Montana Brew Bar (Closed)

Montana Brew Bar known for it's Southern Chicken Waffle, Red Velvet waffles and Green Tea Waffles has now moved to the second floor, with a completely revamped menu and concept.Montana Singapore serves pasta, savoury and sweet waffles as well as coffee and beer.South Bronx located on the ground floor, serves up American comfort classic style burgers.Right above South Bronx is Fabulous Dough which serves up sweet donuts. Upon closer inspection of their menu, you will notice interesting items never seen before at other eateries, such as Jalapeno Mac & Cheese Waffle, Assam Crab Waffle, Bulgogi Beef Waffle and more! The menu has enough reasons to explain that Montana seeks to seriously stand out!It's a 3 in 1 F&B outlet that serves sweet and savoury and 15 over beers. A truly ingenius idea to capture a wide array of taste buds.Here's the cafe facing the escalators. Once you walk in, on your left you will see Fabulous Dough and down the stairs, you will arrive at South Bronx.1. Jalapeno Mac & Cheese Waffle $12One of their first savoury waffles that attracted me to Montana about 10 months ago. This is a waffle-ised jalapeno Mac and Cheese topped with white truffle oil that gives it that sharp truffle aroma. Together with the tomato relish and jalapeno cheese dip, this has brought this dish to the next level. The presentation of the dish also goes to show that this could serve more as a snack to share rather than just as a main course. I believe their recipe has differed from the last time I tried it as I was able to taste the mac and cheese more distinctly this time. It is no longer dry but rather you can also taste the cheese mixture inside the waffle. The sauce gave it a slight more sourish and salty oomph needed to bring out the flavour in the macaroni and cheese waffle.2. Assam Crab Waffle $18 *Highly Recommended*Probably my no.1 favourite waffle at Montana. Inspired by Kedah Laksa, this Assam spiced waffle is served with seasoned crab meat and pineapple cucumber laksa. The waffle itself isn't spicy at all, which one would've expected considering, this dish is inspired by Kedah Laksa. The waffle is slightly fluffier rather than crispy.Nevertheless, this dish was still able to capture the essence of the laksa aroma and taste. The crab meat tasted freshly and were generously served! The sauce provided with the waffle had a slight mango sweetness and together with the laska flavour, they paired well!3. Bulgogi Beef Waffle $16This was a very interesting waffle, with a mix of Gochujang rice waffle with Sous Vide Bulgogi beef which was very tasty. The beef was really good and I pretty much want to order this again just for the beef! Served with an orange sesame coleslaw, sous vide poached egg and spring onions. The poached egg was perfectly poached to place this dish as an "instagrammable" waffle. The egg also adds some volume to the savoury beef strips. The waffle itself was slightly chewy due to the rice mixed into the batter.4. Truffle Egg Fettuccine $16Served with a sunny side up, the truffle taste was subtle, but the mushrooms gave it the right flavour. Not the most spectacular dish on their menu, but if you are a mushroom lover and craving for pasta, this can satisfy your needs! The fettuccine was slightly on the harder side for texture, and though the dish wasn't dry, I can only wish that there was more a mushroom sauce add some more flavour to the fettuccine.5. Vodka Crab Penne $16Another interesting dish on the menu was their Vodka Crab Penne. I love penne as it's one of the easiest pasta to eat, just spoon or fork each penne. No need for messy twirling of spaghetti noodles. They used sufficient cheese in the sauce to give each penne a strong cheese aroma.I couldn't really taste any vodka or cheese, but this dish was to my liking. The serving was a pretty huge portion for 1, and as I dug in, I didn't feel gerlat at all, and could forsee myself polishing this plate clean!6. Black Velvet Waffle $14One waffle dish that has been flooding instagram is this black velvet waffle. It is a chocolate coated vanille ice cream scoop. Served on top of a black sesame waffle. You have a choice of big crunch (crispy) or fluffy. I choose the big crunchy as I like crispy waffles. But sadly, even though the ice cream didn't drench through the waffle, I still felt that the waffle could be crispier. The Jalapeno mac and cheese waffle was definitely crispier than this waffle.TA-DA!Check out the vanilla ice cream beneath the chocolate coat. It's almost like a "Kinder Surprise" vanilla ice cream! The vanilla ice cream was smooth with hints of a creamy aftertaste. The chocolate itself was thick and very hard. Definitely grab a knife to cut into this.7. MochaPumped up with a double shot, this mocha definitely kept me going though the night! You can easily taste the chocolate fused with the coffee in this drink.8. Yuzu Infused Coconut Cold Brew $6.50A very interesting creation, is their yuzu infused coconut cold brew. The yuzu provided a very sour and fruity taste but together with the cold brew, you get a bitter aftertaste. Definitely a drink to give you a "kick" in the mid-day hot afternoon.Served in a beaker, you can slowly sip this up with a sweet waffle dessert. I actually enjoyed this cold brew, despite not really being able to taste the coconut.Montana also has a wide array of imported draft beers. So you can bring the boys out for a chill out session, along with sweet and savoury waffles for the ladies.Montana has done a great job bringing so many different elements together, food, drinks, ambience and they are very open to feedback, which is probably the reason to their major shifts from their humble beginings.Overall : 1) Very interesting waffles creations 2) Both savoury and sweet 3) Great chill out spot! continue reading

