Update: Download the Holler Out app and enter promo code "weekendeatwhat" to enjoy 10% discount off spending more than $50.

Because yesterday was Peanut Butter and Jelly (PBJ) day, I thought it would be good to honour and commemorate this wonderful brunch item. 

And also to give a shout out to all the PBJ lovers on where to find a really good PBJ toast. That would be at Artistry. 

Wow at the fluffy PBJ French toast ($14) that is stuffed with raspberry jam, and topped with berries compote. And of course the vanilla icecream!! What's a good brunch if it doesn't end off  with icecream, right?

Looks small but it's actually quite big.

Artistry signature crab burger ($20) is one of a kind with its squid ink buns. The crab meat patty was topped with onion-tomato relish, and served with truffle fries. It was quite salty for me so I preferred my PBJ. 

Artistry serves as an art gallery too and you can actually purchased the paintings that are hanged on the walls. 

If only art can be eaten.

Address: 17 Jalan Pinang S(199149)

So glad that I have more time to blog recently. The problem with my job is that when it gets busy, it's really busy. And when it's less busy, there's still stuff to do but at least I don't have to think about it 24/7. I usually blog during my commute to work. But on busy days, I will be thinking about my job on the commute. When the project's done, it's back to blogging on the commute.

Everyone has obsessions. What is your obsession? For me, that would be fried chicken. It's a dish which is easy to cook but requires some creativity to differentiate one from another. 

I visited The Beast on a Sunday morning. The Beast is actually a bourbon bar and serves Southern American style chicken which the chicken is usually marinated in buttermilk. Think Popeyes. 

They have bar tables on the first floor which was pretty cool and more seats on the second floor. 

If I cannot eat fried chicken in heaven, then I shall not go.

We ordered The Big Breakfast ($22+) to share. It comes with boneless fried chicken drizzled with speciality sauce, candied bacon, sunny side up on a buttermilk biscuit. Bad idea because on hind sight, I would want the whole thing myself. The fried chicken was crispy and juicy. It was enveloped in a sauce which was cheese sausage. The sauce tasted like a combination of melted cheese and chicken stock. Overall it was a really good piece of chicken. 

However, the accompanying buttermilk biscuit did not meet my expectations. It was hard and I wish it tasted more buttery.

No Makers Mark or Moonshine in the morning for us. We got ourselves the southern sweet tea. Despite having a huge lemon, the tea was sweet not sour. Tasted a little syrupy. 

We didn't see the legendary Beast on Sunday morning. Guess it was either sleeping in or eaten up the night before.

The Beast currently serves brunch only on Sunday mornings. If you are looking for some sinful food on a weekend where it isn't crowded, The Beast would be a good choice provided you have not max out your calories limit for the weekend.

Note: The Beast has a 1 for 1 main course promotion on The Entertainer 2015 app. I regretted that I forgot to check my app. It's really quite worth it with The Entertainer app.

Address: 17 Jalan Kappla S(199329)

Tel: 62950017

The Hangar is quite a weird name for a cafe. At first, I misread it as hanger. A hanger is a structure which is used to hang clothes etc. A hangar is a place from which aeroplanes take off /land.

The Hangar is one of those hipster cafes that has landed (pun not intended) in the Kampong Glam neighbourhood - home to many other hipster cafes. While many kids call me auntie (or rather their parents insisted they call me auntie although I am often mistaken as a student), I am proud to inform that I know what is the meaning of hipster.

The Hangar is a hipster cafe because:

1. It has a sexy attitude. See the big sign “sexy coffee” at the shopfront? And the explicit use of the word “sh*t” in the shopfront is probably not approved by non-hipsters. Only hipsters would approve its attitude.
2. It has industrial-like interior that screams metal and rock, like all other hipster cafes. The counter is a bar and when day turns to dusk, this place serves alcohol. Or liquid diet as they call it.
3. The people who hang out there are ang mohs and youngsters.
4. They serve usual grub that hipsters eat, for e.g. big breakfast, toasties, waffles. For those who have a bigger appetite for brunch, The Hangar serves meat sandwiches. Try the lemongrass-fed steak sandwich ($12) which my friend endorsed. In between two slices of toasted sourdough bread was tender and flavourful steak garnished with caramelized onions, shimeiji mushrooms and homemade steak sauce. I am not a big fan of beef because I find it raw and metallic in most cases. But this version doesn't taste anything like that and it was actually quite nice. The End of the Rainbow ($12) which is actually a jar of granola with Greek yoghurt, strawberries, blueberries was a healthy alternative to the red meat. But it was overly sour for my liking.
5. Like all hipster cafes, The Hangar serves pretty good coffee. We got the iced latte ($6) and Freeze the Marbles ($7). Freeze the marbles is actually an iced blended latte and I like how it’s not overly bitter and acidic. Why is it called Freeze the marbles? Because "iced blended latte" is too mainstream for hipsters.

We managed to get a deal off Deal.com.sg which we paid $12 for $25 worth of food. Prices are nett without service charge. So it turns out about $12 for each person. Cheap for a hipster brunch. This place is kinda small and does not fit in a lot of people. They do take reservations so do call them first especially on weekends when it can get kinda crowded.

Address: 25 Arab Street, 199724
Tel: 6291 0127

Dark and elusive, Ronin looks like a favourite brunch place for vampires. Except that no blood is served. I had quite a hard time finding Ronin because it doesn't have a signboard. There is only a sign outside stating its address 17 Hong Kong St. 

Visited at 11am on a Saturday morning and was very pleased to find quite an empty cafe. #victoryscored

Communal table spotted in the middle and several bar tables nearer to the open kitchen. Common sense says don't sit near the kitchen unless I want to smell like my food. 

