Last Sunday morning, me and kw were en route to Toa Payoh for a hearty local breakfast (I had serious cravings for chai tao kuay), when we got side tracked by an article in the Sunday papers.
Jalan bukit ho swee.. Lor mee.. Prawn mee... Walau eh, my old fave haunt, Sin Lee, is gone! My ex-colleagues and I used to bond over these steamy bowls of noodles and office gossip) at this tiny shop, which is now converted to yet another hipster café.
Curious to see if the new Sin Lee is a worthy successor to the space, we hit the address on the GPS and headed there. Oh yeah, we are dynamic that way.
Before the review, I need to give a huge *disclaimer* upfront. The following review is based on my personal experience as a 30 something and is probably more relatable to an audience of a similar age group. I probably won't be able to advise the young 'uns on whether this is a café that is insta-worthy for example.
Our objective for trying out new cafes is simple, we just want to establish a list of decent food haunts that we like and can rely on for the weekends. So of course, food is of paramount importance to us.The owners/ chefs have worked in Guy Savoy and Eleven Madison, NY in the past. We've had a pretty good experience with the latter. The impressive credentials pique our interest.
Oh yar, other than food, we are concerned about practicalities. Since we are at the life stage where we are surrounded by toddlers. I had to find out if this place is kids friendly, should I plan a meet up with baby toting friends. I asked the young waitress about it, she seemed momentarily stumped. The answer is no, no baby chairs at the moment. Lets hope my suggestion for them to buy a couple will be taken on board. You're welcome.
Hipster quotient - 8/10
First hip café in a new old neighbourhood - First in Bukit Ho Swee area, check.
Kept some of the old shop's décor, including signboard (In the newspaper article, the co-owner did go into great lengths to explain that they 'did not do it because it is cool, cause then it will be uncool', they did it because the original owner asked him to. Fair enough. But of course, it doesn't hurt that it is not uncool. Then again, others have done it before, hence not being the first, had lowered the cool quotient slightly. hi, have I lost you yet?).
Raw industrial look with hint of the old shop's legacy (exposed retro light circuits, ones which will make your mum go 'aiyo.... so dangerous' )- check
Indie music selection - check
Magazine selection - got Kinfolk - check (though the Peak and Prestige seems a little out of place, unless one of the owners is an ah sia kia, *winky eye). May I suggest Lucky Peach, which suggest that you are hip but yet, intensely serious about your food.
TTW is somewhat of a retired hipster. She is now old and she feels it. She was there when Comme des Garcons, the original guerrilla store, opened up at Haji Lane, then Tiong bahru, and responsible for setting off this irreparable trend of shops in old neighbourhood. She also listened to Kings of convenience, a full decade ago, and is pleasantly surprised that the same song is still being played in cafes. Maybe, there's hope for her yet.
Interior (pretty small, there are around 5-6 tables?)
Exterior (nice breezy area, sits around 5-6 tables)
It was free seating when we went, so go early to chope your favourite spot. I'm not sure if this arrangement still works once the crowds throng in though.
The Menu
I apologise that the most important shot of the menu is blur.
I told KW that I needed a new camera. I can't jus be snapping shitty shots on my iphone.... He offered me his 8 year old Canon Ixus. I rolled my eyes so hard that my eyeballs fell back a little into their sockets.
Customers started streaming in, each of them younger than the other, and each of them holding a more pro DSLR or Leica. (How do you afford a Leica on a JC/Uni allowance seriously!? When I was your age, I had to count the pieces of sushi I eat at Sakae sushi to ensure that I was able to foot the bill). Sorry for digressing.
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| This pic is out-of-portion huge. It makes my blog ugly. But at least you guys can read it. |
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| So is this. |
2 page menu, simple enough. Personally, I like a simple menu that is focused and dishes are done well. The Guy Savoy and Eleven Madison influences were not really evident in the menu, then again, it might be difficult to bring that across into brunch food. Instead, good hearty dishes, takes the centre stage. But the offerings sounded heavy, e.g. Croissant benedict, croissant royale, chicken & waffle.
It took me a while to decipher their interesting but somewhat hap hazard categorisation of Snacks, Greens, Doughs, Eggs, sweets.
After much deliberation, KW and me settled on The One and Only (if the dish is named as such, you have no choice but to order it) and the ABC Grilled Cheese Sandwich. It was either that or the Shakshuka, difficult choice, but KW was swayed by the promise of spam fries which comes with the ABC.
Place and pay for your orders up front.
If there is one thing which they've got it going for them is their young earnest staff. They are not too well versed with the menu yet, but a genuine smile and 'I'll check', makes up for it.
Good service staff is rare these days, so is free water. At least most cafes have the good sense to serve water.
Don't trust an establishment that doesn't serve water.
Freshly squeezed juice were available at very reasonable prices. But guys, go easy on the ice.
(L) Orange juice S$5
(R) Carrot, Orange, Ginger S$6
Though we've had our coffee for that day. We knew that we still had to give their coffee a try.
