Sunday Brunch: Benjamin Browns

 

The initial plan was to go cycling at East Coast Park before adjourning to The Garden Slug for brunch. However, Leecher sprained his back & we had to cancel our cycling outing & headed to a new cafe that Pris recommended ~ Benjamin Browns. 

 Just as we were heading out to town, it started to pour heavily. Both EK & Kenneth were caught in jam along CTE. We had the foresight that CTE will be jammed pack, so we took KPE > PIE instead.

 

Our reservation was for 12.30pm, but due to traffic jam + finding parking lots, we only managed to reach at 1pm. Thankfully, the lovely staff still hold our reservation for us. 

 

When I was here last Xmas with EK & Pris, I did not notice this little cafe that was hidden at a corner. Perhaps they just ventured into Forum Shopping Mall not long ago or I could have missed out entirely :)

The open concept made the place looked bigger than it really was. While I adore the dainty display of desserts displayed out on the counter, the decor gave me mixed feelings - Antoinette-ish feel with the array of cakes on one side, Coffee-Bean-ish type of feel on the other side. Kenneth came shortly with Meiqin & echoed my feelings, lol! 

 The coffee bean-ish type of counter.

 
Seeing doubles?

 
Camwhoring while waiting for the rest to come.

 

My hot chocolate ($7) came with a heart ♥

 

I'm easily impressed by all the latte art that I've seen so far, be it the standard heart or fern etc. As I'm a non-coffee drinker, I can only look @ Leecher's latte art whenever he ordered coffee. So, I got rather excited when my hot chocolate came with a heart! Now, I finally have my own "chocolate" art :) 

 

Leecher's latte order ($4.90)

 

We were famished, so we went ahead with brunch first. If you had been following my Cafe trails, I'm quite consistent in my brunch orders, lol! I had Royale ($17), which consisted of poached eggs on toast, hashbrowns, tomato, smoked salmon & salad. I'm normally skeptical about toast, as I'm not a fan of thick toast. The eggs sat on top of a slice of homemade raisin bread, which was extremely soft and chewy. Honestly, if I had to rank my best eggs benedict thus far, I think this would be in the Top 5 spot.

 

Leecher decided to head for main course & ordered Wagyu Burger ($22). Looked like someone can't wait to attack, but rule of thumb - pics first, lol! 
 

Spot the friendly manager in the mirror :) 
 

As soon as Boss EK arrived, wine will appear on the table. Kenneth's first food in-take of the day - red wine.

 They conveniently excluded us from drinking, knowing that we are not a fan of red. Here's a warm welcome to Meiqin, the newest member of our group :)

 Check out her bling bling nails! I love to have her set of nails, as long as it means I'm off any house-work duties, heh.

 Orders for the rest of the group ~ Mushroom soup ($14), Seafood Alio Olio ($19), Carbonara ($17) and Fish & Chips ($19). Judging from the amount of leftover food, I concluded that the best 2 items are Wagyu Burger & Royale, since we polished off every thing on the plate.

 

Cappuccino for both Kenneth & Meiqin. 

 Always fun to hang out with them, though we bicker all the time, lol!
 

Desserts time! Kenneth had the privilege of choosing desserts for everyone. 

Leecher being extremely sensitive to the camera, lol! 

   

Lemon Meringue Tart ($5.90) with 6 rochers ($12) & Chocolate Truffle Cake ($6.90). My personal preference goes to rochers, which was a hit with everyone. Lemon Meringue Tart tasted extremely sour while chocolate truffle cake was a disappointment.

Apple crumble ($6.90) was apparently one of their top sellers, with only 2 slices left. Hmm, I beg to differ - the crumble tasted as if it had been left in the open for too long & was kinda dry. Oreo cheesecake ($6.90), on the other hand, was the best of the lot. Not because it was really yummy, but due to the rest being not-so-yummy.

Ending the post with the lovely girlfriend, fiancee, wife, lol! 3 different stages in life.

Benjamin Browns

583 Orchard Road #01-20/21 

Forum The Shopping Mall

Singapore 238884

Tel: 6887 4117

Opening Hours: 10am till 10pm (Daily)

BKK Jan 2013: Terminal 21 & Last Bits of Random Stuff

When in Bangkok, I have a special preference shopping at night markets than shopping malls. This is also one of the reason why I have yet to check out Terminal 21. Since we had to take the skytrain back from our last cafe adventure (KuppA), we headed over to Terminal 21 for a toilet break, opps!

There are 2 parts of the complex: the retail complex which has a total of 9 stories.The Grande Centre Point Hotel & Residence form the next complex. An ideal location to stay for holidays :)

Terminal 21 is a one floor one concept shopping mall, where you can find streets from Rome, Paris, Tokyo, London etc. This mall also has the longest escalator in Thailand of 36m.

