I wake up today craving a meaty brunch and the idea of a bagel pops into my head. A quick Google points me the direction of Two Men Bagel. I head over to the closest branch in Novena. The shop is located on the outside of the shopping centre with seating on the pavement. I look at the menu and there are two choices that fulfil my meaty requirement, the Primal (brisket) or Ribs, I choose the brisket as my substitute for a roast beef Sunday lunch. When I get to order my first choice of bagel the multigrain had run out so I choose the cheddar. After paying I realised the Primal already had cheddar which meant I was getting good dose of double cheese. So I sit down and wait for my order, the seating is on bar stools/table on the pavement or next to the open kitchen where you can see the fresh bagels being made. I didn’t have to wait long for my order and when it did, I opened the wrapping paper to reveal a chunky cheesy bagel with a generous portion of brisket, cheddar and pickle, I was in for a treat. The bagel was fresh, soft and cheesy, it wasn’t my first choice but did go well with the filling. The brisket was flavoursome, juicy and had small bits of fat which added to the flavour, this was all complimented by the sourness of the picked, cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce. I enjoyed every bite of this delicious bagel and was exactly what I was looking for. One comment on the bagel is that I generally prefer the dough to be a little more chewy but that’s a minor preference in what is a very good bagel. I will be returning to try the ribs!

I’ve marked hygiene down for two reasons, even though the staff are quick at cleaning the tables, the cleaning isn’t thorough, from the picture you can see tissues and food on the floor which attracted pigeons. And secondly the bin was full.

I’ve been here a few times now and the favourite items on the menu is the steak and chips and the large selection of wine. The menu is mainly small plates and around four mains. Overall the food is OK, I would prefer a few more mains but where Frenchie excels is the choice of wine and friendly atmosphere. And I almost forgot about the bread!

We planned to go else where but since we both finished work late and restaurants close at 10:30PM we decided to go someone close to home and ended up at Five&2 (forgot to ask the origin of the name). It was a shame we got there after 8PM and missed happy hour. We ordered wince, can’t remember which ones but it was good and for food I ordered the burger with fries, the Aglio Olio Seafood (no picture) and for dessert the chocolate lava cake. All food items were OK and matched my expectations of the establishment. On a not so hot night it’s nice to sit outside and enjoy the view of Pongol pond. It was my first time here and it won’t be the last.

My friend suggested we come to Five Oars after our weekly hike. As with most brunch places at the weekend we had to queue. Fortunately we got a table relatively quickly. I ordered the crab scramble which consisted of shredded crab on scramble egg, avocado, cherry tomatoes,feta cheese on sour dough toast with ebiko and furikake sprinkled on top. When the dish arrived the presentation was very good with ample scramble egg that was cooked well and ripe avocado. Overall the dish was OK but the crab meat was tasteless, dare I say it tasted like it was from a can. My friend had the build your own brunch lite (no photo), her feed back was that the brunch was good except the German Pork Bratwurst which didn’t wasn’t very good and ended up not finishing it. We both had black coffees which were good. Overall I liked the vibe of the place and will return to try other items on the menu in particular creme brûlée French toast.

I had the day off so wandered into Orchard for lunch. I walked past Nakajima and noticed a queue, even though I don’t like queuing but since I was on leave I decided to give it a try. I ordered the Akauo Hiraki set which consisted of a piece of grilled Akauo, rice, tofu, radishes, miso soup and green tea.
When the set arrived it looked very apprising. The fish nicely grilled and aroma from the miso soup. I tucked in and was disappointed, the fish didn’t have much taste and was overly salty. I am not sure this was because the fish was previously frozen or that the meat doesn’t have much taste. The plus point was the miso soup was very flavoursome and salad was fresh. Even though the fish wasn’t very good I did like the concept of the restaurant and will go back to try other items on the menu.