Island Cafe at Tangs Orchard

Island Cafe at Tangs Orchard 

Tucked away on the fourth floor of Tangs Orchard, is a rather unknown and definitely underrated gem of a cafe - the Island Cafe.

At first thought, it might seem random that this cafe is named Island Cafe. But upon savouring the menu, one did quickly find out the meaning behind its name. Island Cafe's greatest draw is its wonderful selection of Singapore's multicultural tastes. Every key Singaporean dish, from Briyani and Chicken Rice, to Claypot Stew and Laksa, you name it, it's there.

The best part of the deal is that Island Cafe offers all of these at many notches higher than what you would get along the streets, topped with delightful teas and house wines.

Here, I have with me their Crayfish Laksa. It was served to me with a big paper napkin. The napkin caught me off-guard, and definitely increased my good impression of this place - very thoughtful.

The crayfish was just the right size for me. And I truly enjoyed the well-balanced Laksa gravy. The gravy feels rich enough with coconut milk, yet not overwhelming. I was surprised by the quality of the sambal chill provided because it felt of pure shrimps. This Laksa easily looked this good when I randomly snapped a photo!

I also ordered a Morrocan mint tea. It is teabag tea that they imported, but with their own mint leaves added.

I had to try the white wine because of an offer going on, and it did not disappoint as well. The white wine tasted surprisingly smooth, leaning just a tad fruity-sour (suiting my taste bud).

All these good food and wine while enjoying the quiet view of Orchard Road from here, was quite a surreal experience for me, in Singapore.

You could have balcony-deck meals if you asked for them to sit you outside.

The indoors decor is pretty, and a real welcome, once you step in from the shopping mall side of Tangs Plaza.

The only gripe I have with this place, after visiting it a second time, is that I really do not enjoy the weird music played in the shopping mall outside. It is way to loud, leaning on punk, and very unsuitable for this sanctuary.

Rating: 9/10.
This is probably the ONLY place in Singapore where you can find the Top 10 Local Favourites of All Time, in restaurant-standard cooking and restaurant-standard setting. It is well-worth the price and the dishes I have tried have not disappoint. I will go back to try the other dishes, and I'd love to bring my overseas friends here to try out the local food.

If the Tangs Management ever reads this, then my suggestion would be for them to somehow change the music from outside. It is not very feasible because they sell speakers and games, bags and shoes for youths, on the 4th floor. But still, they have to find a way as it is really affecting the atmosphere in this beautiful cafe!

Average cost per person: $30. Read more "Island Cafe at Tangs Orchard ..."

Robert Timms

I have been seeing this name on the shelves of supermarkets for some time now, since I started shopping for my own groceries.

I am not a coffee drinker, so when I do get the occasional cuppa cafe, I want to drink better ones. I have been frequenting Oriole Cafe & Bar that was recommended by ieatishootipost a long time ago, and even attempt to bring friends there if they ask me where I want to go (but they tend to turn the place down because it is more pricey, and has a lack of vegetarian dishes).

However, Oriole seems to have become a bit too popular and noisy for my liking. In addition, the very poor service is just still not making sense to me.

So the other day, I spotted this new cafe a tiny walk away from Oriole, and tadaa! It's my second time in there now, and I intend to go back to try other dishes.

Okay, so the first thing I ordered was my drink. It's Ginger Herbal Tea, at $7.

I was surprised at the way this is being served even though the menu "forewarned" that it comes in a pot. haha. My idea of a pot is well, literally an English teapot.

It makes me want to buy this!

I have been thinking of buying a pot like this for a few years now, but never really saw the point of it in my house, so I've been procrastinating since.

And I love transparent cups.

I realise I didn't photograph the tea in the cup. haha.

The taste of the tea was good, I will not say great because I feel that Chinese tea always have better tastes. Please don't tell me about comparing apples with oranges, because Ginger Herbal tea exists in Chinese tea culture. I can even make my own.

I think the ginger taste here is on the mild side, but nevertheless detectable, because English customers are not into taking really strong ginger flavour. I like the extremely strong and "hot" taste that Indian Teh Halia has.

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Next, it's my food, and I ordered Kangaroo meat.

Yes, it's Kangaroo meat. It's so exotic that I just had to order it.

What can I say? It's nice!

I love the presentation, I love the buttery taste of the biscuits, I love the small caramelised purple onions, I love the soft and tender, yet still springy kangaroo meat.

That's kangaroo meat for you.

