Guide To Food Along Downtown Line
*** Click on the pictures to bring you to the website, facebook page of the featured cafe/restaurant
King Albert Park/Beauty World Station
Rise & Grind Coffee Co.
Rise & Grind: A delightful way to start your mornings, especially if you are a Ngee Ann Poly student! 📍: Bukit Timah Plaza, 1 Jalan Anak Bukit#L1-CA1 🚊: King Albert Park Station/Beauty World Station 📷: Truffled Spaghetti alla Carbonara (priced $15, add $1 for lunch set that comes with an iced tea), Chilli Crab Linguine (priced $16), Hangover Cure (priced $18), Mentaiko Sweet Potato Fries (priced $10) 📝: The highlight of the meal was definitely the mentaiko sweet potato fries! The fries went really well with the slightly salty and savoury mentaiko, and were not too oily. They have a weekday setlunch special at $16 nett, which I thought was a really good deal because you can get one spaghetti of your choice (spaghetti aglio e olio/spaghetti alla carbonara) and an iced tea!
Sixth Avenue Station
Bonheur Patisserie (inside Pasarbella @ The Grandstand)
"It's the little things that make you smile." So true, especially if you like macarons that are both pretty and delectable😊 📍: PasarBella @ The Grandstand Bukit Timah, 200 Turf Club Road, #02-06/#02-K63 🚊: Sixth Avenue Station (shuttle bus services available - check The Grandstand website for details) 📷: Mix of character and regular macarons (pricing: 10 regular pieces for $25; additional $1 each for character macarons) 📝: Bonheur Patisserie has both character macarons and regular macarons, with cute characters that are familiar to most of us such as Totoro, Gudetama and Pokemon 😄 Besides the character macarons (which are pricier by $1), the regular macarons feature a variety of flavours that range from classics to fusion. My personal favourite was the lavender macaron, which came in a light purplish-white colour and had real lavender bits in it, along with the faint taste of lavender in every bite 😋
Tan Kah Kee Station
Crown Bakery & Cafe
Here is a place for you to feast like a king! 📍: 557 Bukit Timah Road #01-03 Crown Centre 🚊: Tan Kah Kee (downtown line 2) Station Exit A 📷: Crown Breakfast (priced $29), Hainanese Chicken Bread (priced $4.50) and Earl Pear Bread Pudding (priced $12) 📝: The Crown Breakfast is where the east meets the west, with local Hainanese, Japanese and French flavours all infused together. It consists of red wine-braised oxtail, chicken sausage, Canadian back bacon, sautéed mushroom, baked tomato, a side of mesclun with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette and not forgetting the sunny side up in the crown pastry. I personally love their Hainanese Chicken Bread, Earl Pear Bread Pudding and Shizuoka Matcha Brioche so do give them a try if your stomach still has space!
Botanic Gardens Station
Head to our "Guide To Food Along Circle MRT Line" under the section for Botanic Gardens Station:)
Rochor Station
Big Street
🎊 to our 100th post! This time again with more salted egg yolk goodness because we just can't say NO to salted egg yolk🍳 📍: 104/106 Jalan Besar (opp the yet-to-be opened Jalan Besar Station) 🚊: Rochor Station Exit B (5 to 10 minute walk) 📷: Salted Egg Prata Bomb (priced $6) 📝: Placed upon a stone plate, the salted egg lava oozed out once it was cut open 😍 the salted egg was really rich in taste and had the grainy texture. The prata was crispy and chewy; alas there was not enough prata to soak up all the salted egg goodness.
Bugis Station
Ah Bong's Italian
Serving affordable and comforting pasta in our local rooster design plates, Ah Bong's Italian is definitely your next place to go to have your pasta and other Italian food fix 😋 📍: 103 Beach Road #01-02 🚊: Bugis Station (Downtown Line) Exit D 📷: No Name Yet Pasta (priced $14) and Comfort Eggs (priced $8) 📝: No Name Yet Pasta contains orecchiette, local vegetable Phuay Leng, mushroom and chorizo while Comfort Eggs contains 2 onsen eggs, mushrooms, mangalica pork sausage, parmesan and truffle oil. The pasta was very tasty and had a local flavour due to the Phuay Leng used but the pasta was slightly on the saltier side. The comfort eggs were indeed comforting as the eggs were runny and they really went well with the pork sausage and truffle oil. Currently Ah Bong has a weekend promotion of a free soft drink with every starter and pasta ordered:) What's best is that there is no service charge and GST:) By the way Ah Bong's Italian always changes their menu so do check out their Instagram account to have a look at their menu for that day before heading down:)
For more eats at Bugis, you can also head to our "Guide To Food Along East West MRT Line" under the section for Bugis Station:)
Bayfront Station
Head to our "Guide To Food Along Circle MRT Line" under the section for Bayfront Station:)
Telok Ayer Station
1. Dapper Coffee
The next dark, hidden and mysterious cafe that will bring out the hipster you. 📍 : 73 Amoy Street, 2nd floor 🚊: Telok Ayer Station (2 min walk) and Downtown Station (1 min walk) 📷: Salted Egg Black Sesame cake 📝: The cake was soft and fluffy where u can really taste the sesame bits inside. We would love it more if the salted egg sauce was those dripping Liu Sha kind instead. Do try their photogenic and creative drinks like the gold brew where your coffee do sparkles and the blue unicorn where little blue things are moving in your drinks - sounds weird but interesting right? Dapper Coffee also has a lunch menu and I would recommend the nori pesto aglio olio where the half cooked egg was really done well and runny.
