Symmetry, Singapore

If you're looking for a place for a first date where you can slurp squid ink pasta and not let your date see your gorgeous black stained teeth, Symmetry is the place to go. Nestled right at the edge of Kampong Glam area - stone throw away from Arab Street and Bugis, it's a place which sets off this vibe which I can't quite put my finger on. Indie? Hippy? Rusic, yet charming. 

Window decorations

What I love about this place is that it serves up 3 different menus - brunch, lunch and dinner. I love that the menu is so inspiring, not any plain Jane. Cafe by day, bar and restaurant by night. We popped by on a Thursday evening for dinner and I must say I was surprised by how packed the place got by the end of the night. 

 Tomatoes ($21)

The most amazing tomato salad I've ever had to date. I don't even like tomatoes to start with. It's the kind of dish you wished you didn't have to share (; Heirloom tomatoes, burrata cheese, basil, olive soil, honey & lemon emulsion...this makes tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese so yesterday.

Sometimes you wish that the chef didn't mess with the classics. At first thought - olive soil. Is that necessary? But it adds to the texture - crumbly and somewhat buttery. I would have this salad everyday.  Seriously, everyday.

Squid ($16)

Deep fried whole baby squid served with a squid ink black pepper aioli. Can't fault this, I'd imagine it'll go down a treat with ice cold beer!

Scallops ($32)

Perfectly seared scallops with squid, chorizo, mashed potato, piquillo pepper, kelp, almond and garlic. I had a dish somewhat similar once at Daniel Boulud's DB Bistro Moderne and this gives him a run for his money. 

Risotto ($34)

In the menu, this dish is supposedly a duck leg and foie gras risotto. Little confession - we had connections (pays to know the chef) so he very kindly changed it to a foie gras and mushroom risotto for us. We would gladly have ordered the original had it not been for the food coma we all had earlier on in the day - oops! This was mind blowing. So many places don't get their risottos right. This was perfectly al dente and oozy - not a pile of gunk and starch on a plate. The foie gras seemed to be deep fried - crispy on the outside and buttery on the inside, reminded me of deep fried luncheon meat (does that turn you off?) The sautéed mushrooms added an earthiness making this so decadent you feel somewhat sinful after having it! 

Beef short ribs ($37)

58 hour braised ribs served with creamy mashed potato, water cress and a brown butter emulsion. If you've not had beef short ribs before, you're missing out on something big. BIG. When cooked right, it becomes a cut which is so delectable and flavourful, it soaks up everything it's braised in and breaks down to be this sticky and meaty piece of goodness.

Opening hours

I wouldn't say it's cheap, but for a somewhat more composed and decently executed menu, Symmetry gets my vote. Then again, we had the tip of exactly what to order, and what not to (;

Symmetry

9 Jalan Kubor, #01-01

+65 62919901

Toby's Estate, Singapore

Brunch at Robertson Quay has got to be one of my favourite ways to spend the weekends. I live a stone throw away (5 mins walk) from Robertson Quay but it's odd that I don't find myself down there often enough. There's definitely something there for everyone, considering the amount of cafes and restaurants but the number of brunch places is incredible. A stroll along the quay side and you'll find many of Singapore's favourite brunch places - Smitten Coffee & Tea Bar, Kith Cafe, Epicurious, Hummerstons, SQ11 Deli & Cafe, Boomarang Bistro & Bar and of course, Toby's Estate. 

The unrelenting heat last Saturday wasn't in our favour to dine at Kith. Unfortunately Kith wasn't air conditioned and if we sat outside our poached eggs would have been hard boiled by the time we dug in. And because we were starving we hopped off to the nearest cafe which was Toby's Estate. 

Overlooking the quay

Perfect hideout place on a weekend! 

Ordering counter

I have always imagined that if I one day owned my own cafe, I would have a communal dining table. Bill Granger's Bills in Sydney is the same - it becomes the centre of the space and adds this warmth and cosy feeling. Well...that's the dream (: 

Cafe latte ($5), Iced latte ($6)

Coffee. Just the sound of the word gives me a buzz. That one cup can make or break your day and sometimes your whole day revolves around it. Toby's definitely didn't let me down. It was smooth and full-bodied and had that rich lingering finish which I loved. 

