Sun Ray Cafe @ Serangoon Gardens

I got to know about Sun Ray Cafe from Instagram! Haha, the wonders of social media. I posted a picture of a latte and the admin person of Sun Ray Cafe liked the pic and that’s how I decided to give this Cafe a visit to give their coffee a try!

Mocha – $5.00

Latte – $4.00

I must say that I was very impressed with their coffee! Good thing that this quaint lil cafe, which is pet-friendly too, was not busy on a lazy Sunday afternoon. The head barista came over to chat with us and it was interesting to learn about the different coffee and the art of coffee from her evident passion in making good coffee. She shared with us about the different types of coffee and the logic for the different terminology, like what goes into a latte, a cappuccino, a macchiato, etc etc. In the end we had a total of 4 cups of coffee at the cafe! The other two – cold drip coffee and americano were not featured above.

 American breakfast – $14.90

Fresh scones – $2.50 each (come with Butter)

I am quite glad they served pretty decent food too! They served all day brunch items and I ordered an American breakfast, which came with sausages, cheese croquette, scrambled eggs (or sunny side-up), rocket salad and fresh scones. I must say that the scrambled eggs were not done to my expectation as they were tasteless and not as “milky” as I like. The other condiments were average but the SCONES were DA BOMB! In fact, we loved the scones so much, we ordered extra serving and as you can see, they were HUGE! They were crumbly and slightly cakey, fragrant and went very well with Americano. Can’t wait to have it again! They serve dessert and other main dishes too.

I’m glad I made the trip down because it was really nice chatting with the staff and seeing cute dogs. I would definitely come back for the good coffee and nice ambience. Customer service was superb, the waiters were friendly, attentive, and very courteous. It’s really hard to find good local service staff nowadays! Do visit the cafe if you happen to be around the area! 🙂 UOB card holders get to enjoy 12% off.

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Sun Ray Cafe
79 Brighton Crescent (Off Serangoon Gardens way)
Singapore, Singapore 559218

Tel: 62838700

Sun Ray Cafe Website
Sun Ray Cafe FB page

Loola’s by Awfully Chocolate @ Esplanade

Happened to be around Esplanade area to standby for Chingay’s on a Saturday afternoon and chanced upon this cafe for some sweet treats. Warning: Please read this after your meal!

We were at a loss of what to choose cos all looked really awesome especially the cupcakes. So in the end we minimainiminimo and…

We chose Hazel Crumble that came with a scoop of Awfully Chocolate’s signature chocolate ice cream. I like the mixture of the slight saltiness of the hazel crumble on top of the dense and moist chocolate cake! Even though it seems like an overkill, but the mixture of the cake plus the chocolate ice cream was so good!

The only gripe I had was the price of this dessert. Even though it’s located at a tourist attraction, $12 (without GST & service charge) for this is quite overpriced to me.

Moreover, the latte was a huge disappointment. It was scalding hot and the latteart looked so halfhearted! We had to wait for a while for it to be drinkable and the coffee was not as kickass as we expected it to be. Even after we hinted to the waitress that the temperature of the coffee is not acceptable, the only solution she came back with was to add cold milk. I heard “Aiyo aiyo ai ai yo…” in my head at her lacklustre service. But luckily the dessert saved the day, really.

As much as I would love to recommend the dessert to my friends to try at Loola’s, I feel that the money can be better spent elsewhere for equally awesome dessert at a more affordable price. However it is a nice place to chill at Esplanade while waiting for a concert or gig to start. Maybe you can try the iced drinks instead! 😉

*****

Loola’s by Awfully Chocolate
8 Raffles Avenue #02-14
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
Operation Hours:
Sun to Thu: 1200 – 2200
Fri – Sat: 1200 – 0000

Flam’s @ Orchard Central

Even though we were a little skeptical about the standard of food here at Flam’s, I was tempted for a light meal and the thin crust pizza looked pretty harmless for my tummy. The menu was not local-friendly at all with the french names, but thank god for English description!

For starters, we had Salade Bressane, which is salad with roasted chicken and I love the sweet honey mustard dressing that goes very well with the tender chicken and greens. Good appetizer alright!

For our mains to share, we had The Charolaise – minced beef thin-crust pizza with loads of rocket salad and drizzled with whole grain mustard sauce. Really tasty and light! It’s really perfect for a light meal if you are trying to keep your calories in check or not wanna over-indulge.

Even though we had our dinner at 6+, the place was still quite empty and I hope more people will wanna give it a try cos the food here is really quite affordable and yummy!

 

Flam’s
Orchard Central
#02-30
Flam’s FB page
Flam’s website
Tel: 6884 4242

Tanuki Raw oysters @ Orchard Central

 

All hail the OYSTERS!

 

Tanuki Raw Oysters – $12/dozen (promo price)

I must say that it’s an exquisite type of cuisine really, it’s slimy, juicy and you taste the SEA, literally. Here’s how I think people should enjoy oysters – Squeeze a little lemon and squirt a little tobasco sauce… there, feel the oysters mingle with your tastebuds and smell the ocean within your soul… quite a nice feeling actually.

 

 

 

American Roll – $10

We gave American Roll a try too, with thin beef slices sandwiched between the rice and mayo. Not too bad though the beef can be a tad more generous! I would definitely try other sushi rolls when I’m there the next time.

Tanuki is opened by Standing Sushi Bar’s Howard Lo and I guess the raw food are the must-try items like the fresh sashimi, steak tartare and oysters! They also serve a fushion of western-meet-eastern kind of cuisine if you want something more interesting to try.

 

Oh btw, skip the drinks, not worth the tummy space. 😉

 

Tanuki Raw
Orchard Central
#02-03
Tanuki Raw FB page
Tanuki website
Tel: 6636 5949

Jai Thai @Purvis Street

Whenever I feel like having comfort food when I’m at Cityhall/Dhoby/Bugis area, Jai Thai restaurant will immediately be my top choice. For $6.80+ a set with main course plus drink plus a small dessert, I would say it’s one of the most affordable Thai food in town area.

Tom yam (clear soup) glass noodles

Don’t be deceived by the clear, innocent-looking clear soup. The spiciness kicked in after a few spoonfuls but the spice and zest is just right! I still wonder how the Thais make clear tom yum soup without the chili paste. Hmm, shall explore it one day.

Beef noodles

I love love love Jai Thai’s beef noodles. The beef broth is sweet, flavourful and not too salty – perfect with the glass noodles. And the beef is oh-so-tender that doesn’t give you a toothache which really leaves me wanting more and more!

Deep-fried sample platter (fried beancurd, fish cakes and spring rolls), $7

Due to the chilly weather, we decided to order this sinful plate of goodness to keep warm (excuses, I know). Everything here were fried to perfection, fresh and crisp. But nothing that will blow your mind lah.

The only thing I don’t really like is the non-thai servers in the restaurant. The way they talk and answer your questions just make me feel like they couldn’t be bothered to retain customers. However, for the price and just-right portions of the food, it’s definitely a place I’ll go again and again. Just hope that they will up their service level.

Jai Thai
27 Purvis Street
#01-01 An Chuan Building
Singapore 188604
http://www.jai-thai.com/

(It’s opposite National Library, walk towards the alley when you spot Maybank)