Lunch @ South Union Park

June 9, 2016 in European (cafe)

It was one of those crazy and spontaneous moments when I decided to take leave to join my colleague (who has long planned for and had applied her leave) to chill our afternoon away at a cafe. Ha. And since we both had plans for the evening and that our evening activities were taking place in the East, I did a quick search for a cafe that’s in the East.

So that’s how my colleague and I decided on South Union Park.

I have actually learnt about South Union Park a few weeks back. Another group of friends had wanted to check them out, but cause we were living in the North and West, we gave it a miss. So I was glad I finally got the opportunity to visit! =)

And since my colleague and I came on a weekday, we almost had the entire place to ourselves. Ha.

And from the menu, we ordered:-


  

1) Fried chicken, $11 (above) – With corn bread, honey butter. This was good! The pieces of chicken were fried with its skin on. And it was crisp on the exterior, and moist and juicy on the inside. Superb! I didn’t touch the honey butter cause the chicken was good on its own. =) I (also) asked my colleague for her opinion about pairing the corn bread muffin with the chicken. Though the corn muffin was good, I felt the two were different items to be enjoyed separately. Maybe they are fans of Kenny Rogers Roasters?


2) Crabcakes, $12 (above) – Remoulade. This was good! We were expecting bite-sized pieces since it was an appetiser, so we were surprised when it was presented in one big piece. A cake, literally. Ha. And this was definitely best consumed when it was served piping hot. When I sliced through it with my fork, I could hear the evident crackling sound.

3) Mussels, $18 (above) – South Australian mussels, chorizo broth. Since I don’t take beef, I enquired about the chorizo and got to learn that it was pork chorizo. But what we didn’t expect was that these chorizo were made in house. Wow! And one must definitely dip their freshly baked brioche into the broth. So good. Although the brioche served to us was a little too grilled.


4) Duck confit (homemade) pasta, $19 (above) – Tagliatelle, sautéed spinach, hazelnut cream. Not surprising, but the pasta at South Union Park is handmade too. Because I prepare my own meals, I truly appreciate handmade food. Especially items like bread, noodles, etc which most people fail to recognise the amount of effort that’s put into creating these because they are easily available. And the pasta was great.

5) Poached salmon, $20 (above) – Mediterranean cous cous, onion salad.


6) Apple crumble, $10 (above) – Butterscotch, yoghurt, vanilla ice cream.

  

7) Passionfruit soufflé, $13 (above)

8) Latte, $4.50 (above)

It was through enquiring about the chorizo that we learnt from one of the chef (who served our dish as the sole waiting staff was busy taking order) that they make everything from scratch with exception of the ice cream and fries. Wow. I really like and respect them for taking pride in hand-making everything.

Location wise, they are a 8-12 minutes walk from Kembangan MRT station. As my colleague and I met at 1pm, the walk from the MRT station to the café was a sunny affair. As South Union Park occupied a shophouse unit which was located within a private estate, there was no shelter to shade us from the blazing sun.

And I can’t emphasize enough how I love it when cafés are not fully occupied. Which is one reason why I don’t mind taking leave just to chill at a café. If work permits too. Ha. The interior of the cafe wasn’t exactly designed to wow, but it was cozy enough for my colleague and I to spend our entire afternoon where I settled both my lunch and dinner there. Haha. However, make sure one comes with a fully charged laptop as they do not have any power point except for one right at the entrance.

Did I enjoy my leave spent at South Union Park? I certainly did. However, after having tried almost everything on the menu in this one trip, I hope they would update their menu with significantly more new dishes soon for me to return!

SOUTH UNION PARK
101 Jalan Kembangan, Singapore
9061 8703, Facebook
Overall: 7
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Tues : 17:30 – 22:00
Ambience: 6
Wed – Thur : 11:30 – 22:00
Value: 8
Fri – Sat : 11:30 – 23:00
Service: 6
Sun : 11:30 – 22:00
* Closed on Mon
  

Lunch @ FFL Fresh Fruits Lab

September 14, 2014 in European (cafe)


Not wanting to miss out on the fun in the East, my friends and I decided to check out FFL Fresh Fruits Lab! Oh yes, we specially took leave to come on a weekday afternoon for late lunch.

