Miam Miam French Japanese Cafe

When it comes to French Toast, the most talked about one currently has got to be Miam Miam. With all the raving going on, I had to check it out for myself and French toast for dinner is always a good idea in Ms Skinnyfat's food world.

Miam Miam is a French-Japanese cafe and they serve the usual Fusion Japanese cafe stuff e.g. pasta, baked rice, soufflé, matcha latte and of course french toast. Knowing that they do not take reservations, we made it down early to the Bugis Junction outlet on a Friday evening and an empty restaurant welcomed us (but not for long).

Drinks first, the Iced Matcha Latte with Softee ($8.80) was actually pretty decent. Great green tea flavor with a milky flavor, though I still prefer the intensity of Nana's Green Tea.

Iced Earl Grey with Softtee ($6.80) was bleah. The tea was too weak and the softee lacked in the cream department. Take note that water is charged at 50 cents a cup.

Gave the other savory dishes a try as well. The Riz Noir ($15.80) is a Squid Ink Black Rice and Scrambled Omu Egg. The portion was surprisingly small though. A rather disappointing dish that lacked in smokiness. The rice while moist was also on the salty end. Eggs were nicely done though.

The Miam Miam Spaghetti ($15.80) was typically Japanese with a light savory sauce made from French butter, shoyu and some secret sauce. Well, looking at the ingredients (processed sausage, bacon, some vegetables and mushrooms and a soft boiled egg), it seemed like a randomly thrown together plate of home cooked noodles and indeed it tasted kinda like that as well. Not to say that it's not nice but i would expect better ingredients. 

If you are a fan of saucy food, then the Riz Au Curry ($15.50) would be for you. Sweetish rich Japanese curry with soft rice, minced meat (almost non-existent) pork sausages, broccoli cheese and egg. Everything kinda drowned in the curry. The flavor of the curry was alright but maybe just go easy on the sauce?

Now the redeeming grace of Miam Miam would be their desserts and there are pancakes, souffles and parfaits. Honestly, there's one thing that you definitely should order and that's the French Toast.

Disappointing mains aside, the French Toast ($9.80) was every bit as good as everyone promised. Soft fluffy brioche cubes that had the texture of clouds. They're paired with the thoroughly whipped heavy cream, it is close to clotted cream but lighter in taste (but sweeter) and texture. Absolutely delicious with the smoky maple syrup. I would have drenched the toast with it but there wasn't enough. Have this as a main course instead!

Matcha Souffle ($10.80) was undercooked and very wet inside. The texture is that of whipped raw egg whites that are pandan flavored. I could hardly taste any matcha. 

The Chocolate Molleaux Dessert ($9.80) fared better with the rich chocolate taste though i found it on the cakey end. The softee was too icy and lacked in vanilla. That said, i wouldn't mind having this again.

Conclusion, Miam Miam is better for its sweets. The mains will fill you up but you wouldn't be quite satisfied. Maybe the pasta is alright. I don't know. But as for me, i'll stick with the French Toast and Matcha Latte for now.

Miam Miam
Bugis Junction #02-14, 200 Victoria Street

Weekdays: 11.30am - 10pm

Weekends: 10.30am - 10pm 

There's another outlet at West Gate, Jurong East Singapore. 

One man coffee

I've been rather hardworking for the past couple of weeks in checking out the cafes. Well I must say that Instagram has been most helpful in keeping me updated with the prettiest cafés on the block and that kinda led me to One Man Coffee, a hole in the wall that shares their shop front with Crust gourmet Pizza Bar along Upper Thomson Road. 

Sip on the Melbournian Axil Coffee Roaster beans pulled by Sarah Jane (formerly from Immigrants) or E-gene (who pulled his way around MEL). Coffee is little acidic with medium finish. My latte wasn't quite full bodied or milky though. While it's not quite my style, it was sufficient in packing a punch to last me through my afternoon meeting. Coffee is priced between $3 to $6.50. 

OMC also stocks B.A.O's pastries. I simply love Christophe's croissants, well the French makes the best croissants! The Chocolate pain is also amazing. Get them to heat it up for that crispy flakiness. Better still, have them with honey ham and melted cheese ($6). Cakes are also available and I was seduced by a Salted Caramel Banana Cake.