Latte S$5.50
Beans sourced from local roaster, Papa Pahelta. It was decent, but not spectacular. We are not coffee connoisseurs and we don't pretend to be. I will not attempt to write a description based on agar-ation/ guess work on whether I detect a nutty or flowery aroma or whether the milk is frothed just right.
But we've drunk enough to detect jialat coffees.
So I do not have scale when it comes to rating coffees, just jialat/ not jialat.
This is not a jialat coffee.
The One and Only - Sin Lee's Fried Chicken and Waffles
The menu reads - Juicy boneless chicken leg, cheddar iron waffles, house slaw and melted maple butter
S$21.90
Ah... the quintessential southern American artery clogging dish. Is it worth the gazillion calories that will make me burst my pants and look like Britney Spears post 2010? Hmm.. I'm not so sure.
The chicken was well fried and juicy, but devoid of any seasoning, it lacks punch. It was also oil, very oily
I'm a fan of all things fried, if I think that it is a tad too oily, girl~ you got an oil slick going on. You'd probably want to blot the chicken with your napkin a little before consumption.
The cheddar iron waffle was of the right texture, but again, lacks flavour. I had to drown it with the accompanying maple butter syrup, which was really quite sweet. Since the maple butter syrup was the only component that was flavouring the rather bland dish, it resulted in a more sweet than savoury dish.
The house slaw was pretty decent, but it has nothing on the slaw from The Provision Shop at everton park (best purple cabbage slaw ever).
So all in all, a rather disappointing dish for us.
I'll rate it 3/5. Not worth spending your following week in the gym for it.
P.S. However, if you are a NS boy or hardcore clubber in your early twenties, you will appreciate the huge serving portion. You will also burn off the calories almost instantaneously, probably within the course of the meal.
A-B-C Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Grilled apple, bacon, cheddar sandwich & spam fries
S$14.90
I've been hankering for a good cheese sandwich, ever since I came across Tan Hsueh Yun's grilled cheese recipe, here. Now, THAT is a cheese sandwich.
Unlike Hsueh Yun's ultimate grilled cheese sandwich that uses 3 types of cheeses, this only consists of cheddar. But the end result was still pretty awesome. There was enough cheese to make it gooey and rich, which was nicely balanced by the stewed apples and bacon (which everyone knows, is a perfect combi). But eat it fast, before the cheese congeals and you end up with a rubbery sandwich.This sinful dish left us happy, but not too as guilty as the fried chicken waffles.
The only gripe we had about the dish (does it seem like I'm an impossible person to please now?) was the spam fries. Spam fries is not new and it is a genius concept, to me anyway. (credits still go to Wilin Low, I think the first time I ever had spam fries was at Wild Oats)
Sin Lee has a different take of spam fries. Over here, they make them thick and meaty instead of match thin. I'm sure there was at least a whole can of Ma Ling sitting beside our sandwich.After 4 pieces of those, we kinda realise that maybe there were good reasons behind match thin spam fries after all.
There was absolutely no room for desserts after those two dishes. In fact, there was also no room for lunch as the two dishes sat stubbornly in our tummies till dinner time.
Décor
All hipster cafes (though some, at this point, will vehemently deny that they are 'hipster'), got a raw industrial look going on,a chalk board somewhere, and a carefully curated magazine selection (see my description at the start of article). Right or not, right not? You say la.
Okay, but I'm thankful that many cafes still try to inject small touches here and there to set themselves apart
Like this artpiece. Actually, I'm not sure what it is. But I dig the plastic toy soldiers cause I've got the same ones at home.
Morbid war scene re-enacted by plastic figurines.
Washrooms are becoming a place where I see real creativity coming across. I'm not being sarcastic. There is nothing worse than an off-putting bathroom visit mid-meal. It's nice to see cafes putting in effort to outdo each other in this area.
Every F&B outlet should look to P.S. Café and Common Man Coffee Roasters on how to get their loos right.
(P.S. Café has the most ridonkulous bouquet of fresh flowers that covers 70% of the mirror, making make-up touch ups a bend backwards yoga feat. Common Man has the most heavenly scent in their bathroom, with essence oil supplied from spa esprit, since they are both under Cynthia Chua's empire)
So, back to Sin Lee's loo -
I sure hope that is coffee powder.
Apply some strength on the red knob to get the tap going.
Cute sink , I like it. Its important to strike a balance between cool and functionality.
There is a certain café in Haji Lane that requires you to step on a hidden pedal beneath the sink in order for water to flows. There is no signage either.
Guys, guys, why are you making hand washing so difficult. Why?!
Okay, that abruptly concludes my review of Sin Lee Foods.
I can't believe I caved in and did a food review like every other Singaporean out there.
Tiong Bahru
4 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee #01-164
Singapore 162004
Opening Hours
Tues to Sunday
10:00am -9:00pm
Closed Mondays
