescent (Off Serangoon Gardens way)
Singapore, Singapore 559218

Tel: 62838700

Sun Ray Cafe WebsiteSun Ray Cafe FB page

Poteato @ Yong Siak St

If there is one particular day in a year which I hate the most, it'd have to be V-day. Overpriced roses, chocolates and the restaurants are fully booked with kiasu couples who seem to bank on 1 day to shower their loved ones with love and flowers. Quite frustrated that most of the cool cafes did not take in any walk-in customers along Yong Siak Street. There's this new kid on the block that was different- Poteato and BOY, were we glad to patronize this quaint cafe opposite Open Door Policy because the Eggless Chocolate Cake was DA BOMB. Shall go to that in a bit.

This cafe had red petals scattered across the reserved table - a very nice and sweet touch for a supposedly lomantic day. Although the special menu could be improved in my humble opinion.

I'm no coffee connoisseur, but the latte served here was medium-bodied with slight bittersweet aftertaste. Definitely not as bitter as Blackbird Cafe's coffee but I liked the subtle bitterness that lingered in my taste bud after each sip.

My partner ordered the Pulled Chicken Sandwich that came with salsa dip and potato chips. The chicken strips were tender and tasty but the herbed focaccia bun could be toasted last before serving because I guess they wanted to serve both dishes together and the bun was prepared first perhaps. The bun was a lil too dense and oily after a few mouthfuls, which affected the overall taste with the chicken.

I enjoyed the Aglio Olio with mushrooms very much though! It was light yet flavourful, spicy and the sautéed mushrooms were soft and delectable. Even the boyfriend urged me to cook something like that the next time. Heh.

We had wanted to try the lemon meringue tart but it was sold out so we changed to the Eggless Chocolate Cake instead and that was actually the BEST choice made. Ever. The chocolate cake was dense, not too sweet and it was such a sinful gooey chocolatey mess! Definitely one of the best chocolate cake we had ever tasted and I could cry with happiness after taking the first mouthful. "The uglier the cake, the nicer it will taste!" was what the positive boyfriend said after it was served to us. It is true. Please try and let me know if you had the same sentiment as us!

Although the cafe does not charge service fee and GST, we need to order directly from the counter and help ourselves to free-flow ice water & cutlery. I welcome such arrangement because I do feel a bit paiseh at times if I kept asking the waitress to refill our water.

I like the simplistic yet rustic decor of the cafe and the affordable tasty food served here. A nice place to chill out with friends/loved ones over comfort food and drinks.

My first in posting a picture of us but today's dinner really was one of the best so far, despite us being anti-vday advocates. A great day that ended with an awesome meal at a quaint little cafe along the hippy street. Good for us! ;)

Ending off with a 'paparazzi-like' shot of the Monocle event that happened at Books Actually. Pretty apt for Monocle, though I think the guests may have preferred a bigger venue.

Poteato
78 Yong Siak Street
Singapore 163078
Poteato FB page
Call 6221 2488 for reservations

Blackbird Cafe @ Cathay

Due to the 3 days of non-stop Chinese food, I decided to have something non-Chinese on the 3rd day of CNY. Chanced upon this cafe, which was not crowded and serves brunch items! (Most cafes don't serve brunch items on weekdays even though it's PH) Shall let the pictures do the talking!

I quite like the ambience of the cafe as it's cosy and conducive for catchups and the service staff did not chase us away despite us ordering just 2 cup of coffee and pancakes. The decor was done up quite tastefully and fits well with the museum concept. *thumbs up*

Flat White, $5.50

Ever since I got hooked onto Papa Palheta's coffee, I've stopped adding sugar to my lattes and would just soak in the aroma of the pure espresso + milk combi. Most lattes' bitterness were acceptable to me and I relish in the slight bittersweet taste of the coffee. But I must comment that Blackbird's latte was one of the most bitter one I've tasted. It's not a bad thing, but I prefer a not-so-bitter coffee. A lil sugar does the trick though, so it's all good.

Buttermilk Pancakes, $10.00

I was a little skeptical about ordering buttermilk pancakes because I had a horrible experience at Five & Dime. However, I haven't had pancakes for a while, so decided to go ahead to try. It wasn't dry, which was my consolation because I hate hate dry and flaky pancakes. However, the pancakes lack taste and were a bit flat. You can choose either bacon, caramelized bananas or strawberries with the pancakes but I opt for fresh strawberries as it's more healthy. For just $10, I believe it's quite affordable for brunch items in town area!

Rating: 3/5

Although the food we tried were so-so, I would still want to go back to give other brunch items as try! The steak sandwich that the couple next to ours ordered looked divine though, so I'll definitely make a mental note to order it the next time I'm there. A good location to chill before catching a blockbuster if you happen to be around Cathay area!

Blackbird Cafe
6 Handy Road
The Luxe
Blackbird Cafe FB

Habitat Coffee @ Upper Thomson Road

Upper Thomson area is like West area's Holland Village. Full of pumped-up kids, hippies, youngsters, cafes, bars, food places and I especially like to visit Habitat Coffee!

Eggs Benedict

The hollandaise sauce is delicious and goes really well with the poached eggs and toasted muffins. But they can be slightly more generous with the sauce I think!

Cafe Latte

I like the caramel biscuit that comes complementary with each coffee! However, to be really honest, the coffee is not bad.. but not entirely fantastic.

Mama's Banana pancakes

The one thing I always look out for in pancakes will be fluffiness and flavour. The pancakes served at Habitat were fluffy but  a lil bit dry on the texture, though the bananas and maple syrup and chocolate fudge made up for it.

I like how attentive and polite the service crew were and the nice ambience in the cafe. Oh and not forgetting the generous serving of Truffle Fries (sorry I couldn't find the photo in any of my storage spaces!) which you definitely have to try!

If you happen to be around Upper Thomson area, Habitat Coffee's the place to chill and catchup with friends over good coffee.

Habitat Coffee
233 Upper Thomson Road
Singapore 574355

Oriole Cafe @ 313

What I really liked about Oriole Cafe is that I can people-watch with a cuppa in hand. Ok this count more like a secondary reason. The primary reason is the coffee. I like that the aroma of the coffee is not overpowering and there's a bittersweet taste which I love. The temperature of the coffee is just right too- perfect if you can't wait to get that caffeine dose into your system right away.

Cafe Latte, $5.5
Rating: 8/10

Flat White, $5.5
Rating: 8/10

To make our high tea even more perfect, we tried the sticky pudding and it was just addictively delicious! Think of sweet sticky cake drenched in rum and rasin with a spoonful of vanilla bean ice cream... that's what I meant by addictively delicious.

Sticky Pudding, $9

Rating: 8.5/10

I'll definitely go back to Oriole again for the reasonable prices of the food & beverage items and for the fact that it's situated right smack in the middle of the shopping belt.

Oriole Cafe
Pan Pacific Serviced Suites
#01-01 96 Somerset Rd
Oriole Cafe FB page