Restaurant Standard Food at Salute Coffeeshop at Bukit Merah Lane 1

Salute Coffeeshop is definitely not your typical kopitiam. Tables are wrapped in picnic blue graham cloths; stalls have beautiful menus; and most importantly, Salute is a haberdashery of world cuisine and gourmet food. Salute Coffeeshop is proud to serve food of restaurant standards at affordable prices of below $20. We were very excited to be part of the bustling scene on a Friday evening, and we picked our favourites amidst the wide offerings here.

French - Immanuel French Kitchen

The menu of Immanuel French Kitchen is pretty, simple and focused. We were immediately drawn to the red labels and unanimously decided on the french duck leg confit. Duck confit is very much the national dish of France, if you would put away the (gruesome) foie gras aside, and is the test that every French food place has to pass with nothing short of flying colours.

Indeed, the duck confit ($14.90) at Immanuel French Kitchen put us on cloud nine. The skin was cooked to a crisp, while the meat remained tender and soft in its own oil. The meat separated from the bone very easily, and melted right away in our mouths. The mash potatoes was a creamy blend of happiness and was nicely complemented by the braised cabbage.

☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Immanuel French Kitchen

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German - Stew Küche

Stew Küche, or Stew Kitchen, is hard to miss with its sprawling signboard across two shopfronts at Salute Coffeeshop. It serves German food, and a good selection of German craft beers. It also boasts a friendly fleet of staff that would help to arrange and secure seats for you at the coffeeshop with 170 seats.

The staff from Stew Kuche recommended the half pork knuckle ($15) for the two of us to share. We were told that the whole pork knuckle was more suitable for a party of four, and we thought if they had underestimated us (hah).

Boy, we were glad to have heed their advice. Though half, the pork knuckle was HUGE. The skin was deep fried to perfection- it was crackling very loudly in our mouths. In contrast, the meat remained juicy and moist. I absolutely loved the whipped potato that came with the pork knuckle - there were huge chunks of potatoes and held together with bits of onion and black pepper. Very, very hearty. There was also an interesting twist to the national German dish- achar is also served as a side. The sour and slightly spicy preserved vegetable gave an interesting blend and texture to the pork too.

☁☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Stew Kuche

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Fushion - Mian

Mian, which has a mobile food truck called the travelling cow selling ramen burgers, had also settled down at Salute Coffeeshop. The menu of Mian is not for the unadventurous or faint-hearted. They challenge conventions and the curious.

The seafood laksa linguine ($12) boost a spicy and creamy homemade sauce that tasted like a cross between traditional laksa gravy and tomyum soup. There were generous portions of shrimps, sotong and fishcake, and the best part was the crabmeat salad that topped it all off. This dish may get a little gelat after a while given its thick sauce, so it is best to share.

However, the truffle fries (add $1 with every main course) at Mian was nothing out of the ordinary. We would have loved the fries to be crispier, and the taste of the truffle to be stronger.

☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Mian

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Belgian - Seasalt

If you love the concept of Brussels Sprouts at Boat Quay, Seasalt tries to be the counterpart in this coffeeshop. Seasalt offers seafood in a pot, served in a variety of sauces and with french loaf as a staple.

We ordered mussels in white wine (vino, $14) but we could not fathom where the white wine went. It was neither in the sauce, nor in the mussels themselves. Perhaps we had the taste (standard) of Brussels Sprouts in mind, and Seasalt fell short of our expectations. In fact, it fell flat. The mussels were pretty small, and more thought could have been placed in the taste of the sauce. This dish was ordinary, and needed a bit more work.

☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Seasalt

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Unlike conventional kopitiams, there is no drinks stall at Salute Coffeeshop. But fret not, drinks selection include craft beers from Stew Küche or bubble tea from Eskimo. Things are really done differently here at this new age coffeeshop.

Another stall worth mentioning at Salute Coffeeshop is Two Wings. The recipe of the chicken wings served at Two Wings is claimed to be the same as the once famous Carona Chicken Rice that was at one point in all major foodcourts around the island. We would be back at Salute soon, and would definitely give Two Wings a try the next time round.

It is heartening to see these young entrepreneurs putting their passion and heart into the F&B industry, and to have them all come together at a single location that exudes such vibrancy and energy. You have to experience Salute Coffeeshop for yourself - now.

