The Plain

We have heard so much about this place and always wanted to check it out ourselves and here we are!

The layout of the cafe is simple, clean and proper. The menu is on the wall so you have to stand around to decide what you want to have unless you already gotten your "usuals".

Flat White

The coffee is pretty thick and tasted good. $4 for a cup of coffee is pretty reasonable to me.

Price: $4


Half Dean's Breakfast

You can actually order a smaller portion if you didn't wanted to have a heavy breakfast. Order the half set. I ordered mine as half set and was filled up just nice. Vegemite and melted cheese on sourdough and topped with an poached egg. Basically Vegemite is something like our Marmite. So if you like it likedI do, you will love this. If you hated Marmite, then order something else.

Price: $7


Darling's Eggs

It looks rather plain and normal but it's actually really tasty. Poached eggs with ham, cheese and tomatoes on toasted sourdough. Try it!

Price: $14

Address: 50 Craig Road #01-01

Food: 4/5 Burps
Service: 4/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Jian Po Shui Kueh (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

 

I was curious as there was quite a short queue in front of this stall. I didn't know what it was selling. Thus I decided to check it out. To  my surprise it was Chwee Kueh. Basically I am not a fan of Chwee Kueh as they are too oily and some are really stingy with the Chai Po. And I simply can't put that plain kueh in my mouth when there is not enough chai po.

I have to say that this is the best that I have eaten so far, perhaps it's because I haven't been trying out too many chwee kueh in my life.

What I like most about this Chwee Kueh is actually the Kueh itself! It is salty even if you don't eat it together with the chai po! It is the first chwee kueh that I eat without the chai po! But of course it wouldn't be perfect if not for the chai po and the chilli. They just go well heavenly together! The chai po is not too oily too.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 4.5/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

178 Lor Mee (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

I have tasted the lor mee here a couple of times and it still remain as one of the top in my list for the lor mee around!

The main reason why I like this lor mee so much is because it is not overly starchy. Many lor mees are too starchy and thick that I can hardly finish every bit of them.

So I ordered the one with the shark meat and it just taste good each time I eat it.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 4/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Teochew Fishball Noodles (Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre)

There wasn't much people queuing when I was there about 6+pm. In fact, non of the stalls have any long queues. But when I left about 7+pm, there was a short queue in front of the stall.

Basically this is definitely not the best teochew fishball kway teow that I have ever eaten. I would say that it is not too bad and given so many stalls that are already closed when I was there, this could be one of the more popular stall at that point of time.

I like this kind of thick kway teow for fishball kway teow as it feels more authentic. The fishballs are springy but lack the taste of real fish. I usually like to have ketchup and chilli added to my kway teow/ mee pok dry. But the kway teow here doesn't quite seem to absorb the taste of the ketchup and chilli together well.

Address: 30 Seng Poh Road Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Food: 3.5/5 Burps
Service: 3/5 Burps
Price: 4/5 Burps

Eat Play Love

This is definitely a place for kids and their parents to come on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The crowd comes in about 2-4pm. Guess most parents will bring their kids here after lunch. Spend a god 1-2 hours for some bonding art and craft session.

I brought my nephew here and he went all over the place to get all the materials he will need for his art piece.

So basically how it works is that you pay $5/hr for an unlimited amount of materials that you can find on the shelves like what you see below. There are more at the other side of the restaurant but the variety is more of less the same. So the kid will be given a starter kit for free which contain some paper, glue, glitter glue and bits and pieces of materials. The kid will then be given a tag to clip onto their clothes. Once you return the tag, it also means coming to the end of the unlimited supply of materials. We spent a good 2 hours there and brought home many pieces of art and craft done. I will highly encourage parents to bring your kids there for a fun filled afternoon especially if they love art and craft!

I wouldn't really recommend the food here that much. That is why I didn't even take a picture of the menu and all that we have ordered liked how I would usually. We ordered the chicken chop and the mac and cheese for my nephew. I have to say that it will be better if we have taken out lunch somewhere else before coming over. There is really nothing great about the food. The mac and cheese was so bland that my nephew only had 2 mouths of it.

The only thing that I enjoyed was the Tiramisu Hero in Milo flavour. I'm not a tiramisu person but I have to say this is good! Who doesn't love Milo!

Address: 28 Aliwal Street #01-07 

Food: 2/5 Burps
Service: 4/5 Burps
Price: 3/5 Burps

A for Arbite (Aliwal Street)

I've blogged about Arbite when we visited the first branch at Serangoon previously. And we decided to check out the branch at Aliwal Street after knowing about it and also because we were craving for some nice pasta.

I love this huge chalkboard on the wall which also indicates some of the special menu of the day that is not stated on the menu given.

I must say that I was totally attracted by the layout, colours and the space of this branch. It was really spacious and it feels as though you can hang around for the whole day. It wasn't as crowded as the on at Serangoon. Perhaps this branch is much bigger as compare to the one at Serangoon.


Fingerling Truffle Potato

It's simply potato tossed in truffle oil with white mushroom. The taste of the truffle is strong and we love it. But nothing really special about it. Would love it more if there are more potatoes given.

price: $10.90


Crab Cakes

This is basically potato cakes stuffed with crab meat and served with curried cauliflower puree. I can hardly taste any crab meat, it's mostly filled and covered with the taste of potatoes. It feels more like eating croquette than crab cakes. The curry puree is nice though.

Price: $8.90


Kimchi Aglio Olio

Linguini tossed with Kimchi chilli and garlic, served with pork belly and poached egg. The pork belly is well braised but a little tough. Poached egg is properly done, runny on the inside. This was on the special menu for the day therefore you probably can't find it in the usual menu.

Price: $21.90


Seafood Pasta

Another pasta off the usual menu. Linguini is cooked in light cream sauce, tossed with crab meat, prawns, mussels and squid, served with a piece of battered cod fish at the top.

Price: $26.90

We didn't have the same experience we had at the Serangoon branch. The pasta does not share the same kind of freshness as the one at Serangoon. I am not sure if the pasta are handmade but it doesn't taste like it is. A tad disappointment especially when the pasta is relatively costly.

Address: 28 Aliwal Street #01-01

Food: 3.5/5 Burps
Service: 4/5 Burps
Price: 2.5/5 Burps