Posts tagged: coffee
I needed to get out of the office to prepare for a sharing at MHI this saturday and I’ve been hearing a fair deal about Chye Seng Huat Hardware Coffee Bar (Gosh that’s a long name!).
Now the flagship store for the people behind Papa Palheta and Loysel’s Toy, the establishment certainly presented a novel experience; finding the unassuming building, walking through the large metal doors and being greeted by an extremely charming interior that reminded me very much of Seven Seeds in Melbourne.
I ordered a latte and the beef patties (essentially meatballs)
Finally a cup of coffee that comes close to the ones I had in Melbourne… I even broke my 1 cup a day rule and had a Cappuccino later on.
The Latte ($5.50)
The beef patties came with 3 different mustards: English, wholegrain and Dijon.
Overall, not too bad. ($13.00)
Definitely a worthwhile trip. It’s only been around for a month but it’s already gained quite a large following.
CSHH Coffee Bar
Last full day in Melbourne was supposed to be dedicated to Great Ocean Road but after doing some additional research, it seemed that it would be best experienced over several days rather than crammed all into one. An experience to be left for the future perhaps. Besides, there were still a few more cafes to be seen.
First stop. Breakfast at Seven Seeds.
Seven Seeds is more known for its Coffee than it is for its food. To be fair, I didn’t order a proper brunch item so perhaps I didn’t really get a proper gauge. But the soft boiled eggs with toast soliders left plenty to be desired. The eggs weren’t as soft boiled as I hoped they would be. A young Singaporean couple that came in and sat next to me were talking about kaya toast and eggs, which was ironic.
At least the yolks were still runny.
Lunch stop: 20 and 6
This was recommended by Joel, who I met after visiting Bridge Church the day before. Very beautifully presented food.
And because Auction Rooms was so close to 20 and 6, it made sense to drop by for coffee there too. Somehow, a poptart got ordered at the same time. I have no idea how it got to the table.
Dinner: Sukiyaki. Was such a fantastic meal but once again, overate. Ugh. Need to work off all the food once I get back to Singapore.
Victoria Market was very charming.
The jam-filled donuts really hit the spot on a cold winter’s day.
Borek: Long Turkish Pastry with filling.
Down a secluded alley to find Manchester Press. You don’t find stuff like this in Singapore. Places that make you feel like you’ve found a hidden gem (but in fact everyone knows about)
Round the corner from Manchester Press: Brother Bada Budan.
I’m in Melbourne. That’s enough reason to have two coffees consecutively.
Flinders Street Station. Iconic.
Sherry and I made it down to Strangers’ Reunion today. Perfect timing because i’ve always wanted to go there but they never really sold anything other than pastries and coffee until about a week ago when they released their sandwich menu. It’s not a full fledged food menu but it’s good enough to get me off my lazy bum.
The entrance wasn’t very striking. I actually walked past it while I was getting my camera out of my bag, then the smell of coffee hit me and I turned around. Sherry got lost finding this place too.
My first impression was that it felt very similar to The Plain at Craig Road. The counter and decor for one was quite similar. Also, their main focus is of course the coffee rather than the food. Hence, the minimalist menu of pastries and sandwiches. But I have to say, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Not at all.
Once Sherry arrived, we decided on a Salmon Sandwich ($9.00), a Roast Pork Sandwich ($9.50), a Cappuccino ($4.90), a Latte ($4.90) and a Red Velvet Cupcake ($4.00).
The Red Velvet came first, which was a bit strange considering we were having the sandwiches. But oh well, it’s not something I would kick up a fuss about and it’s not like it was melting. As for how it tasted, it wasn’t extraordinary but I’d order it again the next time I go if I could share the calories with someone else.
The coffee certainly was the highlight of everything. I can’t describe it honestly. You just have to go try it for yourself. To be clear, that’s not an option. If you like coffee, you definitely need to come here and have a cup.
Sherry’s Latte and her “kawaii” handbag. She also had the salmon sandwich, which is not worth it in my opinion. Didn’t include the picture but it’s just plain wholemeal bread with cream cheese, capers and smoked salmon. I’d give it a miss the next time.
The Roast Pork Sandwich on the other hand was very interesting and worth trying. It’s essentially Siew Yoke, cucumbers, pickled carrots and a bit of chili in a baguette. The baguette was a bit hard but didn’t end up scraping your mouth like sandwiches back at five and dime.
Without a question, Strangers’ Reunion is worth going to. I hope they add more to their menu sometime soon. Right now, I’d still rate Selfish Gene and Maison Ikkoku at the top of my list but that’s just because I love food more than coffee. Strangers’ Reunion doesn’t fall too far away from those two. I’m just hoping they’ll ramp up their food menu a bit.
Strangers’ Reunion
Walking distance from Outram Park MRT. Take the Police Centre exit.
Cappuccino on Flickr.
Cappuccino @ Maison Ikkoku.
The coffee here does not disappoint. not one bit.
Met Cynthia for lunch today at Selfish Gene. It’s a relatively new cafe at Craig Road, just a few shops down from The Plain. I have to say that it was an exceptional experience. There were just so many things the place did right. Excellent use of natural lighting, it wasn’t too crowded and even became quiet once lunch hour passed, food and coffee were impressive and it wasn’t expensive.
