huh. brunch 2.

our second brunch outing found us in laura's neck of the woods.  we met at ajlunied MRT and walked a bit (ok a fairways) down sims road then turned onto still road. we were a bit wary of finding a place for brunch as the street was one of those busy, high traffic roads, but then we saw this place with a large covered lanaii area full of retro sofas and chairs and a big BRUNCH sign in the window. the place was empty, it was still early (if 11:00 am is early, of course it is on a sunday morning) and the staff were waiting for us at the door.  they recommended we sit inside as it was air conditioned.  and they recommended we sit on the sofas, as they only had two tables, both fairly uncomfortable looking.  the decor was sparse, modern retro chic, i guess is what you call it. the menu was interesting.  actually fantastic choices, but we couldn't understand the link between the odd large chinese face paintings (two, maybe chinese demons, abstract-ive-ish) and the lyrics to monkees songs all over the menu, and the retro steel american outdoor patio chairs (circa 1950) painted in bright colours.  odd.  no. 'electic'.

some of us ordered coffee, some water, i ordered english breakfast tea, as we chatted.  we are all pretty new to singapore and are just getting our footings, so we had the regular, where do you find this, how do you like that.   but here is the cool part; while we were discussing nothing in particular, the chef himself came out to welcome us to his restaurant.  i think it might be new.  and he took our orders.  and.. AND.. i told him i was vegan and he didn't even flinch! we went through the menu of which there were no options and i asked if he could do a dish with potatoes and vegetables and he suggested a potato flan.  YAY!

the food was quick.  and good.  mine lacked a bit of taste. could have used ketchup.  there were about 3 servers but no one came over to see if we were ok.  the chef came out though to ask if everything was ok, but i wasn't about to ask the chef, who just cooked a special meal for me, for ketchup.  suck it up buttercup.

we all enjoyed our meals.  claire did get her eggs benedict and liked it.  laura had pancakes and said they were good.  and our new bruncher kathy had eggs over easy; which really weren't over easy, more like fried.  she tried to explain the difference to our server, but eventually gave up. whatever, eggs are eggs, i guess.

kathy has been busy for the past weeks and so wasn't able to come to our first brunch meeting, but as the conversation progressed the truth came out.  she wasn't busy.. she was hung over.  ha!  ok, you'll have to understand the context. we are (now) four middle aged women.  some are over 30.  some over 40. so our nights (and there were alot and they were good) of clubbing and our days (again way too many to have to remember) of hang overs are pretty much over.  sometimes i think cathy wakes up too early with her toddler to a throbbing headache from too many glasses of chardonnay the night before, but that's about it.  so katy told us that she had found a group on singaporeexpats.com for over 40 people to meet up and she finally went and met up with a crazy bunch of expats at the fullerton hotel roof top.  where francois (the host) proceeded to ply them all with way too much wine and champagne and when the lantern became too dull they headed down into the belly of singapore and danced the rest of the night away at a gay bar.  too funny.  if you met katy you would understand our shocked (and highly amused) faces.  it's not that she's not cool. she is. tremendously. just in a kinda more straight laced cute kinda way.

so yeah. so the restaurant was ok. better than brekko. the chef's attitude was fantastic.  the company, as always, awesome.  the price, a bit steep, but then, hello? customized vegan dish. the bathrooms were clean.. and not too far away.  yes, that is an issue. sometimes restaurants are located in a mall and have only the mall's toilet which forces one to actually leave the restaurant and walk for possibly miles in search of the public vestibules.  however, this is singapore and even the public toilets are usually immaculate.  but yes.. where was i? the bathrooms were connected to the restaurant.  the only real draw back besides kinda bland food was that the restaurant is located on a rather busy street. although the lanaii is huge, lovely and just begs for someone to veg out on its numerous couches and arm chairs, no one really wants to sit listening to the sound of traffic without air conditioning.

and so i am giving this brunch 31/2 stars.  it was a delightful find.  especially the chef.  and fantastic conversation.  waaay better than brekko, more open, cleaner, upscaler, quieter, relaxing-er.....and an ok price. and next time, i'll bring ketchup. 

NAME**
near aljunied MRT


** i have no idea what the hell this restaurant was called.  it was on street with a large brunch sign in the window. and lots of weird references to mickey dolenz of the monkees. if i ever return i will pay closer attention.  in the meantime, if anyone can tell me the name, i'll send you... something. :)

** update:  laura lives down the street from this place.  sadly, like davy jones the cutest monkey of the monkees, this restaurant is no more. :(