The Orange Thimble, Eng Hoon Street

The Orange Thimble stands as one of the many cafes located around Thiong Bahru. Known for its coffee and some of their desserts, the cafe is simplistic with a no frills menu at affordable prices.  

 



Long Black

The English $11.50

The English ($11.50), comprises of 2 eggs (sunny side up), pork sausage,streaky bacon, sauteed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes and home-made baked beans served with 2 slices of toast. A very basic big breakfast dish, and we liked the decent portion.



The Orange Thimble Egg Mayo (Veg)
$8.50

 The Orange Thimble Egg Mayo (Veg), was Egg mayo mixed in a special spice blend, crunchy watercress and tomato served with wholemeal bread ($8.50). The sandwich was rather large in portion, and shaped in a adorable heart-shaped fashion. The egg mayo was well seasoned and I liked the concept of including wholemeal bread on the menu.



Miss Portobella (Veg)
$7.50

Miss Portobella (Veg), was Portobello mushroom baked in honey and balsamic vinegar sauce, topped with melted cheese and caramelized onions and garlic served with wholemeal roll ($7.50). The mushroom was well marinated and lusciously topped with melted cheese. Simple, but satisfying.

I wouldn't be back specially for the food. Despite the limited menu, the simple and affordable breakfast dishes that makes The Orange Thimble a good place to hang out for brunch.

The Orange Thimble

56 Eng Hoon Street

#01-68

Group Therapy Cafe, Duxton Hill

 

My second time at the cosy cafe, Group Therapy remains a comfortable place for a casual brunch. They changed some of the items on the menu, which was a pity because I wanted to have a go at the Beef stew, only to realise that it has been taken off the menu.

 

They have four all day Breakfast dishes, namely Organic granola & museli bowl with yoghurt and fruits ($11), Poached eggs on Thick toast with salmon  ($15), Sunny side up on thick toast with parma ham ($16), and Belgian style waffle with Maple syrup ($9).



Poached eggs
Thick toast with smoked salmon, gruyere, hollandaise
$15

The Poached eggs on thick toast was accompanied with smoked salmon, gruyere, and hollandaise sauce. The slab of thick toast was generously slabbed with a huge dollop of hollandaise sauce that completely covered the poached eggs, creating a mess of oozing egg yolks, soft egg whites, and sauce. The bread was well soaked with the goodness and I thought it was pretty awesome.



Chicken and Mushroom pie
$14

The Chicken and Mushroom pie was stuffed with chicken chunks and white button mushrooms in gravy sauce, and baked in shortcrut butter pastry. I did not get to try this but it was reportedly good.

 

Baked Chilli Crab Pie
$16

The Baked Chilli Crab Pie comprises of chunks of crab claw meat cooked in Chilli crab sauce, baked in a sweet shortcrust butter pastry. I loved the how the chilli crab complemented the buttery pastry and the dish remains my favorite on the list.

The menu is rather limited but decent enough for a casual brunch date.

Group Therapy Cafe

49 Duxton Hill

#02-01

Tel: 62222554

 

Kith Cafe, Park Mall

With its second outlet conveniently located at Park Mall, you don't have to grapple with the hassle of getting to its first outlet at Rodyk Street. It was fairly crowded on a Saturday morning when we arrived, so do make reservations if you do not want to wait.

 

Indoor seating



Outdoor seating



Iced Latte

No better way to start the meal with a glass of Iced Latte in a hot Saturday afternoon.



Grilled Chicken Salad
$14

The Grilled Chicken Salad comrpises of grilled chicken, wild rocket, green apple, chery tomato, pinenuts and topped with vinaigrette dressing. I had requested for the dressing to be served at the side. The chicken was left over chicken and was tough to chew. I thought the pinenuts were too sparse and the salad components were not assembled in the correct proportions to deliver a balanced flavor- there was too much wild rocket and too little of everything else.




Spaghetti, King Prawn, garlic, chilli, cherry tomato
$19

A daily special on the menu, the King Prawn Spaghetti was flavorsome with its al dente pasta and juicy king prawns. Not the best that we've had, but still satisfying.

I think I still like their breakfast dishes better. It's a fabulous place to chill if you are waiting for your movie to start and you have time to spare.

Kith Cafe
Park Mall
9 Penang Road, Singapore
#01-01E
Tel: +65 6338 8611

E.clat Gourmet Canteen, Mohamed Sultan Road

 

Located at a most obscure location along Mohamed Sultan Road (diagonally across M studio Hotel), E.clat Gourmet Canteen will be easily missed if you are not too familiar with the area.

 

A newly opened restaurant that caters mostly to working adults around the proximity, I was surprised to find the place empty when we arrived on a Saturday, and I was to find out why.



Interior of E.clat Gourmet Canteen

 The cafe was spacious and adorned with very functional and comfortable purple chairs with brown sturdy tables. Sadly to say, this is as good as how the restaurant can get.



Counter

We were greeted by the owner himself, only to find out that they have no ingredients for almost all the items on the menu, which was surprising even that it is the weekend after all. We tried to ask what was not available but he couldn't give us a definite answer and told us to proceed with our orders.