Founded in January 2015, Montana Brew Bar quickly gained a reputation for their creative savoury waffles and sweet waffles, served in an small cafe designed for urban industrial chic touches. The quick success has led Montana Brew Bar to revamp their brand in December 2015, renaming themselves to Montana Singapore, and opening 2 other food concepts under this new brand.Ambience at Montana Brew Bar / Montana Singapore still retains the dark, urban industrial chic decor. Harsh warm spotlights cut through the shadows, creating patterns on the textured rugs. Functional, rustic, metal and wooden furniture line the small interior, with animal print cushions helping to increase the comfort. The open kitchen and bar counter allows you to watch staff at work. However, I find ventilation to be an issue, despite the open space, I had cooking smells staining my clothing on 2 separate occasions.Service at Montana Brew Bar / Montana Singapore is friendly and efficient. The relatively young staff are chirpy and can engage diners in conversation. I get a very comfortable, welcoming feeling. They display basic product knowledge, able to provide simple answers when queried about the menu and dishes, and politely request to check if they're not sure. You can even wander over to converse with the kitchen or barista! I commend the proactiveness in clearing away empty / dirty plates and tables, as well as topping up of water glasses, though I also notice they don't always do this.Food at Montana Brew Bar / Montana Singapore is Western and Asian fusion, with a focus on savoury waffles, sweet waffles, and coffee. Freshly made, dishes here are tasty, with big, bold, varied flavours. Complex in taste, but it works well together, without clashing. This Modern Singaporean cuisine at Montana Brew Bar / Montana Singapore is love / hate, either you'll like it, or you won't. Portions are large, and individuals will struggle to finish, so sharing is recommended. Prices are reflective of a high-end cafe, budget about SGD $27 per person for a decent meal here.The Yuzu Coconut Cold Brew (SGD $6.50) is a unique beverage! The chilled coffee has been infused with yuzu, lending a sweet citrus flavour to the robust and deep flavour of the coffee. Realise it may not appeal to everyone though. I personally liked it!The Jalapeno Mac & Cheese Waffle, Version 4 (SGD $12) is creative because the sour jalapenos, macaroni pasta, and gooey cheese is baked directly into the waffle, which has a crisp exterior! The interior is also scented with truffle oil, which creates an earthy taste contrast with the savoury, cheesy taste of the waffle, yet does not overwhelm the palate. Served with a tangy, sour spicy, jalapeno salsa on the side, I thought this was quite good. Worth ordering again, which I did on my 2nd visit!Chef draws on his heritage from Kedah, Malaysia, to create this Assam Crab Waffle (SGD $18). My personal favourite of their new dishes, this is designed to resemble the Malaysian Kedah Laksa, with a fluffy waffle laced with shredded galangal, lemongrass, and herbs, topped with deshelled crab meat that has a lovely sweet freshness, a diced pineapple, cucumber, and radish salsa, and a savoury sour assam / tamarind laksa gravy. Highly recommended!Choose to have the Chocolate Banana Waffle (SGD $12) either fluffy or crisp, I got this crisp. Excellent, the waffle is fragrant, light, and crisp, with good chocolate flavour. With sweet, caramelised slices of banana, and a generous scoop of fragrant vanilla bean ice cream, this was completely delicious. Highly recommended!Full Montana Brew Bar / Montana Singapore review here: http://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.sg/2015/12/montana-brew-bar-montana-singapore.html continue reading

