Restaurant Review – With a Pinch of Salt

 With a Pinch of Salt

297, Tanjong Katong Road

Singapore 437080

+65 6348 2297

I came across the restaurant named “With a Pinch Of Salt” when looking for a dinner place on Saturday night. It was recommended by Lady Ironchef and is located in the Katong, one of my favourite neighbourhoods to dine out. So what could go wrong? Well, maybe I should have lent more credibility to the 51% vote on hungrygowhere, but most of the voters there complained about issues with Groupon and the fact that With a Pinch Of Salt charges 30 cent for water. I don’t have a gripe with that, and since all alcohol-free drinks there are very reasonably priced, I think it’s acceptable.

When we arrived, we realized that there were not one but 2 birthday parties going on in the café, with one small table free in the middle between the two parties. No one had told us this when we called to make our reservation, and luckily I wasn’t planning on a romantic night out. Accordingly, it was rather noisy and sitting in the middle of all this activity was not very relaxing. The café/restaurant looks very family-oriented, with wall decorations like you would expect in an American nursery, including short fairy tales about the dishes they offer. I reckon it’s fine if you’re out with kid, though as an adult it does feel a little strange sitting in a room full with pastel colored, striped walls. Then again, the motto at With a Pinch of Salt is “It’s only a café, don’t take it so seriously’.

In my mind, they should stick to this, and rename the place, as salt & flavour was exactly what the food (or most of it) was missing. The iced mocha I ordered was very watery, and one of the worst I’ve had in Singapore. Usually not a drink anyone could do wrong, but this one was definitely sub-par. To eat, we ordered one Chicken Cordon Bleu and one Old Uncle Mac’s Farm Platter (which comprised sausages, fried fish, steak and fried  chicken). When the food arrived, some of it was lukewarm. For both the Cordon Bleu and fried chicken/fish, the breading was so thick you had to search for the meat, and it was only edible doused with ketchup. The steak was streaky. The mashed potatos and few vegetables sprinkled in between were the best parts, yet not very plentiful.

Uncle Mac's Meat Platter

 

Cordon Bleu

On the plus side, staff was nice, food arrived relatively quickly (must have been re-heated) and was relatively cheap (less than SGD 50 for one beer, one iced mocha and the two mains). Even so, I would not come back, and cannot quite understand the laudable review by Lady Ironchef (then again I have to yet read one of her reviews where she didn’t like the food).

2/5 Stars

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Restaurant Review - Rabbit Carrot Gun

Rabbit Carrot Gun Bed & Breakfast (& Lunch & Dinner)

49 East Coast Road
Singapore 428768

+65 6348 8568

Rabbit Carrot Gun is hard to describe. It's a Bed & Breakfast, it's a lunch place, it's a dinner locale, it's a pub, it's restaurant, all under one cozy roof with a common, uncommon theme. The restaurant is located on Singapore's East Coast area, close to the hustle and bustle of 112 Katong. A number of new restaurants and bars are sprouting up in this area, next to old-established hawkers and drinking places, adding their own mark to the mix and yet another interesting area to explore in Singapore.

We went to Rabbit Carrot Gun restaurant on a Friday night, so the place was pretty packed. You will meet locals here, but also a number of foreigners from all walks of life. At night, the restaurant itself is rather cozy and dark, which fits the rabbit-hole theme and makes it look more like a pub than a restaurant. As would befit any English pub, the Rabbit Carrot Gun has its own beer, called Buckshot Pint, which has a very rich dark-red-brownish colour and tastes similar to Guinness.

For a starter, we chose the Casserole of Mushrooms & Crème Fraiche on Toasted Brioche with Balsamic Poached Egg. Unlike many other (even supposedly very good) restaurants in Singapore, the ingredients used at the Rabbit Carrot Gun were very fresh, easily noticeable in the taste. The mushrooms were not quite hot enough, but still warm and the whole dish was a feast for the taste buds. The poached egg oozed out once cut, and saturated the brioche with creamy yellow goodness, making each bite a pleasure.

Unfortunately, the chef at Rabbit Carrot Gun restaurant seemed to have run out of some ingredients that night, so that our friendly waitress informed us that the Roasted Chicken Breast and the Lamb Shank on the menu would come with different sauces, which is why we went with two other main dishes instead. Mr McGregor’s Fish Pie Topped with Mashed Potatoes Served with Seasonal Vegetables apparently is a signature dish at the Rabbit Carrot Gun and as our second option we ordered Pork, Rosemary & Apple Sausage with Bubble & Squeak Served with Ale & Onion Gravy.