 Eggs royale ($16)

Two poached barn laid eggs, smoked salmon, brioche and a bacon hollandaise sauce. Now, the thing with ordering poached eggs is that many chefs poach their eggs in vinegar water because it's sort of easier but it annoys my because this changes the flavour and texture of the eggs. While this did not have that horrible vinegary taste to it, the texture was slightly off but the eggs were perfectly oozy and just right. 

Also, if you decide to call your hollandaise a BACON hollandaise sauce, it should have the lovely smokey flavour of bacon, or at least have bits of chopped bacon mixed through. This had neither. Didn't taste like it was bacon infused at all but it would have passed off well as plain good ol' hollandaise sauce. 

Black pepper - yes, please! 

Ooze baby, ooze!

Moroccan baked eggs ($18)

Spiced chili con carne (beef) with kidney beans, chorizo sausage, mushrooms, espresso maple bacon and sourdough. Absolutely stuffed from my plate I didn't try this so I have got no comments on this. This has got to be the first baked eggs I've seen that isn't all tomatoey so that's refreshing. Don't let this fool you because if you dig deep there is plenty (almost too much) of chilli underneath it. 

 Good cuppa, good food and good reads 

Serving more than just your run-of-the-mill breakfast offerings, they do sandwiches as well as pastas. I wouldn't quite call their food great, but I do think that their coffee has got to be the best around the area so that's good enough for me. 

If I do return, I'd also definitely pick an outdoor seat - they have truffle mushrooms (truffle oil, not the real stuff) on the menu so at times the smell of the truffle oil can be quite intoxicating inside. You know that smell of truffle fries? Urgh. 

Toby's Estate

8 Rodyk Street, #01-03/04

+65 66367629

Artichoke Cafe & Bar, Singapore

Weekends are never breakfast days. Saturdays are for late lunches, Sundays are for brunches - that way you still get up at an acceptable hour and make the most of the day before Monday kicks in again.

I'm not sure about you guys, but we recycle brunch ideas all the time. Eggs. Dim sum. Snacks at the mall. Eggs. Dim sum. Snacks at the mall. You get the drift. So when Middle Eastern brunch idea popped up, we were quick to jump at it.

Not knowing how popular Artichoke is, we were lucky to get a table one Sunday morning. Perhaps it did help that we were there before they were opened, but if you decide to go, make sure you make reservations!

 Iced latte & flat white 

Coffee was okay - acceptable but not as smooth as I hoped it would be. Slightly too acidic but it had the kick I needed on a Sunday morning. Then again, I had the iced latte and it wouldn't be fair for me to judge their coffee based on that.

Soft scrambled eggs, organic mushrooms and grilled haloumi 

I would gladly roll out of bed for this. The eggs were perfectly silky and creamy, the cracked wheat tabbouleh gave it that zing it needed and the spices on the za'atar bread was lovely. Best thing about it is that it looked so healthy, until you think about the amount of cream or butter that must have gone into the eggs. 

Soft scrambled eggs and thick cut maple bacon chop

Thick. Cut. Maple. Bacon. The pièce de résistance. I think I would have like it to be more caramelised and charred because it was so thick and felt as if it wasn't really rendered but then again, this isn't really crispy bacon, is it? On my second visit it was sweeter than the first time I had this, and as odd as it sounds, the sweetness from the maple syrup actually helped cut through all that fat. Sticky sweet goodness of maple on bacon. Mmmmm...

As much as I hate using these words, this would be what I call a hidden little gem in the bustling streets of Bugis. There are plans hatching to try and conquer their Donut Zinger - peanut butter donut, marshmallow fluff, fried chicken strips, siracha coleslaw and chips. Heart attack on a plate...but that should be interesting.

Artichoke Cafe & Bar
161 Middle Road, Sculpture Square
+65 63366949

Saint Pierre, Singapore

Saint Pierre has recently closed its doors at Central Mall but like they say, when one door shuts, another opens.