For something a little more than sweets, OMC does all-day-breakfast with a lean but mean menu, all of which come out of a pizza oven! Talk about easy to make but delicious food here! 

Love the description of the Gashouse Egg aka Toad in hole aka Egg-in-the-bread-with-the-hole-in-the-middle ($10). It's more of a snack I feel. I really do have a monster appetite for breakfast food. The dish is really simple, they really do just make a hole in the fluffy brioche, crack an egg in, top with cheese and into the oven it goes. Almost a croque madame.

Really there's no need to be fancy for brekkie when the ingredients are good (hello ooooozy yolk). What's special is that bacon jam which is smoky, meaty and sweet. I could do with a thick layer of that in the toast anytime. Satisfying flavors, a little dry on the edges, not so satisfying portion but that helps save space for other food. 

The Broiche French Toast ($10) is another popular item and it looked freaking amazing with the homemade berry compote, candied walnuts and fresh cream. Of course the dust of sugary white completes the instagram worthy picture.

OMC is a great alternative to the super packed Habitat Coffee which I failed to visit TWICE! Well I guess I'll just have to explore the rest of the Thomson cafés until Habitat becomes less crowded. Anyhoo, great vibe at One Man Coffee but do go early or be prepared to wait as well due to the extremely small space. 

One Man Coffee

215R Upper Thomson Road Singapore 574349

Daily: 9am - 5pm (Closed Tue)

Table by Rang Mahal- Contemporary Indian Dining

Indian Fine Dining is a rarity in Singapore and one of the famous one is no other than Rang Mahal at the swanky Pan Pacific Hotel. Well, there's no need to break the bank though as Rang Mahal has opened a younger and more contemporary sister restaurant at Naumi Hotel. Table by Rang Mahal is a relaxed bistro-style dining concept from the award winning group.

The restaurant is conveniently located on street level, right next to the lobby of the hotel.

A contemporary open concept dining room concept is at play here at the boutique hotel nestled in the heart of the city.

V and i started with a clear asparagus soup (a little salty for our liking) and the Chilli Cheese Kulzza. The fresh fluffy bread packed with mild yellow cheddar, piquant chili and fresh coriander was extremely addictive and tasted way better than it looked. 

We then sampled the Executive Set Lunch which is available in both non-vegetarian and vegetarian options. The dishes were elegantly presented on a wooden tray and i liked that the portions weren't huge and there is a variety of items. Each set is served with a choice of naan and comes with some sides. From left to right): Dal Tadkewali- yellow lentils tempered with onion, tomato and cumin; Brown and red rice pilaf with cumin and Gobi Matter- cauliflower tossed with peas, ginger and coriander. The rice was the most boring of the lot.
Here is the Tandoori Mushroom and Tandoori Paneer Tikka (foreground). I loved the fresh button mushroom in herbed spice yogurt (very creamy) but the paneer (Indian cottage cheese) was rather plain imo. I would have preferred it cooked with creamy spinach (call me boring but wev).

The non veg version: Murg Angar and Tandoori prawn. Tender cubes of chicken in a yogurt and red chili marinade. The tiger prawn is a little on the dry side but kinda expected as it had undergone the tandoori treatment.

I must say that Table does really good breads. The naans were also irresistible and i keep mopping the lentils up with them. I wished there were other gravy though. A wholesome five grain flour is used to prepare the naan (quinoa, soya, ragi, sorghum and gram). 

Table also served Indian classics such as tasty Chicken Tikka with cubes of chicken marinated in robust yogurt and red chilli to the more unique Bengali Fish masala - fresh sea bass fillets tossed in mustard and spices. These are available during dinner. 

We ended the meal with some Table’s Pop, a sugar-free popsicle made with fresh raspberry and coconut infused with chia seeds. I never quite enjoyed the iciness of popsicles as it kinda compromises on the robustness of the flavors.

The Masala tea rounded up the meal nicely. Rich, thick and flavorful but there could always be more spice. 

As Table by Rang Mahal is the resident restaurant of Naumi Hotel, it does everything from breakfast to supper and drinks and includes international fare as well. The buffet breakfast is priced at $22/pax, while the executive set lunch is priced at only $15/pax. Do check them out if you're looking for a different Indian cuisine dining experience from the usual greasy hawker spots. 