Unfortunately, he got our orders all wrong and by the time we turned away the dishes that we did not order, we were informed that the ones we ordered were not available. It baffles me because I was wondering why they could not tell us up front what was not available. I would think that it is the least the restaurant could do, given that they ran out of almost everything. Having that said, we had to cancel one of our orders and make amendments to the rest.




The Eggs Benedict
$10.90

 

The Eggs Benedict was served with with two poached eggs, honey baked ham, citrus hollandaise on foccacia and accompanied with fresh green. We were disappointed with the way the eggs turned out. They were only half cooked and the egg white was extremely watering and the eggs were dripping with water. Coupled with the watery hollandaise sauce, it felt like the dish was soaked in water before it was served to us. While the foccacia bread was decent, we would have preferred it with a muffin or crumpet base. The eggs were awkwardly presented on the large crude foccacia bread. To be honest, this has got to be the worst Eggs Benedict that we've ever had.



Smoked Salmon with Scrambled eggs

 The Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs was another letdown with its water-drenched bland eggs and stale smoked salmon that had a strong chemical smell.



W.O.W Chicken wings in Lime Spicy sauce
3 wings for $4.50
5 wings for $6.90

The W.O.W chicken wings come in a number of flavours, such as Teriyaki, Nonya dressing, Cajun, Lime Spicy sauce, Mint & Yoghurt etc. We opted for the Lime Spicy sauce (after being told that the Mint & Yoghurt ran out). This has got to be the best dish of the day, the golden crisp wings were well marinated with the mouth watering spicy lime sauce.

Our suspicion is that the chef might not be well versed in Western breakfast dishes. Perhaps we ordered the wrong dishes, but we'd never know because I don't think we will be back. We understand from the owner that he had gotten some bloggers to write about this place, but I think you need more than just mere publicity to sustain- you got to have the substance too.


E.clat Gourmet Canteen
63 Mohamed Sultan Road #03-14 Singapore 239002
Tel: +65 66047998

Paris Baguette Cafe, Wisma

The newly opened European style cafe, Paris Baguette, is no newcomer to many as it spans more than 3,000 outlets in Korea, China, and the United States. Its entry to the bakery scene was a welcoming move as bread lovers cheered with glee at the birth of another bakery located in town.  

 



Royal Mango Pudding
$4.50

We were greeted with adorable bottles of pudding upon entering the store. The bottles are prized at $4.50 per bottle and is also available in prepacked boxes of 6.



Sandwich counter

The sandwich counter was packed with various ready-to-go sandwiches such as the Ultra Club Sandiwch ($8.50), Double Ham & Egg Sandiwich ($8.00), Italian Ciabatta Sandwich ($7.00), and salads like Oriental Chicken Salad ($8.50) and Tuna Nicoise Salad ($8.50). 

 



Bread selection

As we were there at around 11am, most of the items were not out yet. The bread selection spans a range of bread selection like Milky Almond Cubic ($2.40), Choco half ring ($2.40), Flying UFO ($2.60), Pain Au Raisin ($2.90) and Springing Roll Cheese ($4.70).



Pastry selection

We couldn't resist the items on display and grabbed ourselves a salad and a sandwich.



Phat Thai Noodle Salad
$8.50

 The Phat Thai Noodle Salad is rice noodles with shrimps, grilled chicken and vegetables with chilli lime dressing. The chilli lime dressing was geared towards the sweet palette, but the salad was excellent. The dressing went well with the rice noodles and the prawns were wonderfully fresh with wild rocket leaves thrown in for enhanced flavour.



Drizzled with chilli lime dressing

Mini Croissant Family Sandwich
$7

The Mini croissant sandwich pack comprises of two ham and cheese croissants and an egg and bacon croissant. The croissant is more sweet than savory, and we thought it complimented the fillings well. The fact that they were bite-sized made them excellent for sharing.


The trio

Ham and cheese croissant

The ham and cheese croissant was simple and satisfying. The fillings were not overpowering and the vegetables were wonderfully fresh.


Egg and bacon croissant

The egg and bacon croissant had a good sweet and savory combination with varying textures and was a spot on.

The coffee was quite diluted so we would give it a miss. There are other items on the menu such as breakfast/brunch dishes like Scrambled egg brioche ($18), Ratatouille steak ($21) and Cheese Omelette with a Difference ($18). We also spotted a pretty selection of cakes at the counter. We loved what we had and we'd be back for more!


Paris Baguette Cafe
Wisma Atria, #02-02/03, Singapore

Real Food, The Central

Real Food is a healthy lifestyle cafe, located at the Basement of The Central Mall at Clarke Quay. A heaven for health enthusiasts and vegetarians, the cafe prides itself as being free from processed food, additives, unnatural preservatives and Trans-fat.  

Entrance of Real Food



Food counter

Stocked with healthy food products

Spacious interior



Health magazines available for browsing



Stuffed Veggie Salad

$12.80

Stuffed Veggie ($12.80) is a wheat/gluten free salad with organic capsicum stuffed with a homemade patty made from grated beetroot, carrots, mashed potatoes, onions, millet and fresh parsley. The salad comprises of fresh greens, lemon slices, tomatoes, baby radishes and avocado slices. The star of the dish is really the stuffed capsicum, with the excellent filling that was savory and offered pure delight. Portion was large for the salad and the greens were fresh.



