Review of Carol Mel Cafe by cptslowyeo | OpenRice Singapore

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Located at Irving Place is Carol Mel. It has gone through a revamp and gone are the local food fare and refreshed with western delights. It is a mere 5 minute walk from Tai Seng MRT. It has a very cosy ambience, with red bricks lining the white walls and mellow lighting in the air-conditioned cafe.Peeking at the new menu, you will notice interesting items like Signature Italian Braised Lamb Shank ($26), United's French Onion Soup ($12) and Buttermilk waffle with curry chicken katsu and melted ch

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Located at Irving Place is Carol Mel. It has gone through a revamp and gone are the local food fare and refreshed with western delights. It is a mere 5 minute walk from Tai Seng MRT. It has a very cosy ambience, with red bricks lining the white walls and mellow lighting in the air-conditioned cafe.

Peeking at the new menu, you will notice interesting items like Signature Italian Braised Lamb Shank ($26), United's French Onion Soup ($12) and Buttermilk waffle with curry chicken katsu and melted cheese ($17). These items definitely stood out to me in comparison to your typical hipster cafe offerings.

1. Luncheon Fries *highly recommended*

Luncheon meat fries seems to be the new norm since truffle fries are now served in almost every cafe islandwide. But the trick to good luncheon (spam) fries is the thickness of the fries and how they are cooked. Carol Mel seems to have gotten a winning recipe with a slightly crisp and thick batter covering the outer layer of the spam fry.

On the inside of the spam fry, it is moist and it almost melts in your mouth. It is not oily, soggy or dry. The inside of the spam fry is of the best texture I've tried.

2. Buttermilk waffle curry chicken katsu with melted cheese $17

Buttermilk waffle curry chicken katsu with melted cheese

Crispy butter milk waffle, with breaded chicken katsu layered with melted cheese. Served on the side is japanese curry with cubed carrots and potatoes. This was a first for me, to have japanese curry with a waffle. This is definitely an Eastern version of the "Chicken and waffles" popularized by the Southern North-American culture.

Buttermilk waffle curry chicken katsu with melted cheese

The breaded chicken tasted savoury and was well complimented with the salty and gooey melted cheese. The buttermilk waffle was light and airy. The Japanese curry wasn't too spicy and was a great way to bring out the taste of the breaded chicken cutlet.

3. Porto Fungi $13 *highly recommended*

Chunks of assorted fresh mushrooms. The key word here is "Fresh" mushrooms which were truly juicy and brought out so much flavour into the pasta. Served with Italian herbs, garlic and cooked in a supreme Italian cream sauce. On first sight, I definitely noticed way more mushrooms than pasta! Not to mention the pasta was al dente and the sauce wasn't gerlat. I could definitely devour this entire plate of pasta without thinking about the carbs in this dish. It's that yummy! Oh yes! I'm a mushroom lover so grab this if you're like me!

4. Signature Italian Braised Lamb Shank ($26) *highly recommended*

Signature Italian Braised Lamb Shank

Slow braised lamb shank (450gm) in red wine sauce, served with a side of seasonal vegetables and pasta aglio olio. I was extremely excited to try this. I haven't had a good lamb shank in awhile and the price tag was attractive too! The meat was so tender you could just use a fork or spoon to gently push the meat off the bone. The meat was extremely flavourful on its own but if you are someone who likes stronger flavour, dunk the meat into the red wine sauce and you will not be disappointed.

Signature Italian Braised Lamb Shank

The aglio olio was also great and perfect for the very hungry. I'm totally ordering this again, but I would need to drag someone out to polish this off with me, because you would also need to save space for the desserts at Carol Mel!

5. Signature Whimsical waffle *highly recommended*

Signature Whimsical waffle

Crispy waffles just the way I like it with caramel gelato, melted cheddar cheese (similar to the chicken katsu), grilled marshmallows, berries and topped off with salted caramel sauce and maple syrup!

Signature Whimsical waffle

The aromatic whiff of the melted cheddar cheese was distinct and yet not too overwhelming, which turned out great in a dessert. The waffles had a light and slightly hollow interior which I adored. This sweet waffle definitely satisfied my cravings with its cripness and fragrances of the batter, as well as the cheddar cheese scent.

Signature Whimsical waffle

The ice cream served was creamy, milky and smooth in texture. The ice crea had a lingering sweetness that was emphasized with the salted caramel sauce and maple syrup. The grilled marshmallows also brought an extra sweetness factor to the dessert. The berries were visually appealing and gave a contrasting sour flavour to the variety of sweet items on the plate.

6. Tiramisu in a pot

I'm a huge fan of tiramisu and I'm an even huger fan when it is served in a pot! Because you get the fun of "digging for treasure" lol! The mascarpone cream came with a smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture. The fragrance and aroma lingers in the palate, coupled with a spongy and airy chiffon-like mascarpone fingers.

I would have certainly yearned for a higher intensity of the alcoholic flavour. The portion was rather huge for 1, hence sharing is recommended.

Overall : A great chill out place in tai seng. It has a lot of interesting menu items which are both promising and definitely delivers a "wow" factor to your palate.

(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)

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