SINGAPORE FOOD BLOG REVIEW BY KUMORY

☁☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Salute Coffeeshop

Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1

Opening times vary from stall to stall

W39 Bistro & Bakery at Jalan Mas Puteh

W39 Bistro & Bakery is a cutesy and colourful addition to the blooming cafe scene in the western part of Singapore. Now, who is complaining that there are no good cafes in the west? W39 Bistro & Bakery has joined Carpenter and Cook in my West Side Story list- places in the west that are worth traveling to!

W39 Bistro & Bakery is located at a corner of a row of shophouses at Jalan Mas Puteh off West Coast Road. The colourful gates of the shophouses kept me captivated while walking to W39. The feeling was so quaint and nostalgic, it almost felt like we were not in Singapore.

I love the use of yellow and white at W39- it makes everything bright and cheery, and it instantly lifted up my mood. Every single item in the cafe looks like they have been well picked and curated. Everything seems to fall in place so perfectly.

I absolutely adore the plates display on the wall. I am so going to have one too when I (eventually) have my own place. I'd better start looking for some plates now, the perfect ones would be hard to come by.

The counter was full of little knick-knacks that were important pieces of our childhood. Every 80's kids would recognise these, and at some point we all would have starved ourselves during recess so that we can have that France flag eraser or the paper aeroplane or that fruity lollipop. It was heartwarming and heartening to see a parent buy and build a paper aeroplane with his toddler, instead of stuffing him with an ipad and some finger-swapping game.

W39 Bistro & Bakery serves breakfast on weekends and on public holidays from 9am to 3pm. Good news for us who wake up at 12pm and still want to have some eggs and sausages. The prices at W39 are also slightly lower than the usual cafe prices- another good news for us who like to cafe hop.

We had the hearty breakfast, which is the full works at W39 Bistro & Bakery. It was $13.50 while normal cafes would usually charge between $18-$22 for their equivalent. I liked that the sausage and bacon was still moist and juicy on the insides though the outside was crispy and slightly charred. The bacon, especially, was very well grilled. The sauteed mushrooms were well-flavoured, the only downside was that it was cold.

The toast at W39 Bistro & Bakery was crispy and fluffy at the same time- really yummy with the huge chunk of anchor butter. I love cafes that bake their own cakes and bread, and W39 has surely done a very good job with their bread. Simple but so memorable.

We had our usual at W39 too- Ice long black ($4.50) and Ice cafe latte ($5.50). Both were a tad watered down, and not as exquisite as the simple white bread toast.

I used to avoid caramel at all cost because I find that it is too (artificially) sweet. But that was before I discovered sea-salt caramel. I am now a total convert, and I cannot resist whenever I see anything that has 'sea-salt caramel' in it. And since this cake was labelled as W39's 'best seller', all the more I had to get it.

The sea-salt caramel cake ($6.80) at W39 did not disappoint. The sea-salt caramel complemented the chocolate well- good balance of sweetness and savoury. And the chocolate cake was moist, perfectly moist, and the texture went really well with the creamy and thick sea-salt caramel and chocolate. This reminded us of the sea-salt caramel tart we had at Carpenter & Cook, only that this also was a class of its own with its winning combination of the moist cake and savoury caramel.

We saw many couples and many large families at W39 Bistro & Bakery on the afternoon of New Year's day. The setting at W39 is perfect for a date for two, and also good for large gatherings. The home-made cakes and bread won over our hearts and with its relatively affordable cafe prices, we would be back for more of W39's bakery items.

Singapore Food Blog Review by Kumory

☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

W39 Bistro & Bakery

39 Jalan Mas Puteh, off West Coast Road Singapore

96465372

11am-10pm (Tues-Fri); 9am-1030pm (Sat-Sun); Closed on Mon

http://www.w39bistro.com/

Carpenter and Cook at Lorong Kilat

Carpenter and Cook at Bukit Timah serves excellent home-made breads, quiches, cakes and tarts. Really awesome. I am so glad that I made the choice to get out of bed early on my leave day to enjoy the yummy treats and amazing atmosphere at this artisan bakery cafe.

Lots of lovely teacups and teapots on display and on sale at Carpenter and Cook. Give me this, this, this and that, oh my, I want them ALL!

Every tiny detail at Carpenter and Cook adds a whole lot of charm to the entire place. We were totally sold. We made ourselves comfortable on a wooden-cushioned sofa at a corner and spent the next few hours soaking in the whimsical elements.

