55 Fairways Drive
Singapore 286846
+65 6467 9328
Recently, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I went to The Marmalade Pantry at the Singapore's historical Saddle Club on Fairways Drive. As the name indicates, the Bukit Timah Saddle Club comprises a sizeable estate with stables, training grounds and also a few restaurants. The ambiance at Fairways Drive reminds of the 1950s when the Saddle Club was founded.
Initially, we had intended to go to Ryder's Cafe, located between the Marmalade Pantry and the Saddle Club, but unfortunately when we arrived around 3pm they were no longer serving lunch and their snack/tea time menu is rather scarce if you are looking for a proper meal. Instead, we decided to give the Marmalade pantry a try.
Marmalade Pantry has a relatively big outdoor seating area with fans, but we decided to sit indoors, where besides us only one couple and a family of four were having a late lunch. The interior is comfortable, yet a bit too dark for my taste. As in many Singaporean restaurants, there were quite a few staff around and after being shown to our table, iced water was served (an topped up occasionally during the meal).
We ordered the Crabmeat Linguini, Steak and Eggs, as well as a Strawberries and Cream Cupcake, Sea Salt Caramel Cheesecake, together with a Summer Smoothy and a white wine. I was quite pleased to see that the waitress taking our order didn't write anything down but seemed to memorize it instead (if I had known what was to come, I'd have made her write it down). After a short wait, the Summer Smoothy arrived, but a first sip revealed that it was quite thin for a smoothie and also lacking in flavor, so we we sent it back and told them to make it thicker. Usually, I'm not the type to let food/drinks go back, but in this case it was quite merited. A while later, the smoothie came back, apparently with some more banana in it, but the flavor was still not there. I settled for it anyways.
When the food arrived, it was decent. Neither the linguini nor the steak would win a price anywhere, in fact the meat was quite average. Having heard some quite positive reviews about the Marmalade Pantry (about the Orchard branch), this was rather disappointing.
After the plates were cleared, we started waiting for our dessert. This should really not have taken long, as the cupcakes were all exhibited close to the entrance (you can see them in the pic above) and so we were rather surprised when the minutes just ticked by and no one came to bring us our desert or asked whether we were lacking anything. Again, this was not due to the fact they were flooded with customers, as by now we were only one of four tables (indoors and outdoors) that was occupied. Finally, after at least 20 min I called over the waiter and asked him where our deserts were, he then asked his colleague, who told us they'd be coming shortly. Indeed, someone went and picked a cupcake from the exhibit and brought it over to us, by then it was quite clear that they had totally forgotten about our desert. The cheesecake arrived 10 minutes later.
Again the desert was rather average, the cupcake being on the dry side (no surprise, as God alone knows how long it had been sitting out there) and the cheesecake with little sea-salt caramel was also just okay.
The Marmalade Pantry is not a cheap eatery, and definitely disappointed my elevated expectations. To get back, we tried getting a cab for ages, but as it was close to 6pm by then we were out of luck. Therefore, we decided to have a drink at Ryder's Cafe during the wait. I must say, I regretted not having eaten there instead: the food they served was ample and looked very appetizing on the other tables, pricing is very reasonable and the iced mocha I had was very good.
I'll be definitely back at the Saddle Club to try Ryder's Cafe, however, if I try the Marmalade Pantry again, it certainly will be at the Orchard branch and not the one at Fairways Drive.
3/5 Stars
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