Chef Emmanuel Stroobant, along with his very capable team has reopened last Wednesday at the Quayside Isle in Sentosa and I had the privilege of visiting them during the weekend. If you've never been to QI in Sentosa, picture this. A dazzling amount of yachts, stretched over the waters with gorgeous (multi million dollar) houses and condos in the background. Just for awhile, you could escape to what feels like Australia. 

A dining experience at the new Saint Pierre gets you all this and dare I say it's prettier during the day than the night! 

So we were there for Saturday brunch...surprisingly the place was quite empty, perhaps only because it's been opened for 4 days. 

 Homemade Assorted Breads ($15)

Absolutely famished, we ordered a "bread basket" which literally came in a basket. We were given a croissant, a pains au chocolat (chocolate croissant) and some bread. Served with homemade jam and farmed butter. This was nothing to shout about. Croissants were buttery and good, just not great. Unfortunately the butter wasn't salted...a sprinkling or a little pile of salt would have been greatly appreciated.

 Eggs Benedict ($24)

The simplest things are the hardest to get right, right? (; And so I ordered the Eggs Benny, which was probably the most expensive item on their brunch menu, if you don't count the cheese platter. 2 slices of perfectly toasted brioche, 2 perfectly poached eggs, shavings of melt in your mouth not overly salty iberico bellota ham, and....champagne hollandaise.

Now, the hollandaise. I couldn't quite decide if I liked the hollandaise sauce. It was velvety, rich, buttery and thick - with the texture of stiff whipped cream. Perhaps a little too thick? Yet as I sit here tonight typing this post, perhaps it was best described as thick yet airy, and the acidity from the champagne cut through it just nice. Love hate relationship, really.

 Beef Parmentier ($18)

If you're thinking about the generous shavings of truffles in this dish for the $18 you pay, I need to stop you there. We had a little hiccup with this dish. My dining companion found a strand of hair in it (thick and curly, just incase you wanted to know), and they so very kindly replaced the dish and took the liberty of taking it off our bill. What was supposed to be a brunoise of truffles came back as large shavings of truffles. It was a lovely gesture and the waiter was very apologetic! The second time, we found a little piece of plastic in it but we decided to let it go and didn't want to be painful customers!

Waffles ($18)

I would return to eat this. Any day! Crispy sides, fluffy in the middle, topped with apple compote and foie gras mousse. Apple and foie gras? Classic. Put it on a perfectly cooked waffle? Heaven. My only gripe is that the table next to us had micro herbs on hers and ours didn't. Perhaps she was a popular blogger and we weren't. But still. We eat with our eyes first! 

Goats Cheese ($16)

When the waiter heard that we were going to share this, he very thoughtfully arranged for it to be plated individually. This is half a serving. Crisp, buttery arlette, topped with goats cheese, drizzled with chestnut tree honey and a sprinkling of pine nuts. I could eat this and die happily...everyday. I mean, think about it. Sweet and sour, sweet and spicy, sweet and nutty, sweet and creamy...why wouldn't this work? Buy a bottle of good quality varietal honey like lavender or infuse a plain one with herbs and drizzle it over cheese and suddenly the day becomes so much better. $16 though, for two portions of this seems ridiculous, would have been justified with the addition of a few slices of figs or pear. Just saying. 

A note worth mentioning is that you could opt for a set brunch menu for $38 which include a choice of fresh juices, some assorted bread, a main, and a coffee/tea of your choice. 

So will I return? Definitely. Word is that they serve an excellent semi-buffet Sunday roast for $68 per person. I had the privilege of meeting Chef Stroobant himself and the when he spoke about the menu you could tell he was oozing with passion and sincerity about his food. Nothing pretentious, just pure heartiness. 

It's also been a while since I came across such level of hospitality and service when dining out. There were 2 waiters that afternoon, Kelvin and another whom we didn't get the name of. They didn't rush us when ordering, but made sure that we weren't forgotten, quick on their toes, and very thoughtful throughout our entire brunch experience. 

Saint Pierre Singapore 

31 Ocean Way, #01-15 Quayside Isle

+65 64380887