Table by Rang Mahal

Naumi Hotel

41 Seah Street Singapore 188396 

Tel: +65 6403 6005

Daily: 7am- 12am

The Bravery

Watch out Tiong Bahru, Jalan Besar is the up and coming cafe area with its current mix of Chye Seng Huat Hardware, Windowsill by the Woods and also The Bravery Cafe. Brunch called for a trip to The Bravery at Horne Road and i was hopeful that it'd be as good as The Plain and Ronin as it's opened by the same folks.

Typical sign-less cafe but this time i even had a hard time finding the door! As for the decor, well it's one thing to be minimalist, another to be 'can't be bothered' and this seems to fall into the latter category. 

Unfinished wooden planks on DIY metal frames and concrete slabs make uncomfortable tables and chairs that are also potentially hazardous and the electrician obviously wasn't paid to do his job with the lights. Tables are wooden planks on top of simple metal frames and concrete slabs. The general environment felt make-shift and the noise level was deafening despite the 60% capacity when i visited. Not quite a place to hang around for long.

Coffee is made using the same Genovese blend from Brazil, which is robust but not acidic. The Lavender latte ($5.50) had a fragrant aroma and was lightly sweetened but there's a light bitter aftertaste that wasn't present in the flat white. Perhaps that came from the dried lavender.

Great Flat White ($4.50) with superb crema. Drinks like a dream.

The food menu is rather limited, as with the usual The Plain and Ronin style but the regular eggs on toast, pancakes and some savory mains and sandwiches were available.

The Brave Begedil ($17) was a Bravery recommendation. Poached eggs with Turkey Bacon (wert no real bacon?!!) and Avocado on Corned Beef Begedil Hash. If you don't know what Begedil is, it's a Malay potato patty with onions and coriander. I was looking forward to digging in and that was when i noticed my missing avocado. And it was only after i asked about it was i told that they ran out of avocado and the replaced it randomly with another slice of turkey bacon. Seriously?! So you weren't gonna tell me if i didn't ask? Never not cross a hungry woman. NEVER. Oh the same thing happened to the customer next table too.

It was a further slap in the face with the overdone poached eggs and papery whites. Nothing in this dish stood out and the bacon was terribly dry and sweet. I should have ordered the Beef Steak Ciabatta ($13.50) which had good reviews on the juicy rump steak silvers or that Ricotta Cheese Pancakes.

Spotty service was yet again displayed with our second order. We ordered the Crostini ($7.50) shortly after the Begedil and it was only served when we were way done with the first dish. I think i spent a good 10 mins playing with the leftovers and the crostini still didn't come.

Well at least it was a huge portion when it finally came. Well sauteed Aubergine (aka Eggplant aka Brinjal aka that mushy plant) cooked with Chickpeas, served on on Sourdough Toast with Mint Leaves and Crumbled Feta Cheese. This Vegetarian Greek breakfast is a departure from my regular brunch items but i found it rather refreshing with the sharp kick from the feta. 

Would i go back to The Bravery again? The answer is no. Especially not when there are so many cafes popping up in the hood. If you want a better brunch, head on to Ronin (read review here), which does the best brunch out of their 3 outlets. 

The Bravery 
66 Horne Road, Singapore 209703
+65 62254387
Daily: 8am to 8pm (Closed Tues)

Five Leaves, Brooklyn NYC

The New Yorker weekend begins in hipster enclave Williamsburg NYC with a quintessential hipster brunch. Or if you are the free spirited artist, that's how you begin every morning. Five Leaves is where i'd be headed to for a great start to the day. This small neighborhood spot draws the crowd from Manhattan and the wait could go up to 1.5h easily. Some interesting history with this one- it was opened with the backing of the late Heath Ledger in 2009 (he died before the cafe bar was opened).

We waited for a bit despite it being a weekday but was rewarded with the smell of strong brews and delicious breakfast food when we stepped into the cosy cafe bar. Expect refined Australian comfort food (very similar to NYC comfort food) made from fresh, organic, sustainable, locally sourced products. Of course it has to be, it's hipster.