2. Park Bench Deli
American-style sandwiches, but to put it simply, Park Bench Deli does their sandwiches by two rules: doing it big and doing it right. 📍: 179 Telok Ayer Street 🚊: Telok Ayer Station Exit G 📷: PB & J (priced $8) 📝: The classic PB&J done with a slightly different twist! The cornflakes definitely added a crunch and new texture to the sandwich, but we felt that the sandwich was a little dry and it got jelak towards the end (perhaps due to too much chocolate/peanut butter and too little jelly?). What we really liked was the chicken katsu sandwich (not in picture/priced $15). The chicken was flavourful and tender, and the sauce, though a little overwhelming (part of the sandwich was dripping with all the sauce), went really well with the soft bread. While the sandwiches here are a little pricey, it is worth the price if you want to get some sandwiches that are different from the norm (and you can be rest assured of feeling full by having just one sandwich! Unless you have a really huge appetite...).
Fruit juices can now be more interesting with Noah's Creative Juices! Noah's is an Australian product, and I got mine from Park Bench Deli. 📍: 179 Telok Ayer Street 🚊: Telok Ayer Station Exit G 📷: 260ml Green Smoothie - Apple, Peach, Kiwi fruit, Mango and Lime (priced $5.50) 📝: While the price may be a little expensive, I felt that it was really worth it. Noah's flavours are unique, and the blend of the fruits together in a bottle is delicious. Their juices are 100% no concentrate, meaning they use whole fruits for their juices and the bottle I had was very flavourful, and had no weird aftertaste. Definitely a drink that tastes just as good as it looks!
3. Chong Wen Ge Cafe
A hidden gem within the Central Business District right next to the Thian Hock Keng Temple that is full of Peranakan culture from their authentic Peranakan food all the way to their cafe interior decor and flooring😄 📍: 168 Telok Ayer Street 🚊: Telok Ayer Station Exit A (directions on their fb page) 📷: Teh C Special (priced $6.80), Satay Bee Hoon (priced $10.80), Laksa (priced $10.80), Ang Ku Kueh (priced $1.50) and Chendol Kueh (priced $1.50) 📝: You might feel that the main dishes are on the pricier side but their portions were relatively generous :)) Both the laksa and satay bee hoon gravy were rich and thick! The Teh C Special was a little twist from the usual Teh C that we get at coffee shops as gula melaka was added in to make the tea taste more fragrant. The only thing was it was a little pricey for a Teh C. The homemade nyonya kueh were fresh and not overly sweet. Chong Wen Ge Cafe seems to bring you back to those good old days in a typical Pernankan house, definitely a homely and hearty meal for both the soul and stomach 😋
4. A Poke Theory
Let us share with you A Poke Theory to catch more Poke Balls...I mean Poke Bowls 😋😝 📍: 27 Boon Tat Street 🚊: Telok Ayer Station Exit A (2 min walk) 📷: Regular Spicy Mayo Salmon Poke Bowl (priced $12.50) and Raspberry Tropic Smoothie Bowl (priced $6) 📝: At A Poke Theory, you can customize your poke bowl with your choice of base, flavour and a variety of toppings. For my Poke Bowl, I chose the base to be their signature sushi rice that was infused with garlic, chilies and salmon cubes in creamy and mildly spicy marinade. The salmon cubes had a tangy flavour and provided a refreshing combination with the rest of the ingredients in the poke bowl. The raspberry tropic smoothie bowl contains banana, raspberry and soy milk, topped with pomegranate, mango, coconut chips and sunflower seeds. The smoothie bowl was great especially in the hot weather and I especially love the sweet and sour combination:) Will definitely be back again cuz the food here not only taste good but looks good as well - definitely makes healthy eating tastier and easier!
With Love,
R & H