It doesn't tastes like lamb, not like deer, not like beef, much less like pork. It's just special, has a different taste from all the other common meats I've eaten before.

So it's definitely worth your trip here should you require a cup of coffee, a different taste, and a place for celebration. Or maybe, like me, just a deserted place to chill. =)

Rating: 10/10
Yes, so far, the service has been great, and so are drinks and food. Read more "Robert Timms..."

DOME

Recently, I have grown a bit obsessed with the cakes from a cafe in Subang Parade called DOME. Found the best cheesecake ever there. =)

Here are just some of the food that I've tried:


Espreski RM18++

Honeycomb

Espreski is a range of drinks at DOME that is made of milk and ice cream, with shaved ice made of mineral water, and having cute chocolate things on top, such as Crunche Honeycomb, Nestle Chocolate frogs and such.

This, to my disappointment, isn't much to rave about. For its price, one can easily get ice cream-blended drinks of the same taste elsewhere. The part that I don't like about this range of drinks is the fact that whatever is placed on the dome of cream can be bought at supermarket at a much lower price.

Rating: 2.5/5
Overly-priced drink without a wow.

Chicken Foccacia with Avocado sauce RM22++

This is an extremely disappointing food, given that my hopes about the quality and taste of their main course grew so much over the week, after tasting their bakery products.

The bread is rather hard, although it tastes pretty good. I think it may be the type of bread (flat bread, foccacia, etc), rather than bad baking. I like the wedges, really crispy and tasty without being overly salted, in fact, I think they make their own wedges, because it feels rather bland.

However, the main part, the chicken, was so dry and hard, it tasted like cardboard, and I just couldn't finish it. I could find much wow in the avocado sauce spread on the bread as well.

Rating: 2.5/5
Kind of just liked the wedges. I would fail everything else, apart from the fact that this is a most healthy meal. Extremely healthy.

Meanwhile (while my handphone is down, and no pictures), I must say their Marble Cheesecake IS a clear winner in my pursuit of the best cheesecake. I swear it beats Hilton Hotel's, Bakerzin's, Ippudo's Japanese, McCafe, and light Cedele's one, ALL hands down. The way there is thought put into every corner of Dome's cheesecake is clear as crystal, and it not only made me want to take a second mouth, but want to try every single cake out of their bakery. The gap between Dome's bakery and others is so large that I'd gladly pay some RM13 for a slice. Superbly satisfying yet feels healthy. Strange. But no, don't trust my blinded judgment. Cake, by any measure can never be all that healthy, especially not if you eat one after a full meal everyday. Dome's is just too nice that I am blinded. haha. If you are a cheesecake fanatic like me, must try should you spot DOME in Malaysia.

And the other thing is the Heavenly Scones. Yes, they are heavenly. Extreme good since I first tasted scones at Nanyang Cafe. This must be the taste ieat talks about when he visited Europe. I am sure. This one, yes, I can say that it's a value for money, healthy and tasteful breakfast. Read more "DOME..."

French Toast & Lemon Tea @ OTWC

So it's another day of better internet connection at Old Town White Coffee across the street... ...

The decor here.

I like the view and feel of the 2nd floor. Reminds me of the kiddie days at standalone MacDonalds. Ah, that was when there was still enough land in Singapore to have standalone two storey buildings.

Love, love the feel. 古色古香.

Today, I decided to try yet another thing on the menu that I haven't eaten, and those are French Toast and Fresh Lemon Tea.

French Toast

Enticing.

Yuuuuummmm, wow, this must be the nicest French Toast I've had so far. It looks delicious, cuts down like Tofu, eats like crispy tofu, and is very well, not overly salted. Makes me want to take one bite, after another, and another.

It is also very soft white bread. And I like the way the serving is always rather generous at Old Town.

Tofu-like soft white bread soaked in egg and milk probably, like the usual French Toast recipe.

Between the slices, hides fragrant peanut butter, which is really a tasty surprise. And it gets even better when I cut towards the center, where the honey and butter is.

Surprise and delicious peanut butter.

Altogether, this makes for a nutritious and balanced breakfast, with a good amount of carbohydrates, some fats to kick start the fat metabolism, and honey to top it off. Some times, there is wisdom in traditional breakfast.

Rating: 5/5

Fresh Lemon Tea

wow.

I was actually a little doubtful if they'd really give me fresh lemon tea, and not from the canned drinks... ... But yes, it is real unsugared, unmilked tea with a fresh slice of lemon floating . Truly just my cup of tea.

