|
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 The Workbench Bistro
Hip cafes starting out in HDB heartland areas often require an interesting concept to take off, more so those who have chosen to start up in matured housing areas. it actually means that the cafe has to either convert the palette of its immediate catchment, or have strong enough outreach through various media channels to bring its target customers to the location. either way, you'd have to applaud those cafes which have established in such a backdrop.
The Workbench Bistro started out as an ice cream shop in Ang Mo Kio, after a concept tweak, it rebranded itself as a cafe offering a range of burgers, pastas and finger food that adopted more modern and artisanal recipes. Ice cream still forms part of the menu, with its sweet potato flavoured waffle one of the signature dishes. the food is promoted for its quality, and affordable price range. moreover the locality ensures that there's ample parking and proximity to public transportation, making this a viable alternative to Bishan Park or Thomson where most hipster cafes have gathered. 
The pastas at the store seem the most attractive and we tried a couple on our visit. This Ma La Pasta which is essentially Linguine served with fried buttermilk chicken and a special Ma La sauce has all the right flavours and a spicy punch that's all the rage now. Ma La is the new salted egg (the cafe has a selection of salted-egg inspired dishes too) and the dish allows customers to decide the level of spiciness to suit their comfort level of enjoyment. The crab meat Linguine that we also tried was also great, there was a generous serving of crab meat, mixed in a unique white wine and tomato cream based pasta which got tastier with every mouthful.. 
No cafe can be complete without its coffee and although there's no fancy barista reputation that comes with the Workbench, they do whip up some decent coffee blends. we had some flavoured lattes which proved to be pretty much comfort drinks to go with the food on a lazy weekend. both the caramel and hazelnut lattes were not overly sweet, and the aroma of the coffee can still be felt which we found was good value for a nice warm cup. 
Its useful to note that The Workbench Bistro is what we consider a family friendly place as well. we observed some families coming in during our short time there and we've got to say that having an ice-cream selection certainly helps. there's a range of flavours including some premium ones and they can be enjoyed either in a cup or served with their signature waffles. The highly advertised Moreffles, which is a mix of red and blue velvet waffles decked with melted marshmallows would certainly be as popular as their sweet potato waffles. those thirsty after a long day's work would also be cheered to know they sell bottled beers, with bucket promotions as well. in all, there's something for everyone and for a cafe that has been in Ang Mo Kio since 2016, these guys have got what it takes. 
The Workbench Bistro Blk 332 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 #01-1881 Singapore 560332 Opening Hours Mondays to Thursdays: 12 pm to 10 pm Fridays & eves of public holidays: 12 pm to 11 pm Saturdays: 10 am to 11 pm Sundays & public holidays: 10 am to 10 pm born out of a vision to create honest, practical and delicious food and drinks.. Labels: #angmokio, #brunchcafe, #brunchfood, #heartlandcafe, #icecreamshop, #malapasta, #sgbrunchfood, #theworkbench, #theworkbenchbistro |
..ThE lEgEnD..
Last Movie: Ad Astra
Golden Village, Singpost Centre 
|