Well, not exactly very late. We arranged to reach by 2pm to enjoy their weekday set lunch promotion which ends at 2.30pm! =) And cause we stayed till 4pm, we also got to enjoy their tea time promotion which is from 2.30 to 5pm, daily. And in line with the cafe’s lab theme, menu is titled ‘lab report’ while iced water was served in beakers!

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Weekday set lunch, $12 comprised of:-

(A) Soup of the day (above) – Pumpkin soup.

(B) Homemade ice lemon tea (above)

(C) Fish & chips (above) – Beer battered pacific dory with steakhouse frittes and homemade tartare. Otherwise $19 if ordered a-la carte under the ‘hearty meaty’ section of menu. And this was good. Really crispy batter with fresh fish within. Although the fish meat was not very thick, but it sufficed. And going along with the cafe’s name of fruits, we had blueberries in the salad!


2) Moroccan spiced chicken burger, $18 (above) – Fries, cheese sauce, spices. From the ‘burgers & sandwiches’ section, grilled chicken thigh was served with steakhouse frittes and caramalised fruit salad. However, the burger was somehow slightly salty. Somehow because when I started to eat the components of the burger separately, I could not find the source of saltiness. Hmm… But I really liked the fries with the accompanying spiced paprika mustard. So addictive-ly good.

3) Spaghetti with seafood cartoccio, $19An Italian classic for seafood lovers. Prawns, black mussels, squid and clams tossed in pomodoro & parsley. For the budget conscious, one may opt for carbonara, prawn aglio olio or arrabiatta (vegetarian) which are available in the weekday set lunch selection!

4) Fruit bouquet, $6.50 – I wouldn’t normally order fruits at any eateries since it makes more (economical) sense to get them from markets, but this presentation was too cute to miss out! Keke.

5) Tea time promotion, $10 comprised of:-


(A) Lychee cake (above) – Otherwise $6.50. This was good. I like how attention was paid to details where top layer of sponge was drenched in lychee syrup (I am making a wild guess here, but it should be lychee syrup). However, it was learnt that the cakes are taken from a supplier. But kudos to sourcing a good supplier.

(B) Long black (above) – Otherwise $5 if ordered without the tea time promotion.

6) Latte, $5 (above)

7) Cold pressed juice, Complimentary (above) – Served in test tubes, these were complimentary and served at the end of our meal. We were given orange & apple (left) and carrot & apple (right). parking wise, it’s limited to the lots along the main road. if not there’s a coupon parking beside lor mydin

FFL Fresh Fruits Lab also has a brunch menu which is only available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11.30am to 2.30pm with offering of brunch staple items like pancakes and egg benedicts. However, items from the ‘burgers and sandwiches’ and ‘hearty meaty’ of the main menu are not available during brunch hours.

Will definitely try their brunch if I am in the East on weekends since we enjoyed our time spent at FFL Fresh Fruits Lab. Probably it’s because we came on a weekday, the spacious cafe was not packed to the brim. Which is exactly how I prefer my cafe experience to be.

Accessibility wise, they are a 10 minutes walk from Kembangan MRT station. Parking lots are limited to what’s available along the main road. But if one is afraid of having to make a detour due to not being able to secure a lot since Changi Road is an one-way road, there’s a URA carpark that’s a 5 minutes walk to/from FFL Fresh Fruit Lab. It’s opposite Hotel 81 (Changi) at Lor Mydin (immediate after turning in from Changi Road) which payment is by carpark coupon. One will pass by the URA carpark before seeing the cafe.

FFL FRESH FRUITS LAB
351 Changi Road, Singapore
6677 6741, Website, Facebook
Overall: 6.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Tues – Thur : 11:00 – 22:00
Ambience: 6
Fri – Sat : 10:00 – 00:00
Value: 6
Sun : 10:00 – 22:00
Service: 7
* Closed on Mon