&Made by Bruno Menard, Scotts Road

Helmed the first and only 3 Michelin-starred chef, Bruno Menard, &Made stands as the next hip deli along Orchard Road. 

Purportedly a play in the word 'handmade', &Made prides itself for its gourmet burgers that are made from scratch, a concept that has gained its fair share of fame over the years in Singapore. The causual deli joint was rather empty when we came at around 11.30am on a Saturday morning and was bursting with people by the time it was noon.

Entrance of &Made

Decked in lego-mosaic like walls

The menu was not particularly extensive, but it was definitely interesting, with its Salads to drink, Toastoos and desserts, in addition to its famed burgers.

Menu

We asked for recommendations, only to hear from the waitor that every item is recommended as they are all Bruno's specialties, which was not particularly helpful to our decision making. We then headed for the 'B' Burger, a burger named after the chef hinself.

The 'B' Burger
$19

The 'B' burger is constructed with dry-aged beef, onion confit, caper/garlic sauce and comte cheese, neatly stacked between two mushroom-like buns.

The beef was hearty and went well with the delish onion confit and comte cheese that was not too overwhelming.

The sauce was served separately and it bore a strong semblence of barbeque sauce, which complimented the beef rather well. 

Caper/Garlic sauce

&Made Fries

The burger came with decent fries, although we wish they would use the salt sparingly. We heard someone from the other table asking for fries without salt - that could well be another option too.

Chili Crab Toastoo
$16

Having heard so much about the French's chef rendition of a Singaporean local favourite, I settled for the Chili Crab Toastoo without hestitation. The Toastoo is a buck wheat crepe that is shaped like a bread toast, an interesting dish which I have only seen at &Made. I loved the crispy edges of the toastoo and the thick slab of filling stuffed in the much loved triangular parcel.

I was surprised to find the filling yellow because I had imagine Chili crab to be red. The Chili crab was not exactly spicy, and was a lucious creamy blend of crab meat and prawns. The creamy mash tasted like mashed potato at times - definitely not the Chili crab that Singaporeans are accustomed to, but nonetheless interesting. I particularly like the buckwheat crepe, so I would be back to try the other Toastoos. There were a number of patrons who opted for the Toastoo Florentine, so perhaps that would be a good choice to go for.

Iced coffee with chocolate ice cream
$8

We ended the meal with iced mocha coffee with chocolate ice cream. The drink was not overly sweet, highlighting the richness of the chocolate ice cream. It is a pity that the chocolate masked all traces of the coffee though, it felt more like a chocolate drink than an iced coffee.

Outdoor seats are also available

Having opened its doors only recently, we could see that the joint is still feeling its way around its operations. We had to wait some time for our some of our orders (so did most people around us), and we spotted a couple receiving a wrong order, but we had no problems with that as the staff were all sincere and genuine. For that, we couldn't bring ourselves to fault them for anything. Chef Bruno Menard was also seen mingling around with guests and ensuring that everyone is enjoying their meals, when he is not in the open kitchen doing up the final touches to dishes. We liked the vibes of the place and we'd be back!


&Made
9 Scotts Road, #01-04/05/06 Pacific Plaza, Singapore
No reservations

Mad Nest, East Coast Road

Nested at a former Hong Kong style cafe along East Coast Road, Mad Nest was opened early May this year by a resturanteur who is also the owner of Mad Thai next door. The place stands as a casual bar, eatery and a retail art space, although the latter did not come across very strongly when we visited.

Arriving at Mad Nest in the late evening on a Thursday night, the newly-opened 160-seater restaurant along East Coast Road appeared rather quiety and empty.

Indoor and outdoor seats available

The art installation at the entrance of the cafe was interesting, albeit being confined only to a section of the entrance.

Resemblence of a Nest

Entrance of Mad Nest

The place provided a causal setting with mainly white furniture against the white walls.

There is a bar counter for the Japanese food, and another one for the drinks.

Art pieces

Matching coasters

Menu

The menu boasts an extensive offering of Japanese, Northern Indian and Italian fusion cuisine, together with a Brunch menu that is only available on weekends. It took us some time to plough through the menu before finally deciding to go with Northern Indian food.

Garlic Naan
$3

The Garlic Naan was passable, I found the naan a little too soggy and the fragrance of the garlic did not come across as strong as desired.

Half piece Tandoori Chicken
$10

The Tandoori chicken on the other hand, was a winner. The nicely marinated chicken was tender, succulent and moist and we loved the dish.

Fish Tikka Briyani
$10

The Fish Tikka Briyani was fragrant and complemented the heavily marinated Tandoori chicken with its relatively subtle and light flavours.

Kadai Fish
$13

This dish comprises of fish cubes cooked in garlic, ginger paste with onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, capsicum and spices. The fish was fresh and simiar to the fish in Fish Tikka Briyani, except that it is soaked in the rich conoction of spices. It was flavoursome and only slightly spicy.

