alexis blogs: October 2011

Cafe Hangout: Toby's Estate at Robertson Quay, Singapore

October 29, 2011

Hailing from Australia, Toby's Estate has recently set up shop in our little island hoping to conquer some of the coffee addicts to their brand of joe. Going by how competitive our coffee scene is recently (in fact they appeared in the Straits Times Sunday Times feature on the indie coffee scene in Singapore), they must be pretty confident that they can rise up to the challenge.

First knew about this place myself 2 weeks before the newspaper article appeared from @superfinefeline's blog, Gastronomic Ruminations. I was immediately intrigued and penned it down as a must-visit. Turns out it is also just right beside Kith Cafe, which I went the week before without realizing Toby's was beside!

Wasn't disappointed when we did. That Sunday was also the Sunday that this place was featured on the papers, so all their food stuffs were sold out! At least their coffees are still brewing. I took many photos because this place was begging to be photographed with so many great scenes. Enjoy!

Left side, 5pm.

Right side

They sell their own teas and coffees, and keep cups!

Ordered an iced latte. Simple. We sat at the 'bar'.

Really like all the apparatuses they had.

Shot using Hipstamatic

Shot using Camera+

This is me.

The place and concept overall is great. You can see the effort put into decorating the place, and the bigger budget they have. However, one thing that can be improved was the service. Perhaps all the busy day got to the female servers but when we stepped in, nobody gave us any attention and we had to find our way to the counter and figure out if we order at the counter or take a seat. All the female servers seem to see right through us! There was nary a smile -- all of them look sullen-faced and grumpy. When I wanted syrup for my latte after ordering, I asked a server nicely and she just plainly ignored me even though I am pretty sure she heard me.

The baristas however were a different story. The store manager (?) took our orders at the counter, and after that a barista actually made the coffee in front of us and explained everything, from weighing the coffee to letting us smell the beans before pouring 90 deg water into the filter in a circular motion (to let the water disperse the flavour. That barista also kindly gave me the syrup.

Here's the process of the coffee making! So fun to watch it. The guy clearly enjoys making the coffee too and is real scientific and passionate about it.

Overall a great joint if you want to try great coffee in a really nice atmosphere. However it'll be great if I could have tried some of their pastries (i saw sticky bun on their menu) with the coffee. Oh and, don't expect any service from the sullen female service staff - just go to the baristas. Really, just such a damper on the otherwise pleasant coffee trip. Hopefully you guys will have better luck than us!

Toby's Estate (Asia)
8 Rodyk St. #01-03/04, Singapore 238216
+65 66367629
7.30am-6.00pm daily.
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food review

French Food Find: Saveur at East Coast Rd, Singapore

October 25, 2011

In the spirit of hunting down the next french kopitiam stall after Le Cuisson, my foodie friend tipped me off to another one in the East called Saveur (meaning 'flavor' in french). It is on the corner of East Coast Road and Joo Chiat, and resides in the very bohemian stretch of eateries. The stall sits within a coffeeshop named Ali Baba Eating House - I am intrigued already.

It is a very small stall for that much pots, pans and 2 cooks. The chefs 'suffer' to lower the costs so we can enjoy bourgeoisie food at proletarian prices. As you can see, all the print media has already gotten to this stall with their reviews so I am not the first. Sad. But I am performing consistency review :P

We were however told to wait AN HOUR before we can get our food. Judging by the Friday night crowd they did seem pretty overwhelmed. At least the waitress informed me beforehand to check if we still want to order, which was nice. Since we already travelled all the way there, we accepted the 1hr waiting time and ordered an angel hair pasta starter and duck confit main.

However we had to order some appetisers to start! We got some rojak (with green and red apples inside no less) and also 3 of the famous "tau kwa pau" which is actually stuffed fried beancurd. It was savoury and filled with bits of egg, shallots? cucumber and other things. The beancurd was really fresh and tasty though. A beancurd per person makes for a very good meal starter indeed.

After 1 hour and 10 mins, we finally heard that our pasta/duck confit is almost ready! By then the rojak/beancurd had been nicely half digested so we are ready. The angel hair pasta with caviar and tiger prawns (seafood special) were served first in a smallish bowl. Can't remember the price but it should be inexpensive at around 4-6 bucks. It was a starter so not too big!

The pasta itself is really nice and al dente. Makes for a surprisingly good starter because it whets your appetite without being too overpowering with the smooth olive oil dressing. I do feel that the tiger prawns could have been more generous and the caviar actually tasted quite fishy, though the smattering of it probably gave the dish its seafood flavour. A pleasant dish.

Next up, duck confit! One of the things that non-French people think about immediately when you say french food is this dish. If I am not wrong, the word confit actually comes from the french word confiture, which actually means jam. The traditional way of making duck confit actually involved soaking the leg of duck in its own fat until it becomes really soft so maybe that's the part that's similar to jam making?

The duck confit was really satisfying because it did melt off the bone. The duck was not dry, and sits on top a bed of watery mashed potatoes which complements the meat really nicely. Add some sauteed mushrooms and a few slices of orange and you have yourself a duck confit. Le confit de canard est très bon!

It also only costs $8.90. The skin was crispy and well flavored.

Saveur

125 East Coast Road (just before turning into Joo Chiat Rd), Stall #3, Ali Baba Eating House, Singapore

Tel: +65 6100 1688
Mon–Sat: 11am – 9.30pm, Sun: 6pm – 9.30pm
Website

brunch

Cafe Hangout: Kith Cafe at Robertson Quay, Singapore

October 24, 2011

Next up on the to-do list: apparently set up by some old girls from my alma mater, st nicholas girls school, Kith Cafe is located at the very trendy Robertson Quay area which is nicely rejuvenating with boutique hotels, expensive condominiums and interesting pubs.It was not really easy to get to - the only parking was at Gallery Hotel, and I suspect a fair bit of walking is involved when one wants to take public transport.

