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Bee's Knees
Brunch at the Singapore Botanic Gardens is becoming quite a lifestyle. The options are opening up with more cafes setting up shop within the nation's only UNESCO heritage site and arguably, the original and proper National garden. The Garage is located at the north-western side of the garden within a conserved black-and-white bungalow along Cluny Park Road, it houses a couple of eateries with Bee's Knees being the chill, family-friendly brunch place...
making full use of the Colonial architecture within its interior, Bee's Knees makes a cosy brunch place to spend quality time. Ambience is probably one of the key highlights, with both the al-fresco seating and the inside of the cafe bringing out the laid-back feeling of dining in a garden. the outdoors are actually more child-friendly when the weather is kind while the inside space is alot more compact. the menu itself is pretty wide-spread ranging from breakfast sets, to sandwiches/croissants, pastas and even pizzas. everything is generally reasonably priced and the portions are really good. 
we saw many patrons eating food coming out of the bakery, so we decided to try one of their croissants as well. this Kurobuta Ham Croissant comes with Arugula rocket leaves, very well melted Emmental cheese and a generous slice of Kurobuta ham. it was served warm and turned out to be pretty comfort food. it seems like the cafe allows for adding on of scrambled eggs, because we saw many groups topping up their croissant meal with eggs as well. 
for the more traditional brunch person, Bee's Knees have their own version of the full breakfast works as well. The Big Breakfast set we ordered came with smoked salmon, poached eggs, roasted tomatoes, sliced bratwurst sausages and Ciabatta toast. Not to forget the little hash brown nuggets that topped off the meal. a very hearty and enjoyable dish that would certainly be a favourite for both adults and kids. 
of course their coffee aroma is what completes the atmosphere as well, i particularly enjoyed my orange mocha which although was a tad pricey, served up a good blend of coffee, chocolate with a lingering citrus taste. we also noticed this cute take-away counter where you not only make payment, but can also pick up cakes, bread or coffee to go. This appeared to be popular amongst the morning joggers who were just completing their rounds from the Botanic Gardens. maybe age is catching up or maybe it was just a slightly different brunch experience, but a visit to Bee's Knees invokes a different feeling from a typical hipster brunch cafe - there was a certain more relaxed and joyous vibe in this family cafe, and we found that great for some quality time. 
Bee's Knees @ The Garage 50 Cluny Park Rd Singapore 257488 Opening Hours Daily: 8 am to 10 pm ‘Bee social,’ ‘bee connected’ is the friendly promise here.. Labels: #beesknees, #botanicgardens, #brunchcafe, #brunchfood, #clunypark, #kurobutahamcroissant Kindred Folk
anyone who had spent part of their school-going days around the Bukit Timah area would have remembered either chilling out or mugging for exams at King Albert Park. the building together with the McDonald's outlet that used to be there was so iconic that many gathered for a nostalgic party on the night before the building was shut down and redeveloped. Today, the site houses a mixed development with apartments, a cinema and several eateries. and although McDonald's has not come back, the new establishments are hoping that people would come back to chill out, or possibly still mug for their exams.
Kindred Folk is essentially an ice-cream place that occupies a duplex unit at King Albert Park. the eatery also serves up pastas, pizzas and other light bites to ensure that there's something for everyone. depending on customer profile and the dining ambience that they'd prefer, the store has an al-fresco dining section on the ground floor, and on the upper deck, there are tables, benches and even a hammock for customers to chill. the food offering here is affordably priced, evidently with the student population in mind as well. 
we tried their pasta mains that mostly came with quirky names on the menu. for example, this dish is called Spice It Up - the cafe's own version of tomyum aglio olio linguine served with sauteed prawns. the portions are generous and the pasta is prepared with a real spicy kick. a simple dish that's flavourful and great for a casual meal. we noted that most of the pasta dishes included some Asian fusion elements, probably the direction of the owners' creations.. 
i always had a thing for tomato based pastas, so there wasn't much hesitation to decide on this Tomayto Tomato dish. in fact, its quite interesting to say that its quite rare to get a thick tomato-based pasta meal outside done this way - served with dollops of crushed tomato sauce and topped with an abundant amount of chopped Chorizo sausages. perhaps it was because the dishes were presented as comfort food, we lapped them up pretty quickly. 
i guess of course, we wouldn't have been considered to have visited Kindred Folk if we missed out on their ice-creams. we went for their charcoal waffle with double scoop of really good ice-cream to cap off dessert. For first timers, we were taken a little off-guard when asked how many waffles we needed. we thought they were asking if we each needed a full round waffle to go with each scoop of ice-cream. anyway, as the picture above has shown, this is what you'd get if you ordered just 1 waffle, maybe 2 would have been just right. in all, the cafe was still a pretty relaxing place thats great for dates and catching up. the food quality is surprisingly good and the prices are really competitive. we would certainly recommend this place if you plan on visiting King Albert Park again. 
Kindred Folk 9 King Albert Park #01-09 Singapore 598332 Opening Hours Sundays to Thursdays: 12 pm to 10 pm (closed on Mondays) Fridays & Saturdays: 12 pm to 11 pm Your furry friends are more than welcome at our alfresco dining area too.. Labels: #bukittimah, #charcoalwaffles, #icecreamshop, #kindredfolk, #kingalbertpark, #pastaplace Fusion Spoon Cafe
The North region doesn't get many hipster cafes since people who'd travel that far tend to head straight up to neighbouring Johor Bahru already. so it definitely has something new to cheer about since events caterer and value cafe operator Fusion Spoon opened up its latest outlet in Woodlands. we happened to be around the area last weekend and chanced upon this unique self-serving cafe.
tucked amongst the heartland shops within a fairly new public housing precinct in Woodlands, the cafe is designed with bright spacious interiors and a very photogenic garden theme. a pair of wings make up the feature wall at the entrance, which serves as a photo opportunity for many patrons. the menu here focuses on very affordable pricing and carries a wide range from Western food, local delights to even Korean Bingsu. the self-collection queue numbering system can get really busy on weekend peaks, and long waiting times for the food can be expected. 
Probably the most affordable full Hawaiian Pizza we have ever tried. there were ample servings of ham and pineapple chunks, with the cheese well melted, making it a pretty good interpretation of a thin-crust pizza overall. there are a few other pizza selections, including local ingredients like Otah, which we made a mental note to try during our next visit. 
The cafe also offered many types of pastas and baked rice. we went for this Seafood Marinara that came in fairly generous portions of tomato based spaghetti served with cuttlefish, squids and prawns. generally no frills stuff but its strong on taste and under $10, we think its a steal. there are lots of other cream based and aglio olio based pastas on the menu, and given their competitive pricing, we'd expect residents to pop by frequently for a dinner treat. 
we topped off our meals with very colourful drinks. Mango smoothie and green-apple soda, refreshing thirst quencher that is also perfect for the camera. in all, we thought that Fusion Spoon creates a relaxed atmosphere for the local community to dine in. we actually found them quite organized in handling our orders and we were lucky enough not to experience the long waits that some encountered during weekend peaks. in any case, if you are making a trip specially to check them out, do come early. 
Fusion Spoon Cafe 785E Woodlands Rise #01-15, Singapore 735785 Opening Hours Daily: 10.30 am to 10.30 pm a menu to suit any budget and occasion that can please any customer.. Labels: #brunchcafe, #brunchfood, #fusionspoon, #koreanbingsu, #westernfood, #woodlands, #woodlandsrise |
..ThE lEgEnD..
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Golden Village, Singpost Centre 
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