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2013-10-02
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Arbite is nestled in the sleepy area of Serangoon Garden where you get to avoid the bustle of crowds and can just enjoy a peaceful day hanging out with friends. It's located at level 2 of a shophouse building (the sign is quite big so you can't miss it) and the place is a lot smaller than I would've imagined it to be. My friend and I risked heading there on a Sunday for brunch without reservation but were pleasantly surprised that there wasn't too long a wait. We got a table after 10 minutes. Th
The cafe is very small and when packed full of chatting people, it can get quite noisy. I wouldn't say it's a conducive environment for chilling with a book but for a quick meal in a nice cafe setting, this fits the bill. Fun note: They sell quite a bit of truffle oil and other truffle stuff in that green shelve by the counter. Take a browse and you may find something worth buying for the kitchen.
Cute photos framed on the wall. The design of this place is very minimalist and almost to the point of bare. Other than the touches of wooden tables and photo frames, there's not much other design in the place.
First up for our brunch is the Sea Salt Caramel Banana Pan Cake ($14.90). The design is so cute! They made a smiley face which I though is an adorable touch. The pancakes are fluffy and soft (no knives needed just use your fork). There are 3 layers of pancakes and between each layer is a thick smear of mashed bananas. They don't serve maple syrup (you have to request for it) as I think it is meant to be eaten with the caramel sauce. I prefer my pancakes drenched with maple so without it, it's a tad dry for me. The bananas are thick and cloying and makes it harder to swallow. I also didn't get any hint of the sea salt that's supposed to be sprinkled over this dish. The bits of walnuts are very tasty with the pancakes, and I do like the texture, but overall I wouldn't order it again.
We also had the Eggs Benedict ($11.90) and this is a very simple dish. A couple of poached eggs, some honey baked ham drizzled with hollandaise on brioche buns and a small salad in the middle. They don't have a smoked salmon version (I love Eggs Benny with salmon commonly known as Eggs Royale) but the eggs were cooked till they were perfectly runny and the buns were soft and acts as a nice "vehicle" to sop the eggs and ham up into my mouth. They were super generous with the hollandaise sauce and a hint of sour cream and even I found that it was more than enough! I like this dish enough (but it didn't leave me craving for more) BUT I have to note that it is quite a petite dish. If you're a big eater, it may not be enough.
Their Iced Mocha ($5) is simply awesome! Most of the time, the mochas in cafes are either too sweet or too bland. The Iced Mocha here is a perfect balance of coffee and sweetness. I'm so happy that the coffee to syrup ratio is well balanced that I don't feel like I'm slurping up pure syrup. Dense and a hint of smokey flavour and because it's iced they did the right move to make the drink stronger as the melting ice will dilute the flavour. If you're not here to eat, definitely order this and relax the afternoon away.
Lastly, we ended with this unique desert - the Gula Meleka Tiramisu ($8). For the uninitiated, Gula Melaka is brown sugar that's very sweet and has a heavy robust taste and typically used in Asian desserts. We were so intrigued with this East meets West fusion that we had to try it. The gula melaka is infused into the mascarpone and it's very strong! Actually from the first bite, the first thing that hit me was the alcohol flavour. Then slowly, as we ate, the gula meleka taste took over. By the time we finished half the dessert, we couldn't taste anything but the gula meleka. This ingredient has an overpowering taste and unfortunately, it consumed the delicate tiramisu till I feel like I was eating pure brown sugar. I couldn't taste the chocolate or mascarpone at all. So unless you have a MAJOR sweet tooth, I would skip this. Overall, Arbite is a nice place to get a quick brunch. The food was a hit and miss for me but I like the ambience enough that I wouldn't mind coming back to try other items on the menu. The lunch menu did look very promising to that might be my next aim!
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