STRAY is a spanking new restaurant/cafe concept by the guys from Fatcat Ice Cream Bar at Bedok. Luckily this one is right smack in the heart of town! Since it literally just opened, the full menu is not out yet, but fans will be happy to find that their famous charcoal waffle with salted egg sauce has been recreated here. Sigh, are we still not done with the whole waffles-as-a-meal thing? The decor of this "progressive Chinese cuisine" restaurant, as they would call themselves, is nicely done. Orchard Central is of course deathly quiet even during weekends, so this will be a perfect place to hide for lunch.
Here's the coffee menu. Still or sparkling water is the same price as their coffees (S$5), so might as well get a kopi, juice or draft beer... #justsaying.
Coffee was made using a sleek customized Synesso MVP Hydra. They're serving up the Obelisk blend by Two Degrees North from Populus. The milk tasted slightly burnt and thus threw the latte (S$5) off balance. It leaned towards something heavier and tasted too dark. Will probably skip the coffee next time and go for the teas or iced drinks!
Here's the temporary food menu. The lunch special is quite alright now given that there's a complimentary tea or coffee (valued at $5 I suppose!) thrown in.
Here's what the small piece of paper said.
Salmon yu-sheng bowl (S$18) with salmon, shredded veg, plum and pearl rice
Black pepper wagyu bowl (S$20) with wagyu, peppercorn, pink ginger and pearl rice
Salted egg chicken waffles (S$19) with salted egg, charcoal waffles and curry leaves
STRAY truffle fries with chinese spices (S$12)
There's also spheres, which are like gelatinous flavoured balls on spoons (see Misstamchiak's review for pics)? A plus for ingenuity but $4 for each is really too steep. If you don't have a trend going on for you, the pricing won't make sense.. and I'm not sure how Chinese is that. Chinese people won't pay a lot of money for flavoured water, dey. Carbs and meat yes.
Though the lychee soft serve with red tea waffle and logan does look super interesting!
Anyway, we didn't try their rice bowls which looked really good. Instead, the Black and Gold (S$18) salted egg soft serve with charcoal waffle and curry leaves (I hope) was the item du jour. The charcoal waffle was yummy as it was perfectly balanced with the amount of crispiness and aerated interior (aka SUPA FLUFFEH).
The salted egg soft serve was incredibly delicious with a hint of savouriness from the cereal flakes and curry leaves. If we were to be picky, the only downside was that the soft serve was slightly icy and not creamy enough for a soft serve. The portion was also not as generous - for its price, we expected more.
Well, if you're feeling incredibly flush with cash, bored in Orchard/Somerset with nowhere to go, spend your time/money at STRAY to catch up and take #foodstagram photos. Or you could just head to Oriole at 313 for a cuppa and call it a day. If the pricing can be adjusted and free tap water offered, I think STRAY might find themselves less orphaned.
STRAY by Fatcat
181 Orchard Road, #04-22A/23, Orchard Central, Singapore 238896
11am to 10pm daily (lunch sets start from noon)
By the way, do join me on the new Pepo App's "Singapore Foodies" chat group where we chat about where to eat in Singapore, and delicious #foodporn photos!
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