in the pantry....where the marmalade is sweet.

now that, is what i call a damn fine brunch.  the marmalade pantry at the stables was suggested by claire.  a damn fine good call. ok, if we are being honest, yes, at first we were skeptical.  since we had no idea where in the hell the stables were.  we: kathy, lizzie, laura and isabella are from the east end of singapore.  claire is from the west.  she had heard from a friend of a friend.  and we all know how good her last friend's angelic suggestion was.  anyhoo....

we: kathy, lizzie, laura and isabella met at the botanical garden mrt and shared a taxi to 'the stables' on the edge of the reservoir.  our cabbie was sufficiently confused by us. he had no idea why anyone would want to head out to the stables, especially on a damp sunday morning. but then we were ang mo (foreigners), so maybe we'd like to see the horses. he drove us along fairways green drive very slowly, pointing at all the happy grazing horses we passed on the way (3).  there were lessons to we could take, just for foreigners to learn how to ride all the old retired horses.  yay! our lucky day.  yeah we weren't taking lessons.

the restaurant was nestled right beside the stables. i had made reservations for inside, but when we got there we decided to sit outside under the fanned canopy.  it was a brilliant decision. during our 3 hour brunch, it was sunny, it was windy, it rained, and it was not once, hot.  a totally delightful day! you know really nothing can compare to sitting outside in the middle of a city surrounded by lush tropical greenery, overlooking empty lush fields, listening to the rain pitter patter on the canopy over your head.  at one time, it rained so hard, we couldn't see anything, just a grey mist. we could have been in scotland overlooking the moors and not even known it.  so refreshing!

i ordered a falfael wrap, again, a delightful surprise being able to order something from the menu.  it was bland.  but whatev's. there was ketchup.  i am not sure i will ever find a good 'vegan' dish here in singapore.  at least it was edible. the tea was delightful, served with its very own tea pot (love that!)  my fellow brunchers however, looked to have made much better choices.  clair got her beloved eggs benedict, which she said was divine. kathy and isabella got the breakfast: eggs, bacon and toast and of course laura got the pancakes.  and then we all got the cupcakes. yay!  really, how could you not.  they were set up inside on a giant table just daring you to order them.  ok. mine was a fail.  it was called chocolate extreme and i just couldn't pass it up.  i didn't see it on the table but i thought.. if they looked that good.. just imagine!  i had visions of a mountain of chocolate icing, with a warm melted lava center, maybe a few chocolate chips to add crunch and then a drizzle of chocolate syrup over the whole thing. yup. imagine disappointment.  dry and flaky and not that chocolately.. and no icing.  isabella got the red velvet with gorgeous cream cheese icing and i almost cried in jealously. (i'm not joking. it looked fackin' awesome)

but whatever.. i had two packets of raw sugar in my tea. who needs chocolate anyways? this brunch our conversation was rather interesting. we spent alot of time talking about how sometimes it can be rather unfair (in a fantastically good way) to be blonde in a foreign country. isabella has a phd in esl education.  she also has short brown hair and could barely get a job in japan, so i cannot begrudge her a good cupcake now and then, especially since i have only a uni diploma, long blonde hair and have been hired way too many times, in all parts of asia solely based on my photo (hair colour/skin colour). 

there is a marmalade pantry in orchard ion.  and we almost went there instead, but since then i have walked past said restaurant. and to be honest, ugh. its in the middle of a mall. with people (like me) walking by and looking at you.  its not that the marmalade pantry has that good food, the food was ok.  but what makes it such a freakin' delight (and what justifies the rather expensive prices) is the ambiance.  when one lives and works everyday in the saturated, crowded, noisy, chaotic concrete jungle that is singapore, a moment (or 3 hours) in a green horse stable-y heaven is divine.  DIVINE!   4 1/2 stars.

The Marmalade Pantry at the Stables
55 Fairways Dr  Singapore 286846

Tel: 6467 7748