Drury Lane

I've decided to do a break from the Hong Kong/Macau entries because I can't help writing about our yummy food in Singapore!

It's the weekend again! And this time round, I want to share a nice place for a weekend brunch - Drury Lane. Named after a road called Drury Lane in London, this cafe is located along our Tanjong Pagar Road.

Drury Lane is a cafe that is easy to fall in love with. It seems to have it right - an interesting and easy to remember name, shophouse in Tanjong Pagar, all day breakfast. And there's no way you can miss this red engine cafe along Tanjong Pagar Road.


Upon entering the cafe, I immediately fell in love with the cosy ambience. There are two storeys. The lower storey is where the kitchen is and also where the brewing of coffee is. There are some bar tables as well as some seats that were constructed from wooden crates. 

If you don't want to smell like your breakfast later, I recommend you head upstairs.



Loved the upstairs which felt spacious, unlike other cafes which made me feel like I am constantly touching my neighbor's elbow. Ok I exaggerate. The rustic and simple decor offers a respite from the stressful week. Time seems to slows down and you get some thinking sorted out. Nice place to hangout with your friends and loved ones too.


The menu is a simple one page comprising of breakfast favorites such as big breakfast, eggs, french toast and pancakes. I can't help but being curious about some of the names of the dishes, such as Big 94, Cloud 9, Cloud 9.4. I guess it should be something to do with their address 94 Drury Lane. They also served espressos, daily brews and teas. You place and pay your orders at the counter on the first floor and you are given a table number (in the form of a paper cup).

The table number - Not for drinking

I got the daily specialty brew of Bokasso Ethiopia ($5, below) which had a good balance of bitterness and acidity, and tasted of jasmine and citrus fragrance. This small cup gave the perk needed for the morning. 4/5


For tea lovers, kick start your day with English breakfast tea ($6, below), which came in a pot. Tea was from The 1872 Clipper Tea Company and it was full-bodied and robust. 4/5


The 1935 Toast ($8, below), a French toast with peanut butter jam and two bananas. While the banana were sweet, it was well complemented by the saltiness of the peanut butter in the toast. Nice comfort food on a lazy weekend morning. As for the name 1935 toast, its been rumoured that a hearty peanut butter french toast used to be the king of rock and roll's, Elvis, favourite food. Hence Drury Lane decided to name the toast after the year he was born as a little tribute to him. 4/5

The Cloud 9.4 ($12, below) might look like ordinary pancakes but a surprise awaited as I bit into it. There was pieces of ham embedded in the pancakes, making the pancakes a little salty. And the pancakes were very fluffy, just like their name. If there was a Fluffy Index from 1 to 10, I would give it a level of 10 and McDonald's pancakes a 2. So you get the idea. If you love your pancakes to be fluffy and soft, this is the one. However, I find it a bit too oily for me and by the time I finished my first pancake, I was too overwhelmed to start the second one. Perhaps you can request them to make it less oily. Also, the turkey bacon was too hard for me. 3.5/5

Ham in the pancakes

The cafe has free wifi and the password is stated on the receipt. Service was attentive and rather fast. Did I also mention that there was no service charge and GST? I don't usually frequent cafes because of their overpriced food. I mean, $20 for a eggs, sausage (and GST and service charge on top of that) which I could whip up myself? So I'm glad that Drury Lane's breakfast menu looks affordable (food prices range from $8 to $12), and it makes a good laid-back place with a chill vibe to hang out on a weekend. I don't mind going back to try their other food soon.


Address: 94 Tanjong Pagar Road Singapore 088515
Telephone: 6222 6698
Opening hours:
Monday to Friday - 9am to 10pm
Saturday and Sunday - 10am to 6pm
Closed on Tuesday

Hong Kong | Bubba Gump Shrimp Company

Imagine you are at the Peak Sky Terrace staring at this view. You take out a camera and ask a passer-by to help take a photo of you and your friends. Suddenly a wind blows and you are eating your hair. With the winds that do not stop wrecking your nice hair, it's really impossible to take a nice photo at the Peak, don't you agree?

Sometime ago, I discovered a "one stone kills two birds" solution : Bubba Gump restaurant. 1) You get the view, and 2) You don't eat the hair. You eat good food.

Located on third floor of the Peak Tower, you can't miss it if you are taking the escalators to the Sky Terrace. It's just probably 2 to 3 levels (can't remember) below the Sky Terrace.

They have the main dining room and a smaller dining room. I was seated in the smaller dining room which had a partial view. The main dining room has the full view and ceiling to floor glass windows. My recommendation would be to get a reservation at the main dining room.