Marketing by Air Asia on Xi'An, home to the Terracotta Army. This was part of their marketing campaign, where AirAsia will launch daily flights from BKK to Xi'an. Basically, you just need to take a snapshot of yourself with the Terracotta warrior & send it across to AirAsia, to be one of the lucky winners.

Went ahead to take the pictures, but didn't join in the contest since I don't stand a chance of winning. 

Terminal 21

Sukhumvit Road, Watthana

Bangkok, Thailand

Nearest BTS: Asoke

The night market along one of the BTS station. I have found a couple markets in other areas, can't wait to check out on the next trip!

 

Last meal in BKK before we leave for the airport.

 A big hoola when we were checking in at the airport. As we traveled in a big group, there were lots of luggage. The ground staff of Tiger Airways didn't allow us to check in all together & insisted we check in based on our flight details (we had different bookings). As such, it was a mad rush to sort out the luggage, so we can max our baggage allowance. We met one group of kind Singaporeans who had extra allowance and allowed us to piggy-back on it. I didn't manage to get their names, but thank you so much for your help! I was really frustrated at that time cuz the ground staff who served us was rather blur & the weight (of baggage) that we recorded were different from hers, yet she couldn't explain why her recording was wrong. In the end, after almost 1hour of hassle with them, we had to pay for almost 10kg of extra baggage (which thinking back, it could have been their mistake since they couldn't account for it!)! Bad experience with Tiger & if you were to ask me, I doubt I'll travel with them again. With so many budget airlines to choose, I think they really have to buck up on their service. 

Finally on-board the flight & on the way home :)

BKK Jan 2013: KuppA

I think I've bought my cafe-searching craze to Bangkok, visiting 3 cafes during my short stay. First was Roast for their mouthwatering creations, then to Mr Jones' Orphanage and bask in the childhood memories (not forgetting desserts too!). Finally, I ventured into a lesser-known area (at least to me!) in search for this place.

Before that, lunch @ Platinum Food Court first. Kway Chap with mama mee. In fact, Mama Mee (Shrimp Creamy Tom Yum Flavour) took the #10 spot for Top 10 Instant Noodles of All Time (2013 edition).

While Jun & her family headed out to Chinatown for seafood, Fling & I ventured to another cafe that I located online. Initially, I had my doubts about going for it was a part of BKK that I have yet to venture before. In the end, armed with my trusty GPS on my iphone, we headed there.

After 2 wrong turns, we managed to locate the cafe successfully! Not forgetting we walked a long distance from the BTS station. We were extremely delighted when we saw the sign from afar.

Established since 1998, KuppA is recognised as an exceptional establishment among the top cafes/restaurants in Thailand. 

 

KuppA is also BKK's first dedicated coffee house serving perfect in-house roasted coffee as well as supplying fresh roasted coffee to other fine restaurants and hotels in BKK & SG too. 

 

Anyone fancy a snack/grocery shopping trip? 

 Today & Weekly specials written on chalkboard, clearly displayed at the entrance. 

Immediately, we felt under-dressed in our tops & shorts. KuppA is a casual cafe by the day and contemporary dining by night. Besides the restaurant, they have  KuppA Polo Lounge, Terrace Bar & Spa! The lounge is available for booking on private/corporate events, catering up to 200 pax.

 

Where the action takes place, behind the counter! They have a bigger kitchen at the side as well. 

 Let the feasting begins (^^)

 

 Started with our drinks - Thai Iced Tea & Fruit Punch.

 Potato Wedges to share (150THB), but unfortunately, this came after our main courses :(
 

Fling went for Crispy Duck Risotto (350THB). Though the rice grains absorbed the soak, making it flavourful, the texture tasted more like porridge. Crispy duck was so crispy that it looked like pork floss instead.

 

As usual, a cafe means ordering all-day breakfast for me! I went for pancakes (with maple syrup & mixed berry compote), topped with mushrooms (195THB plus 50THB for mushroom). Besides mushrooms, they have hams, bacon or sausages too. Each side add-on costs 50THB.  The pancakes were moist and slightly fluffy, just the type that I like :) Strongly recommended to add on the sides for variety, for it would have been too boring to eat 2 pancakes dusted with icing sugar.

 

While we enjoyed our girly session, KuppA disappoint in terms of food despite the sophisticate outlook.

 KuppA

39 Sukhumvit Soi 16

Bangkok 10110

Nearest BTS: Asoke

Tel: 66 2663 0450 1

Opening Hours: 10am till late