A colleague had recommended Montana Brew Bar (MBB for short) so the wife and I made a trip down after work one evening to give it a shot.MBB occupies a small space on the first floor of PoMo and plays neighbour to an outlet of Ya Kun Kaya Toast. MBB attempts to distinguish itself by utilising earthy colours in its design and through the placement of warm lights. Seating is rather limited with space for approximately 20+ pax or so. How the place works is you place your order and make payment at the counter and the food will be served to you. One small gripe I had was that I couldn't order everything at once and request for dessert to be served later; not particularly flexible in my humble opinion.Southern Fried Chicken Waffle - This dish inevitably brought about comparisons with The Beast's (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/03/the-beast-seriously-overrated.html) offering of this classic Southern dish. First up, the chicken. MBB's chicken was a mess of spicy, a tad dry chicken pieces thrown together and topped with spicy mustard coleslaw; clearly in a totally different league from that of The Beast's juicy, flavourful rendition. The waffles were a totally different story altogether though. Whilst The Beast's waffles came across as hard and unpleasantly sourish, MBB's waffles were light and fluffy with a mildly crisp exterior. Maybe both eateries could contemplate working together?Umami Burger - At $14, this was honestly quite small and came adorned with cheese, mushrooms and bonito flakes. Which was all good because of the various layers of flavour except that the basic beefy taste was a little lacking. I liked the overall flavour but mourned the absence of the beefiness. The bun (apparently it's made from sweet potato) came across as soft and mildly sweet; no great shakes honestly. You have the option of topping up $2 to "upgrade" your fries to truffle fries, which isn't such a great idea in my humble opinion as the quantity of fries is very limited and the fries I had came seriously drenched in truffle oil (where's the QC?) with loads of fragrance but not much of a truffle taste.Chocolate Banana Waffles - As the waffles were good, we decided to have another waffle for dessert; the chocolate banana waffle. And it came across as decent. The waffle sported the same light, fluffy texture as the one that came with the chicken earlier on except that this was darker in colour and had bits of what seemed like oreo crumbs wedged in random spots within the waffle. No chocolate taste whatsoever. The vanilla bean ice cream was relatively smooth with no discernible ice chips whilst the banana slices could do with more caramelisation. What I found interesting was the Nutella truffle butter that was sprinkled sporadically throughout; in the form of tiny clumps and mildly sweet.Moral of the story? Stick to the original waffles.Overall we spent $38 for two waffles and a burger. Not too expensive and overall food quality is still decent. But I would skip the burgers in future and head straight for the waffles.See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/montana-brew-bar-go-for-waffles.html continue reading

So have you heard, Montana Brew Bar now offers burgers to compliment their menu of waffles. Popped by to try out their affordable yet flavourful items. Truffle Egg Burger That egg, the piece of melted cheese above the decent chunk of beef patty. Grab it together and take a bite. Shiok I tell you. Umami Burger Miso shitakae mushrooms sautéed perfectly, topped above that beef patty. My favourite amongst the burgers. See that generous amount of mushrooms - generous yet just nice. Pesto Chicken Burger Chicken, pesto and corn. Something on the safe side. I felt flavours were lacking. Nonetheless, a safe bet in a menu of beef patties.Thai Lemongrass Prawn BurgerLemongrass prawn patty married with fresh onions and cubes of mango. drizzled with some green curry dressing. A great mix and a seafoody experience. overall reivew: full reveiew and photos @ http://shauneeie.blogspot.sg/2015/07/montana-brew-bar-pomo-part-2.htmlfollow me on instagram: @shauneeie or like my facebook page: @shauneeie for more foodie escapades continue reading

Being a waffles fan, I was rather psyched to hear about Montana Brew Bar and its range of savoury and sweet waffles. So when *Celine mentioned she would like to visit as well, we set a date and headed down to the tiny, open-concept cafe located at the basement of PoMo (the ex-Paradiz Centre).I started with an Iced Mocha (SGD$6.00) with Montana HouseBlend beans (dried fruits, red grape, plum, intense lingering aftertaste with hints of floral, blueberry and dark chocolate flavour notes). It was served so prettily in a wine glass I was almost reticent to drink it. And yes, it was sweet and delicious, smooth as silk as it slid down the throat.The first was "The Ultimate" Truffle Jalapeno Mac & Cheese waffle (SGD$12.50). The crispy, golden-brown waffles with their sharp outlines opened up to reveal a creamy interior of cheese, truffle and macaroni. The tangy Jalapeno flavour stood out distinctly from the velvety macaroni-cheese mush within. For this case, looks were deceiving - the interior did not look as thick or rich as we had expected, but the flavour came through strongly, making this a rather tasty savoury waffle.Next, we had the Southern Fried Chicken Waffle-wich (SGD$10.50) with spicy mustard coleslaw. Being a closet lover of crispy fried chicken, this definitely cut it for me - crispy waffle with crackly fried chicken, enhanced dramatically with a spicy mustard punch.Time for desserts now! We began with a Red Velvet Waffle Stack (SGD$10.50) with vanilla ice-cream and rose sauce. This beautiful and artistically-arranged dessert waffles looked so enticing on its own, all that ruby red and cream tones. The rose syrup aka bandung flavour made this waffle very lovely, served with fluffy, soft and light waffles (different from the crispy ones for the savoury waffles), like eating cakes. We could easily see why this limited-per-day waffle is constantly raved about.For full review and more detailed information, please feel free to visit:http://thearcticstar.blogspot.sg/2015/05/dinner-at-montana-brew-bar-pomo.html continue reading