Mr. McGregor apparently knows his fish pies, as this recipe is definitely a secret that should be guarded well. Again, the different fish in the pie had a very fresh and intense taste to them and the dish was mouth-watering good. In my view, the Pork Sausage was the weakest dish we tried that night at the Rabbit Carrot Gun restaurant. While still good, this dish seemed nothing out of the ordinary, though the gravy was quite yummy.

To finish our meal, we chose 3-chesse-platter, with English Stilton, a very creamy brie and a rather strong blue cheese, that probably would be a bit too much for most Singaporean palates. All three cheeses were extraordinarily and finger-licking good, ideally complimented by aromatic strawberries, walnuts and toasted bread.

Overall, the dining experience at the Rabbit Carrot Gun was a very nice one, and quite different from your standard fare in Singapore. If you're bored of fine dining but still want good food, or if you're tired of hawker meals, this will make for a very nice change. However, as so often, quality has its price, and with 2 beers, 1 starter, 2 mains and 1 desert, the total bill came up to SGD 125, well worth it imho.

4/5 Stars

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Restaurant Review: The Garden Slug

The Garden Slug
55 Lorong L Telok Kurau 
Singapore 425500
+65 6346 0504

The Garden Slug is a very laid-back eatery near the East Coast. Let me start off with the positives: the place is indeed very laid back and situated in a quiet neighborhood. The staff is extremely friendly and patient, even if you take 10 minutes extra to decide what you want to eat. I'm trying to think of more positives, but really there aren't that many, especially when it comes to the food they serve at the Garden Slug.

The menu at the Garden Slug is by no means exhaustive, which can be a good sign, making you think that they focus on a few, good quality food items, unfortunately here we were disappointed. We had Salmon Cakes, which were rather tasteless, with few bits of salmon, the "bed of lettuce" were 3 big leaves and the accompanying cherry tomatoes were unripe and thus also not tasty. Next we had the Ultimate Bangers and Mash, where the chicken and pork sausages were again very average and of the two chipolata sausages (which did look homemade), only one was spicy/flavorful, whereas the other was bland as well. The Tiramisu for desert was moist, but could have used both more coffee and more rum.

We were quite disappointed and I think it is unlikely that we will go back to the Garden Slug. Total damage was ok (around $50 for the food), yet the meal was quite unsatisfying. I'll give it the staff bonus and thus rate it

3/5 Stars

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Restaurant Review: Werner's Oven

Werner's Oven
6 Upper East Coast Road
Singapore 455200
+65 6442 3897

Werner's Oven is located close to East Coast Park and ideal for a meal and stroll/activities along the coast afterwards. The restaurant has a bakery attached to it, which is great if you have a faible for German bread, buns and rolls. Werner's cuisine is mainly German, but on the menu are also some items that you'd not find in a "traditional" German restaurant.

We went to Werner's on a Saturday afternoon and the place was literally empty. The interior looks German, but everything appears a bit worn, and could do with a renovation. After ordering our starter + 2 mains (the deserts did not look like anything special), we went over to the bakery to do some shopping. Prices are competitive and for S$20 you can get a whole loaf of oven-baked bread, as well as a few buns and rolls. I must say it was cheaper than I expected. On the downside, trying the bake-wares at home later, I was disappointed by the fact that they must have at least been a day old. If you're into bread like most Europeans are, nothing beats the taste of warm/ freshly baked bread or buns. The bun's from Werner's, however, we dry and crumbly. This might be excused by the fact that the bakery is small and low demand might not merit baking every day, still for the buyer this does not make a difference.

After returning from the Bakery after what was were 10 minutes tops, I was astonished to find that our food was already ready. We had ordered a Baked Camembert with Cranberries for a starter and Leberkaes with roasted potatoes as well as Cordon Bleu with dumplings and mushroom gravy.

Unfortunately, any and all of our food was lukewarm, leading me to believe that they pre-prepare most of it and then just warm it up or put it in the microwave. In any event it would have been neigh impossible to prepare all of it within the short time we spent in the bakery.

The Camembert was okay, but nothing special, the same goes for the Leberkaes, and the Cordon Bleu. All these you could buy in a German supermarket and prepare them at home in the frying pan or oven and you'd have the same result. The dumplings were a big disappointment and the sauce was also ready-made. The only positive surprise were the roast potatoes, but then again one cannot do much wrong cooking roast potatoes.

All in all an ok lunch, though not cheap at c. S$70 with soft drinks.

3/5 Stars

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