Dumping Noodles Dry
$8.80

The Dumping Noodles Dry ($8.80) comprises of unique handmade dumplings, organic brown rice Udon with green leafy vegetables and cherry tomatoes. The handmade dumplings contained at least ten ingredients and the various textures and flavours of the vegetables made the dumpling an excellent one. The noodles were simple but splendid and went very well with the garlic chilli sauce. A healthy and wonderful dish that leaves you feeling satisfied at the end of the meal.



Blueberries and Banana French Toast
$7.80

The Blueberries and Banana French Toast ($7.80) is an artisan egg toast with bananas and blueberries topped with a drizzle of organic raw honey. You can choose to top it with homemade organic lemon curd at an additional cost (+$1.50). You could find bananas sandwiched between the two slabs of nicely buttered egg toast. Probably a healthier rendition of a French Toast, this dish would make a great breakfast option.



Freshly brewed Organic Coffee
$4.00

Freshly brewed Organic Coffee ($4.00), made with fair trade organic coffee beans.



Banana + Berries
$7.80

Banana + Berries ($7.80) was a blend of organic bananas, fresh berries, organic soymilk, agave and chia seeds. While we liked the fact that the smoothie contained soley the fresh ingredients with no additional addictives or sugar, we wished the portion was larger. We loved the additional crunch that the Chia Seeds offered to the drink. A lovely drink to finish off the meal.

I really enjoyed dining at Real Food, the dishes were interesting and in fact, it did not occur to me that the menu was meat free. I love the food concept and the healthy approach to their dishes, while maintaining the dishes at affordable prices. We'd be back!

Real Food
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
The Central #B1-52/53
Singapore 059817
T: +65 62244492

110 Killiney Road
Singapore 239549
T: +65 67379516 

Dean & Deluca, Orchard Central

A well known America-based gourmey groccery and artisan bakery, Dean & Deluca opened end June this year to much fanfare and hype. Given its fairly limited seating, we put off visiting the place until two months later, hoping that the initial hype and interest has more or less died.

Entrance of Dean & Deluca at Orchard Central



Bread counter at the entrance



Grocceries

Upon entering the premises, we were greeted by rows of interesting groccery products including Dean & Deluca house brand products like jam, olive oil and coffee.


Food counter



Bread counter

Some of their bread selection is sourced from some of the popular bakeries like Bread Project, Bakers & Co., Maison Kyser.

It was fairly crowded when we arrived and understandably so, as it was noon on a Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, we manage to secure a seat almost immediately and proceded with our orders over at the counter.

Popular items on the menu are the Berries and Flap Jacks, oat and honey buttermilk pancakes with fresh berries ($18), Eggs Iberico, two poached eggs with sauteed mushrooms, iberico ham and hollandaise sauce on tomato bread ($25), and The Belgian Stack, comprising of home made waffles with berries and creme ($21).

We were in the mood for some non-breakfast items and we opted for the items over at the food counter.


Do take note of your table number as you would need it when you place your order.





The Pan-seared Salmon
 $12

The Pan-seared Salmon ($12) was accompanied with a small mesclun salad. The fish was nicely seared to a crisp and moist fish that was good on it's own without additional sauce. I thought the dish was rather value for money and we spotted a number of patrons ordering this dish as well.

Haricot Vert Almondine
$8.50/kg

We opted for the Haricot Vert Almondine ($8.50/kg) as a side. What you see in the picture was about 300g, which was sufficient for two people. The french beans were delish and we enjoyed it.



Prawn, Avocado and Mango salad
$22.50/whole, $11.25/half portion

The Prawn, Avocado and Mango salad ($22.50/whole, $11.25/half portion) was quite a visual feast with its wonderful composition of colours. Comprising of fresh Crystal bay prawns with mesclun salad leaves, sweet mango, avocado, zucchini ribbons, vine ripened cherry tomatoes, citrus cilantro vinaigrette, it was a light and refreshing salad. We found the mangoes delectably sweet, the prawns were fresh and the portion was quite substantial. The dressing of the salad could be improved though, it didn't seem to go very well with the greens.

 

Grilled Ancho Chicken Breast
$8

Grilled Ancho Chicken Breast ($8) was fairly large in portion. The chicken did not come across as being particularly fresh and the sides of the chicken were rather tough, probably through the re-heating process. Not the best grilled chicken, but it's pretty value for money, if you ask me.



Mango Yoghurt Drink

 The Mango drink had a strong Yakault taste, but I thought it was rather refreshing as the sweetness of the mango was subtle and not too overwhelming.



Coffee

No better way to end off the meal with a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

Not the best ambience with its budget looking tables and chairs that resembled a food court setting, but probably a good place for casual Brunch. We'd go for the breakfast items the next time round.

Dean & Deluca
181 Orchard Road, #04-23/24 Orchard Central, Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 7708