The brews are made with Wandering Goat Coffee Co. beans from Eugene, Oregon, a small specialty coffee roaster. The huge and strong cuppa, which was served promptly, made my eyes light up at once.

Wanting the best of all worlds, I ordered the Big Breakkie ($13) which came with 2 eggs of my choice (organic, free range), hash browns, whole wheat toast and choice of 2 sides. I choice my favorite avocado and gave the thick cut bacon a go. This was perfection on a plate. Beautifully folded scrambled egg that looked like a yellow rose in full bloom, addictive home made hash browns that were the best i've tasted and bacon steak (not crisps)! As much as i wanted to finish it all, i could hardly get through half the American sized portion! 

S had the Ricotta Pancakes ($13) with honeycomb butter, banana, blueberries, strawberries served with 100% maple syrup. This dish is so absolutely decadent! Plump fluffy disks of batter complemented by that ZOMFG honeycomb butter. Nothing in Singers is comparable to this stack of heaven. We only managed 1.5 pancakes between the 2 of us!

There's quite a fair selection of healthier eats like fruit salad, house made granola toasted perfectly, muesli and oats. Breakfast is served till past noon. Those looking for something more substantial, word is that the Five Leaves Burger ($15) is so insanely wicked. Packed with grass-fed beef, house pickled beets, harissa mayo and sunny up egg, it is impossibly hard to tackle even with bear paws but that hasn't stop anyone from trying. 

Come nightfall, hit the bar with oysters served w/ rice wine mignonette ($15 for half doz) and all sorts of alcoholic concoction. Five Leaves open till 1am daily so your cravings will be satisfied anytime.

Would certainly be headed back to Five Leaves for more hipster breakfasts!

Five Leaves

18 Bedford Avenue (Lorimer Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NYC

Tel: 718 383 5345

Daily: 8am - 1am

D'Good Cafe

D'Good Cafe is a whimsical spot to swing your worries away, right smack in the heart of Holland Village. It sits in a funky shop house unit that has 2 entrances and the layout reminded me of that children story about a house in a boot with many children (uh huh i really don't have much of a childhood).

D'Good Cafe specializes in single-origin coffee beans, which are roasted in-house. The owner is some crazy coffee fanatic and you can get your Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Jamaican beans done the siphon, drip, pour-over or espresso way. You wouldn't be able to miss the Elektra espresso machine at the counter! If you're up for something more exotic, there's the famous Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) from the Wahana Estate in Sumatra for $38 a pop. You can also make your own blend here at D'Good Cafe too.

Here's what we had. The Prawn Aglio Olio ($16) was a little on the dry side, especially after it cooled a little (it became clumpy). I thought it could use a little more salt but it's certainly quite well flavored. The prawns were nicely done and crunchy.

I liked the Bacon Carbonara ($15) more than the previous pasta. It's creamy (more on the milky side) and certainly more satisfying (only if you like cream). Generous portions of bacon too. It would be perfect with some fried bacon bit and an egg.

The Eggs Benedict ($13.50) was a sad sad portion. I was terribly disappointed by it in fact. The brioche was nice but was too thinly sliced. As a result, it was soaked through by the eggs. Too much vinegar was used in poaching the eggs and that contributed to the papery texture of the whites and that acidic taste. Holladaise sauce was weak too. Certainly not something i'd recommend ordering. Add on $3 to the breakfast sets for a Latte that is well balanced with a nice crema. 

I must say we were all happy with our choice of caffeine. The Earl Grey Lavender Latte ($7) was aromatic without being overpowering. I'm fearful of lavender because it just smells and tastes a little like air freshener but this was just right. The Caramel Hot Chocolate ($7.50) will satisfy your sweet tooth because it's on the sweet side but i found the chocolate a tad artificial. The foam had somewhat of a brulee texture which was interesting. And if you like latte art, they do a lot of cute animal prints.

We concluded that the best part of the meal was the maple sea salt cheesecake ($9). You cannot miss this smokey sweet and creamy cheesecake. The cheese was rich but not too heavy and it went perfectly with the crunchy and compact graham crust. I suspect a lot of butter went into it but it's awesome. Repeat after me: Butter is awesome (especially salted ones).

The highly instagrammable swing area. Which K made us go on. 