We finally found it 2 Sundays ago though. Did not have a picture of the interior because it can be seen on their website -- and it was a really small space. Really warm and stuffy too because there is no aircon! Only a group of french people were mad enough to sit inside.

Sat outside after ordering - we were lucky enough to snap up the last table and the order came really really swiftly after. Probably took them 10 minutes in total.

Here's my big breakfast set, with an iced latte! As you can see on the receipt this cost me 19 bucks. Really pricey for such simple items - my sis said she'll make me the same thing if I give her 10 bucks for it.

It was 14 bucks and overpriced if you look at the items, but I am really not that disgruntled simply because the food was really good. Simple, but well done. The bread was a slab of thick fluffy white bread - crunchy on the outside but soft inside. Really satisfying with Lurpak butter and the strawberry jam!

The tomatoes were the only disappointment. The sausage was really fragrant and juicy, the bacon was not too salty and the scrambled eggs were really soft and done just right. Kinda like the perfect scrambled eggs, really.

This is my friend's poached eggs with toast. Simple but good. Poached eggs could have come with some hollandaise sauce though, it was rather plain eaten this way.

Overall a great little cafe for some wholesome and healthy food. Would recommend it simply because they got the service fast, the food was healthy yet delicious and the location was charming. If you are a coffee connoiseur you can also go to next block and get your premium handmade coffee from Toby's Estate.

Kith Café

7 Rodyk Street, #01-33 Watermark @ Robertson Quay, Singapore
Tel: +65 6341 9407
Daily: 7am – 7pm
Website

music

iPhone 4 ringtone download Oct 2011

October 19, 2011

cafe

Cafe Hangout: Habitat Coffee at Upper Thomson Rd, Singapore

October 16, 2011

food review

French Food Find: Le Cuisson at 269 Queen Street, Singapore

October 09, 2011

Was tipped off to a new French stall in town by @billysjuliet on twitter called Le Cuisson. When I saw her tweet: "joint selling french food but foie gras salad, steak & wild mushroom pasta w/ truffle oil. Bill total $28. WIN!" I had to ask where. Turns out it was a kopitiam STALL!

Would it rival The French Stall at little india (544 Serangoon Road)? Will Singaporeans finally get to taste french cuisine at prices that do not give you a heart attack?

Also read about them from "Lo and Behold". Go read that too cos it has more pics! Turns out the chefs were from 3-michelin starred db Bistro Moderne. Wow. The stall only officially opened since 23 September 2011, which means this could possibly be the first time you heard about it (from my blog of course :P)

I also mentioned it in french class just on Thursday. My french teacher automatically corrected me when I said "le cuisson" to "la cuisson", feminine! I guess the chefs were good at cooking; not so much at the french language, even though it seem to be quite a big mistake for the name of your business. But hey, maybe it is their way of differentiating, perhaps "le" sounded more french than "la".

So we gave it a try last night. My friend was really surprised that it was situated in a kopitiam. I guess when one says, "let's have french food for dinner" you kinda expect to go to a restaurant. That stretch of kopitiams behind the iluma and bugis street also looked rather happening.

It was close to 8pm by the time we arrived, and there was barely anyone at the place. Turns out, the stall is open from 11am to 8pm and we barely made it. There was however, no more steak & mash and pumpkin soup, the top 2 items that we wanted to try! The stall was also pretty no nonsense. You can see the 2 chefs busying themselves in the space. Halfway through our meal we also saw howard (from eye for a guy) and his friends going to the stall but alas it was closed for the day already (after 8pm!)

Instead of pumpkin soup, we chose the Barramundi Rilette salad instead. It is a bit like tuna salad, creamy with bits of fish. Quite a yummy appetizer, and rather special. Guess how much is it? $3.50. OMG what a steal.

Top view!

We then ordered 2 mains. First up, linguine with escargot $8. Among the 3 items we had, this was the least impressive. To be honest, the taste was quite 1-dimensional and too much olive oil was used, so it got rather "gelak" after a while. The escargots seemed to be an afterthought and did not infuse the pasta with their flavour. I asked for more pepper and chili flakes halfway through, but still, it did not save it fully. Perhaps it needs more spices, garlic and maybe even chili padi to give it a kick. The pasta itself was quite al dente though and because of the oil the whole thing was quite smooth to ingest.

Next, the Pan Seared Barramundi $9. Here's the top view. It was absolutely gorgeous.

It tastes as good as it looks. I was expecting the fish to be rather fishy since barramundi fish usually are but no. That was the biggest surprise. On the first bite, the skin was salted and crispy. The fish meat itself was juicy and soft and FRESH. It was really delicious! The cream sauce with beans and sauteed mushrooms also provide a good bed of contrast. We both really liked it.

Here's the kicker. For 2 mains and a starter, it cost us $20.50. That is probably the cost of ONE appetizer in a french restaurant! All the items there are bien marché (even cheaper than bon marché which means cheap). You can have a look at their menu on the website. Sure the atmosphere might not be the best and it is self-service, but they try to present the food on nice plates and the decoration effort is there. For all that we pay, I will be stalking their FB for new menu additions and specials! I will also definitely go back to try their steak and foie gras because it looks really yummy.

Well this is for sure a #dontsayinevershare blog post. Do let me know if you enjoyed it if you decide to go!

Le Cuisson
Blk 269 Queen Street, # 01-236, Singapore 180269
11am - 8pm, closed on Mondays
Facebook | lecuisson.sg