We managed to sit right under the air well and so I finally had natural lighting to shoot in. This made me pretty happy as it is.
Cute little kid and probably her granddad. Childlike wonder…
The beef sandwich really won me over. My first bite of it was the point where I knew I would be coming here more often on Mondays in future. The onion marmalade was the right kind of sweet and there was just enough dijon mustard to add that extra depth to the sandwich without being overpowering. The bread was very fresh as far as I could tell and the salad was very refreshing.
My latte was really good… I’d definitely rate it as one of the better cups I’ve had in Singapore.
Cynthia’s Pork Sandwich and Orange Juice. The amazing chef herself gave it the thumbs up… the apple slices and wholegrain mustard really made a big difference.
Lastly, it’s not often that I have company for lunch on my day off… so I had to order a dessert because it meant I could share the calories. We had the Banana Parfait which had walnuts and a peanut butter sauce. $6.80 was a tad expensive for the tiny thing but it was a nice finish to the meal.
Selfish Gene
Walking distance from Outram Park MRT or Tanjong Pagar MRT
Went down to Jimmy Monkey again after Easter service yesterday. I’m going to make this post short because in all honesty, I was quite disappointed with how their standards have deteriorated.
The last time we went down, the coffee and breakfast was really excellent. You pay a bit more than your average indie cafe, but it’s good stuff. This time, it was still expensive but my breakfast was plated terribly and tasted mediocre. For $24, it certainly was not worth it. My plate had a significant puddle of water from the poached eggs, which is simply unacceptable. I did not include a photo below because it just looked so bad.
The coffee is still very good and my friends’ eggs benedict looked alright but still a disappointing visit all in all.
It’s been awhile since i’ve been on a day off escapade. About 3 weeks back, I read about 93 Degrees from a food blog that I follow and found out that it was open on Mondays. It’s quite a distance away from where I stay but it was a nice cool day to go exploring after the torrential rain last night. It’s at the foot of Mt. Faber, just behind Grace Methodist Church and Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church.
The first thing you smell when you approach the cafe isn’t coffee. There’s a shop that sells biryani right next door and you could smell the curry halfway down the street.
The reason why I haven’t gone earlier is because they were supposed to come up with a pasta and pizza menu by last week. Unfortunately, according to the owner Kim Hai, he had some manpower changes in the past 2 weeks and so that’s still in the pipeline.
Thus, I ordered a Cappuccino($5) and an Egg Burrito($7.50)…
The coffee was good. Definitely better than your average cup from an indie cafe here in Singapore. Apparently, they also hold coffee appreciation classes here. Maybe I should sign up for one in future if I have the time.
The Egg Burrito was well executed. The eggs weren’t overcooked but I thought it could’ve used more seasoning. Baked beans weren’t special in any way.
I really liked this place because it’s rather quiet, the coffee’s more than decent, and the music isn’t annoying or distracting. Most of all, the service was excellent and they were really friendly.
93 Degrees Cafe
16 Morse Road, just behind Telok Ayer Methodist and Grace Methodist Church.
I had a bit of time yesterday and needed some reading time so I decided to head to Group Therapy Coffee to have their Eggs Benedict for lunch. The last time I visited Group Therapy, I wasn’t very happy with their Ravioli and so I resolved to go back one day to have their Eggs Benedict. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the laid back atmosphere and my time spent reading there the last time. That’s ultimately what drew me back to the place.
Unfortunately, the music yesterday was really terrible. It felt like I was sitting in some strange disco of some sort. Really repetitive, mindless and unnerving. It really did not contribute to the atmosphere at all and made it difficult for me to get my reading done. So much for my fond memories from the last time.
Anyways, my latte came first and it looked like they had a mishap with the coffee art. That was a bit sad too but at the coffee was still decent. Moving on to the Eggs Ben…
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that they did some re-arrangements with the furniture. The couches which used to be near the windows were moved further in and in their place, there was a long, high table. There were people already seated at the high table and I wanted the couch so I had to resort to using my flash instead of natural lighting. Rather happy with this above shot because it looks like I used natural light rather than a flash. =)
The Eggs Ben was rich, creamy, flavourful… and the yolks were still very runny as you can see. I enjoyed it… at least much more than the Ravioli I had the last time. It also had gruyere and smoked salmon in it, which are of course very welcome additions.
I also discovered today that an Eggs Ben like this is roughly 900 calories!! Can’t afford to have it too often. But oh so yum.
Group Therapy Coffee
Walking distance from Maxwell Market
After Brotzeit, Eric, Joel and I walked across to Oriole to surprise Grace on her birthday. The plan was for her to meet up with Paul to catch up but he’d bring her to Oriole where we’d be waiting to surprise her.
Latte at Oriole. Oriole’s always been known to serve good coffee. Can’t really go wrong ordering a cup here. Eric and I ordered a cup each while waiting for Spacie, then ordered desserts once she had arrived with Paul.
Eric’s Apple Crumble Affogato (the man’s coffee intake astonishes me. he ordered this after having a macchiato… i think it was a macchiato…)
Joel’s Sundae… well just because it was Sunday…
The Birthday girl (who now claims that she’s very camera shy) and her peanut butter cheesecake.
… and then the Eric photobomb. Happy Birthday Grubby!