A glimpse of other dishes on the menu:
Japanese selection: Volcano Maki ($16), Volcano Ramen ($12), Katsu Curry Rice ($12)
Northen Indian selection: Fish Masala ($13), Butter Chicken ($13)
Italian selection: Chilli Crab pasta ($24), Hae Mee Bique ($26), Aglio Olio ($16)
Brunch Menu: Smoked Salmon & Spinach Eggs Benedict ($16), Streaky Bacon, Chicken Sausage & Eggs on Toast ($18), Jamon Iberico Croque Monsieur ($16).

The service was excellent and attentive to our needs. This place is ideal for a quiet weekday dinner and I believe we will be back to try out the other items on the menu!

Mad Nest

378-380 East Coast Road

Late Plate, Kent Ridge Drive

Located in a quiet corner of National University of Singapore, I could imagine this place being a hit among the students. Thankfully, we came during the summer holiday period and there was hardly a crowd on the tranquil Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to see mostly families dining as I had imagined the place to be filled with students from the hostel.

The cafe isn't particularly big and can probably seat 20 to 25 people comfortably.

Upon placing your order, they would hand you a number tag to be hung on the utensils pot. It's pretty cute.

Corned Beef Hash
Potato, Onions & Gruyere Cheese, baked eggs & Sour dough & Caper Gremolata
$16.90

I was contemplating between the Corned Beef Hash and the Beef stew pie and I must say that I wished I had gone for the latter. As a dish, it was rather interesting, I liked the composition of potatoes, onions and Gruyere cheese but it became rather salty after the initial phase. It didn't help that the beef was rather sparse. I would go for the Beef stew pie the next time where I would get the hearty chunks of beef!

The Caper Gremolata and Scorched Sourdough

The Caper Gremolata was a refreshing addition to the dish, but the scorched sourdough turned out, well, too scorched. It was dry and tough, and provided little relief to the saltiness of the dish.

Nice accent pieces that add to the visual appeal of the dish

Eggs Benedict
2 Poached eggs on Kalamata Rosemary Scones with Citron Hollandaise Sauce and a choice of smoked Ocean Trout or Shaved Lamb Prosciutto
$17.90

The Eggs Benedict was wonderful. Their rendition of the dish was unique and was a delight to the palate. I thought the citron hollandaise sauce was excellent and the rosemary scone was crisp and very satisfying. We loved the dish!

Other items on the menu include Monk Fillet ($15.90), 'Porky' on a roll ($16.90), 'Crickey' Beef Stew Pie ($15.90). We spotted a patron having a grilled chicken sandwich with salad and I thought the portions were rather decent and it looked pretty delish.

Americano and Iced Latte
$5/$6

Iced Latte
$6

The coffee was pretty decent. I liked that the milk was not too overpowering in the latte. 

Nice place for a weekend brunch!

Late Plate

11 Kent Ridge Drive, #01-03 Shaw Foundation Alumni House, NUS, Singapore

Tel: +65 8328 3127

Yet Con Hainanese Chicken Rice, Purvis Street

We sought refuge in the air conditioned place at Yet Con Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant in the sweltering noon heat. Stepping into the old and no frills restaurant reminded me of classic Hong Kong eateries and for a moment it felt like I was out of Singapore. The place was bustling with people during the lunch hour.

The Menu

'Homemade' Barley
$1.50

The  'Homemade' Barley was definitely not 'homemade' with its distinct artificial syrup flavoring that bore a strong resemblence to Yeo's barley drink. I was disappointed at the lack of barley pearls in the drink.

Half a Chicken
$13

 The chicken at Yet Con Restaurant is served as it is, without additional oil or sauce. I thought the chicken was succulent and tasty and loved the fact that it was not overly greasy.

Chicken Rice
$0.60

The chicken rice was very fragrant. We thought the chili sauce could be improved though, perhaps a little lime and some garlic could do the trick.

Fish Maw with Chinese Cabbage and Assorted Meat
$20

The Fish Maw dish was a little on the pricey side but it was well worth it. The dish was well seasoned and bore chunks of seafood, meat and vegetables. The sauce was really good and I particularly enjoyed the fish maw. 

Hainanese Pork Chop
$10

This has got to be the highlight of the day. The pork chop was excellent and everyone at the table loved it. The breaded pork was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, it went very well with the light tomato based sauce.

We were most intrigued by how our receipt was composed of almost nothing, save for two random numbers that had seemingly no correlation to the final amount on the bill.


Yet Con Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant
25 Purvis Street
Tel: +65 6337 6819

Summer Hokkaido Fair at Takashimaya

I am always drawn to Japanese food fairs and the likes, often scouring the potential grounds at Isetan supermarkets and Takashimaya. You could imagine that I was full of cheer when the Summer Hokkaido Fair arrived at Takashimaya again. 

Japanese Squid Rice

This is always something we would go for and is probably one of the few commonly loved food items that the boyfriend and I share.

The well marinated squid is stuffed with tasty glutinous rice that added an extra depth to the chewy texture of the squid. We love the fact that it is flavoursome and yet not overwhelmingly salty.

The summer Hokkaido fair is here until 22nd July!


Takashimaya Department Store
Food Hall, B2