D'Good Cafe also has a rooftop area for alfresco dining. This would be perfect at night or on an extremely cool day. Pretty isn't it?

I'd certainly be back for more cheesecake. Tried the Strawberry Cheesecake and it just didn't cut it after the mindblowingly good maple sea salt one. Enjoy this one!

D'Good Cafe
273 Holland Avenue #02-01/02, Singapore 278992
Tel: +65 6219 9807
Mon - Thu, Sun: 10am - 10pm
Fri - Sat: 10am- 11pm

The Lawn- Meat Your Greens

There is no trick to staying skinny, it's a lot of exercise and watching your diet. Well with my hectic food blogging schedule and essentially my love for food, i make it a point to eat healthy on weekdays and i turn to salads for lunch! I love them because they are healthy and fresh and I also love preparing them myself. But if you don't have time to make your own, then check out The Lawn, the only Specialty Grill & Salad Café in Singapore

The grills are what make The Lawn different from the other salad spots. If you are a salad virgin, The Lawn helps with that veggie anxiety with their selection of savory and delicious grilled meats and seafood. Eating green doesn't mean that you gotta sacrifice on taste! So go Meat your Greens!

1. Choose Your Base
Salad ($9.90 with 5 toppings and dressings) or Olive Rice ($8.90 with Side Salad and dressings).

2. Choose your Grills (additional costs $3 to $5).
There's Chicken (teriyaki is good, the rest were on the dry side), Pacific Dory (butter seared with parsley rocks), Char-grilled Garlic Prawns (MUST ORDER), Beef (quite tasty too but has some tendons), Duck (please remove the skin) and Balsamico Fresh Asparagus & Eggplant and Mushrooms (salty but shiok) for the vegetarian.

3. Choose Your Dressings
Now this is a tough one. There are 12 sauces to pick from. And since i tried all, here's what i liked:
Red Island- A lovely sundried tomato puree, garlic and basil paste. It would be great on tartines!
Maple Peanut- I would liken this to a light satay sauce with the a red wine vinaigrette base. Really lovely.
Manly Mango- A tangy sweet sauce that complements duck and prawns.
Wasahonie- It has more honey than wasabi so it wouldn't kill you. Great with prawns too.

Perky Sesame Ginger- Think Chinese Ginger sauce that is perfect with chicken.
Honeyball- Honey and dijon mustard, you can't go wrong with this.

Me So Spicy- For that fiery kick, this spicy chilli and sambal belachan combination will shock you into being. This is good on a bit of your grills, not all of it though.

4. Choose Your Toppings (for salads only)
There're currently 28 to choose from which can be a headache if you like everything (like me). Now check out my creations! 

Grilled Garlic Prawn Salad. With Tofu, Granola, Cheddar, Chestnut and Cous Cous. I loved the spicy garlic prawns a la aglio olio style. If you pick granola, make sure you choose a saucy sauce so that the granola wouldn't be too dry. The chestnuts are absolutely yummeh.

Grilled Black Pepper Duck Breast Salad. With Pasta (Fusilli), Corn, Alfafa Sprouts, Parmesan and Cashew Nuts.

Love the umami of the parmesan. The pairing the duck with mango sauce is simply heavenly but the duck could be more pink. Make sure you remove the skin!

Ben's Beef Rub with Olive Rice. I love the preserved olive vegetables with rice! It may not be the healthiest considering that it's preserved in oil and there's plenty of carbs but this would be great for friends who are just not that into vegetables. Would love a brown rice option though! The beef cubes were a little tough too. 

The Lawn previously operated out of the Biopolis outlet but they have added another store at AXA Tower in Shenton Way. If you are in a rush for time and are too lazy to create your own salad, there are a couple of planned salads for $12.90-$13.90. My advice? Grab a few of their order forms and keep them in office and you can plan your salad before lunch. :)

The Lawn
@ 31 Biopolis Way #01-07, Nanos, Singapore 138669
Tel: +65 6478 9739
Weekdays: 11.15am - 9pm
Sun: 10am - 4pm

@ 8 Shenton Way #B1-11, AXA Tower, Singapore 068811
Tel: +65 6534 8749
Weekdays: 10.30am - 9pm