Very nice balance there again. Now, I think, apart from the White Coffee, this has to be my other favourite drink. Much healthier than the Rose Float. haha, I felt so guilty with that one.

Rating: 5/5
This comes in cold one too.

Overall rating: 10/10
These two things are absolutely the kind of breakfast that will get you licking off the fork and knife, and teacup. :PPP

PS: Having tried the other breads from Old Town, I would say, just skip them if you don't dine here often. Go straight for this French Toast. Get your value and money's worth. =) Read more "French Toast & Lemon Tea @ OTWC..."

Old Town White Coffee @ Subang Jaya

I was so excited to learn that there is not only Carrefour, but also the familiar Old Town White Coffee just a short walk from my temporary stay place in KL, Malaysia.

It is always heart-warming to be eating and buying from a name that sounds closer to home, i.e. Singapore.

I thought it'd be nice to start my food blogging in Subang with a very simple task of comparing the OTWC chain across the two countries. And I am really glad to say that standards are the same!

Everything from the decor, the waiters' uniform, the ordering system, the utensils, cup, and food are the same! Much to my relief. haha.

I have eaten quite a lot from the menu, and today, I decided to try the Javanese Mee, Plain Thick Toast and Organic Spirlina Orange Juice.

Javanese Mee, RM 6.80

The display of this mee reminds me of Cold Ramen from Kado Man. It consists of dry mee served on a large round plate, in Javanese mee style sweet mee goreng-like sauce, with toppings of half an egg, crispy you tiao, baked potato cubes, chopped peanuts, green onions, spring onions, with a lime to enhance.

I especially like the taste of slightly sour lime juice mixed into the sweet sauce. It coats the noodles very well, and really made me feel like this is a well-round balanced bowl of ramen. hahaha, I still can't get out of the ramen life.

The baked potato cubes also tasted delightful, with slightly crispy, on-the-verge-of-burnt feel, yet bites in as rather soft. However, it tasted a bit bland, although I am fine with this, since I feel eating pure food is healthier than soaking in butter etc.

The crispy you tiao are no so to my liking though. It may taste good to people who like crispy toast bread and biscuit like food. But for me, I prefer you tiao to still be dough soft on the inside.

The chopped peanuts are also self-cooked, probably either roasted or fried till fragrant. Very nutty and adds dimension to the mee.

The mee is not bad, but nothing too special.

Rating: 4/5
I think the best main course from OTWC is still Ipoh Hor Fun.

Organic Spirulina Orange Juice, RM 5.20

I like this!! It has just the right intensity of sourness, yet retains the tea feeling. I think so far, all the beverages from OTWC are really good, apart from Si Mut Milk Tea and Nanyang Kopi 'C', which are strange to me.

Rating: 4.5/5

Plain Thick Toast, RM 1.50
As with the normal toast bread, I don't really like this. I feel that the skin though toasted to the right level of crisp, is bitter. I much rather prefer the moisturized inner portions of the bread.

Rating: 3.5/5

Overall rating: 8/10
I still like this place as much as ever. haha. It is affordable in Singapore and really cheap in Malaysia. I think my favourite cold drink here is the Organic Spirulina Orange Juice!! Why hadn't I tried that earlier? I like the Rose Float, Black Currant Yoghurt Smoothie, and Organic Wheat Grass Honey too. Not to mention OTWC original, Hazelnut White Coffee and Iced Mocha White Coffee.

There are two outlets in Subang, both are within walking distance (~15 min):

Subang Avenue
Lot SG-08, Subang Avenue, SS16,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 603-5636 8988
Fax: 603-5636 8788
(On sight of Carrefour, walk/drive further down, OTWC is the middle of 3 block of condos, ground floor, easily spotted.)

Subang Jaya SS15
No. 92 Jalan SS15/4,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
Tel: 603-5621 0092
Fax: 603-5621 0092

(From Carrefour, cross the overhead bridge, walk till the end corner, turn left, walk straight up the slight slope, OTWC is easily spotted along the shophouses on your left, with the brown canopy and Old Taste printed on it.)

PS: They have free wifi here with really good connection and speed. Makes it real good to blog their food. =)

P/S/S: I totally hate addresses. Seriously, how many of you can spot places using plainly addresses? At most times, the place is right in front of you, and you're still looking for that door number!! LOL. Landmarks and walking directions are definitely easier. Much easier still if you're driving, since one can't possibly crawl in the car at one foot per second! All websites need to do is show some pictures of landmarks around or describe the landmarks. Read more "Old Town White Coffee @ Subang Jaya..."