Cafe Hangout: Five Oars Coffee Roasters at 39 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Singapore 088462

A new hipster cafe has descended upon us, and it's called Five Oars Coffee Roasters! Apparently they are an Aussie-style cafe serving up brunch and dinner menus, along with their coffee of course. I finally had the time to head down and check it out with a bunch of my colleagues for lunch. The first thing we noticed was how big it seemed from the outside, since we were used to tiny shophouses on this stretch. They possibly took over two units and then halved it for alfresco and indoor use.

There's also a walk-in area to buy coffee from, which is good for those needing java on the go.

This is the outdoor area that made it to a lot of Instagram posts. Definitely nice and bright, but a bit too warm for the midday which is why it is empty. Perhaps it will be more comfortable in the evenings.

They also carry cakes from Nesuto, a cake place just nearby which we tried after our lunch (go to source, why not?) - Their Matcha and Chocolate Cakes were so GOOOOD.

The indoor area was air-conditioned, thankfully, and well-ventilated (bonus points)!

Here's their menus. Coffee is pretty standard at these prices, thank goodness. 

Their food though, is definitely priced above average. French toast for $18.50, avo and eggs for $17... yes if you're a Millennial and not making a lot of money, this can bankrupt you in a matter of years.

They do dinner as well, with around half of their brunch items making it through the transition. Actually dinner prices are more palatable - crab pasta only at $18.50!

Anyway, here's what we ordered. What a feast!

The Sweet Potato Fries (S$8) are decent. Not too dry and quite generous. 3/5

My intern's Truffle Benedict (S$20) - the broccolini might have been the culprit jacking up the price, haha. I didn't try it but she mentioned it was good, no complaints, and portions were not too stingy as well!

Then there's the Breakfast Steak (S$24) without finger potatoes, replaced with extra kale because this colleague is on a keto diet. Again it looks really hearty and wholesome!

My other colleague ordered the Beef Tartare (S$17), which had a cured egg yolk on top of raw tenderloin. It was served with a jar filled with smoke, which made for a great presentation!

My last colleague who ordered the Chicken Rosti (S$16.50) which she commented tasted a little plain on its own (cured slow cooked chicken breast) without any of the sauce. 

I had ordered the Mentaiko Mac and Cheese (S$22) which was one of the most expensive items on the brunch menu. But I am a mac and cheese fan... anyway, this tasted quite beyond what we had expected. It was much more "mentaiko-y" than it looked, which means the cod/pollack roe taste was quite strong. If you are not a fan of that, stay away! There were also bits of crab meat and prawn in there, but very little amounts. The macaroni was slightly hard and overboiled, I think. Still, because of the sauce, I would give this a 3.5/5

That's about it for our lunch at Five Oars! Even though it was a brunch place, I find the prices a little bit prohibitive for that purpose and would probably go back again for their dinner (funny, cos its usually the other way around).

Five Oars

39 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088462

Daily 8am to 10pm