Main dining room picture from Bubba Gump website

The smaller dining room's view

As the restaurant name suggests, it specializes in shrimps and you would expect a wide variety of shrimp dishes. In fact, they were two pages of the menu dedicated to their shrimp dishes. We ordered the Cajun Shrimp (HKD 76, below), sautéed shrimps in Cajun spices and butter served with garlic bread. The fragrant garlic bread was crispy and make a good complement for the fresh and savoury Cajun shrimps coated with Cajun spices. It's a bit of saltiness cum sourness taste which was interesting. 4/5

Want something more than shrimps? Get the Forrest Seafood Feast (HKD 198, below) which comprise of fish and chips, fried shrimps, and coleslaw. Dip in the accompanying sauces - tar tar, cocktail and remoulade. Though it's fried stuff, it isn't overly oily or salty. Very addictive and it was wiped out pretty quickly. 4/5

To call for the waiter's attention, flip the board provided on the table to "Run Forrest Run". Service was attentive and our food was served pretty fast after we placed our orders.

My verdict: Definitely beats squeezing with others on the Sky Terrace. Head down to Bubba Gump. Life should be this way - immersing yourself in the lovely night lights, and chilling comfortably and indulging in good comfort food.

Address:
Shop 304-305, 3/F, The Peak Tower, 128 Peak Road The Peak, Hong Kong

Hong Kong | Tim Ho Wan

Tim Ho Wan. The famous Michelin star from Hong Kong. That hole-in-the-wall eatery. The name that caused heart-beats to stop when it first landed in Singapore. The shop that had rumbling tummies queuing up for hours waiting to devour the handmade dim-sum. 

This is a story of how I went to the Tim Ho Wan outlet in Hong Kong and how I didn't queue for long.

As the original outlet at Mongkok was closed down due to high rents, we went to the IFC outlet at Central. Had a bit of issues in finding the outlet. But nothing is going to stand in between me and my beloved Char Siu Pau. With a bit of help from shop attendants, passerbys and a policeman, we found it :)) It's actually quite simple. Once you exit Central station, find Airport Express check-in signs. Take the lift that goes to Airport Express level but alight at level P1. It's right outside the lift.

Somehow there weren't a lot of people during dinner time at 6.30pm. We took a queue number and waited about 5 minutes.

The ordering system is fuss-free one where you indicate the number of items you want and pass to the waiter. The waiter will then pass the list to kitchen.

If you
1) don't know what to order, and/or
2) don't know Chinese,
just make sure you put more than "1" for the item I circled in red below.


I was referring to the Char Siew Pau. One has not visited Tim Ho Wan if one has not eaten the legendary Baked Char Siew Pau (HKD 18 for 3, below). It is seriously the best Char Siew Pau in the world!! The baked crust is crispy yet soft at the same time. As the teeth sinks into the crust, it crumbles.. into the sweet and savoury Char Siew meat that's filled in the bun. 5/5



The Siew Mai with prawn (HKD 24, below), was fresh and had the springy nom nom factor. I've eaten a lot of Siew Mai and Tim Ho Wan's version ranks high in the list for me. 4/5


The reason why Tim Ho Wan's dim sum are so good is because they make the dim sum only when the customer orders, hence ensuring the freshness of the dim sum. This is very evident in its Prawn Dumpling or Har Kau (HKD 24, below) which I could taste the freshness and sweetness of the prawns beneath the skin. 4/5


I loved its Carrot Cake (HKD 14, below) which has bits of shrimp, giving it the savoury taste. 4/5


My favourite way to end off the excellent dim sum dinner - the refreshing and light Osmanthus cake (HKD 12, below). It's not heavy and gives the feeling of cleansing of the palates. 4/5


So that's my Michelin dinner that cost less than S$10 per pax. And most importantly, it's satisfying and once again proves that good food need not necessarily be expensive.


Address:
添好運點心專門店
Shop 12A, Hong Kong Station (Podium Level 1, IFC Mall) Central

Macau | Seng Cheong Crab Porridge

In a sleepy town called Taipa in Macau, there was a better lit street which showed signs of more civilization at night - Rua do Cunha or 官也街.


We came here to try the famous crab porridge at Seng Cheong.


We knew we had come to the right place when we saw a fully packed restaurant. The nonchalant waiter asked us to head upstairs where there were seats. There were only big tables which could sit six at one. We shared a table with a couple from Tianjin who was here on a work trip. 

Without a doubt, we ordered the small Crab porridge 驰名蟹粥 (MOP 150). The big version cost MOP 180. For 2 pax, I would recommend getting the small version. It's way more than enough. We waited for quite a long time.. A very long time, probably 20 minutes.


Wow I must say it's crabilicious! Generous amount of crabs soaked in the very smooth and fragrant porridge. The crab was sweet, fresh and fleshy. According to the information pamphlet in the store, the porridge was cooked by boiling it with three different types of crab : 膏蟹, 肉蟹 and 水蟹, giving it it's rich crab flavor. We were big crab lovers and this gets our thumbs up. Even though I was hit by some crab while mama tried to use the pincer, it was worth it.


Do head down to the neighboring Mok Yi Kei (see previous post) for desserts after your meal!

Address:
28-30 Rua do Cunha, Vila de Taipa, Macau
澳门氹仔舊城區官也街28-30號
Opening Hours: 12 noon – 12 midnight daily