A glance of the drinks menu and Wicked ($5.50) caught my eyes. Blink blink. It is actually a mocha mint which was refreshing and cooling, and surprisingly mint complements the mocha very well. I like that it is not bitter and yet not overly sweet. My friend got the pretty Matcha tone ($5.50) that had steamed milk on top of a thick layer of matcha. Which was highly raved as intense and nice.

We both ordered the brioche French toast ($14.50), a sumptuous brunch which comes with braised apples, bacon and hazelnut butter and syrup. I like the fluffy toast and the hazelnut butter sauce that drenches and complements it nicely. But the apple was too sour for me. 

Service was attentive too. I like that Ronin doesn't charge GST or service charge, which made our brunch pretty value for money. I think I'll go back for Wicked soon.

Address: 17 Hong Kong Street Singapore 059660

Wow where do I even begin? It has been a busy busy month and haven't got time to update this little forgotten blog of mine.

Anyway I visited Symmetry quite a while ago. Symmetry had been on my "to eat" list for the longest time. In fact, this was the second time I visited. The first time when I went without reservations, I thought there was a queue for a free meal or something. So in the end I gave up.

Queue for free food?

So unless you want to take your patience training to a higher level, please remember to call and make reservations or book online.

Yes that's how insanely popular Symmetry is. Which I can understand why. I love everything about it. The brick walls. The cute lamps. The big windows. The menu that shows drawings of the food instead of real photos. The witty posters and quotes. The music that I don't know who is the singer but I like it because it makes me feel cool. 

I ordered my favourite drink of the century (DOTC) aka green tea latte ($6.50++). Hmmm Symmetry's version is a bit less sweet and a bit diluted for my liking, although I can still taste the green tea powder. I prefer the Starbucks version which is sweeter. My fellow diner ordered a flat white ($5.50++). It was good per my friend.

And here I present to you the die die must order: Symmetry Eggs Benedict ($22++). It comes with two poached eggs sitting on top off bacon, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, aged cheddar and of course hollandaise sauce. I love the awesome hollandaise sauce and the golden eggs which flowed like a river. The fragrant toasted bread was crispy at the edges and fluffy in the centre to soak up the sauce and egg yolk. And I love the bacon which was savoury salty with a tinge of sweetness. The mushrooms were a bit bitter and  pungent which gave a different dimension in taste to the whole dish. The lonely looking tomatoes at the side tasted a bit weird and were strangely not sweet. 

My friend got the waffles with ice-cream $16++ (I don't know how come got people eat waffles with ice-cream for breakfast). The waffles were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Very substantial and will feel full half way. But I think I prefer Wimbly Lu's version much more. 

Service was not very attentive and I had to wave frantically to catch the wait staff's attention zzz. It also took forever for them to give us back our change. But overall they were polite and friendly lah.

Address: 9 Jalan Kubor, 199206
Symmetry website 

Common Man Coffee Roasters is a cafe located at Martin Road. 

Which is ulu for those without a car. 

Which is a less crowded brunch place for those with a car. #justsaying

Anyway I was here to give a birthday treat to one of my "sisters". The sister who broke the sister code regularly #BoysOverSisters #GaveUp. The sister who had a week-long daily celebration starting from Monday. And the sister who scheduled my turn only six days later on a Sunday.

I could have wished her happy birthday like how someecards did. But I'm nice. Haha.

Common Man Coffee Roasters is the typical popular cafe that does not take reservations on weekends. 

But due to my good karma, we didn't have to queue when we reached at 12pm on Sunday. There was a short queue from 1pm though. 

I couldn't get a picture of the interior of the packed place but here's one from the Common Man Coffee Roasters's website. 

Patrons are mainly ang moh with kids and youngsters, the usual suspects. It can be really noisy so if you are looking for a quiet place, this ain't it.

Seats are mainly bar table style. There was a big common round table in the middle. But we are anti-social Asians so we were given one private corner next to the windows with plenty of natural light. 

Latte/Cappuccino ($5++ each)
I am no expert in coffee. But I love Common Man Coffee Roasters' version of cappuccino very much. Everything about the coffee hit the right notes with me, as if the barista and I had common wavelengths. The coffee doesn't leave a sourish/bitter after taste - my usual concern with most other coffees. It is light-bodied yet does its role well to wake me up on a Sunday. 

Organic eggs benedict ($24++)
My friend had the organic eggs benedict with braised ox cheeks and artisanal sourdough toast. She had nothing but praises for it. If you don't trust 99% of what I crapped on this blog, you can trust my friend who was probably a serious food critic in her previous life. 

I had a small bite of it. The ox cheeks were moist/tender and not overly gamey. And when soaked with the golden egg yolks and hollandaise sauce as well as the accompany toast, it was a wondrous mix. 

Brioche French toast ($18++)

I had my eyes set on the brioche French toast. The brioche French toast was served on a wooden board. Vibrant red raspberries and strawberries compote sat on top of soft warm golden brown brioche that is dusted sparingly yet with the right amount of icing sugar. The compote was not sour but sweet. 

End it off with some really smooth Kapiti vanilla ice cream that was melting slowly into the brioche toast. 

I loved the toast which was served warm, fluffy and crispy at the corners. Haven't had a really good French toast like this for a long time. 

Service speed was amazing for a Sunday crowd. We only had to wait for about 10 minutes for our food to come. 

What can I say?  Common Man Coffee Roasters has exceeded my expectations with its substantial and good quality food and coffee, as well as speedy customer service. It might be a bit expensive, but at least you don't get crappy food or service. This is certainly one of the better brunch places that I would highly recommend. 

Address:
22 Martin Road #01-00 Singapore 239058

Tel: 6836 4695