Carpenter and Cook makes each and every of their yummy treats- from savoury broiche and quiche to the delectable cakes, brownies and tarts. Gah, I want them all too!

I love the Smashing Savoury Broiche Bun ($6.50) at Carpenter and Cook. Generous filing of ham, spinach and tomatoes, lovingly wrapped in soft bun and topped with crispy cheese on top. Simply heavenly. A little on the small side, but maybe because I couldn't have enough of it.

Galen likes his Quiche vegetarian- eggs, spinach and onions ($7.00). Carpenter and Cook serves their Cook's Amazing Quiche with rocket leaves and cherry tomatoes. Again, small, but lip-smacking.

Coffees at Carpenter and Cook are served in jars. Simple but got me swooned over. Galen at his usual fix of Ice Long Black ($4) and found the blend and acidity of the coffee to his liking. I had my default Ice Latte ($6) and I liked balance of coffee and milk. Pretty huge glass (jar) for the price.

Now, what's there not to love about this place? If I had to pick bones from an egg, I'll say the lack of Wifi. But that didn't stop us from spending a few hours at Carpenter and Cook- surfing (on 4G network), reading and chatting. We could practically stay there forever.

And of course we had to try to desserts at Carpenter and Cook right? Home-made goodness is hard to come by these days with a dime a dozen cafes popping up everywhere. Kudos to the Cook at Carpenter and Cook for insisting on baking their own goodies! And yes, the coffee lasted us through the few hours- told you the jars were huge!

Galen likes sour desserts, quite an oxymoron there isn't it, but who says that dessert has to be sweet? The lemon cream tart ($6.50) at Carpenter and Cook worked really well for us- perfect blend of sourness and creaminess- oh, so good!

I couldn't say no to chocolate and sea salt caramel, so when they are put together in a hard, buttery crust, I had to have it. The chocolate sea salt caramel tart ($6.50) at Carpenter and Cook is the one for me. The chocolate was smooth and velvety, and there was a generous amount of sea salt caramel that was a beautiful marriage of sweet and savoury. Ah, bliss!

Carpenter and Cook is a good chapter in my West Side Story. Totally worth the effort of traveling all the way across the island. I am putting it as my personal mission to try every single home-made goody that they offer, once I come to terms with my wallet.

Singapore Food Blog Review by Kumory

☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Carpenter and Cook

19 Lorong Kilat #01-06 Singapore 598120

6463 3648

10am- 10pm (Tues-Sat), 10am-7pm (Sun), Closed on Mon

http://www.carpenterandcook.com/

Coocci Contemporary Japanese - Exquisite Hawker Fare

Who would have guessed that this is a store front at a hawker centre? Nestled among the typical hawker stalls at Commonwealth Crescent Market is Coocci Contemporary Japanese. This stall is hard to miss with its zen decor and atas-looking menu. The menu is simple, pick any dish from 1 to 8, or just everything because all of them look so good!

We went for number 1, 2, 3, not just because we love the numbers, but because number 4 was sold out. Such a bummer; both of us love dumplings and soup and the Tortellini Chicken looked just like our kind of thing.

Coocci number 1 is Chicken Roulade ($5). The soup looks unassuming but it was sweet and rich- pumpkin based! Such a delightful discovery. The somen (think thin ramen, like wanton mee) was bouncy, and the roulade (rolled and stuffed chicken) was smoky and flavourful. Glad we managed to get the third last bowl of this!

Coocci number 2 is Spicy Fettucine ($5). The fettucine had the right texture and there was a generous amount of minced chicken in the mildy spicy bolognese sauce. The spring onion was a good twist and enhanced the flavour of the tomato-based sauce. Loved it as it was piping hot! I'm very particular about food being piping hot, I guess I just like the warm feeling in my tummy heh.

Coocci number 3 is Tori Nanban. The chicken meat was juicy and tender while the skin was ccccrispy! The meat was well-marinated and went well with the home-made tartar sauce. This came with a bowl of japanese rice and a tofu salad, both exuded the simplicity of Japanese charm. Sometimes the simplest thing is also the toughest thing.

The quality of Coocci Contemporary Japanese would not disappoint you. A must-go! And you must go there early, and try everything from 1 to 8 if you can!

Singapore Food Blog Review by Kumory

☁☁☁☁/☁☁☁☁☁

Coocci Contemporary Japanese

Commonwealth Crescent Market #02-92 Singapore 140118

12pm-3pm, 6pm-9pm (Closed on Mondays)