The Old Malaya Cafe

Located at 313@Somerset, we found this hidden Malaysia-style cafe for a quick lunch before our movie on a messy crowded weekend. Don't you guy feel the squeeze these days? There isn't this personal space between yourself and the one next to you anymore. Talking about 6.9million in the future is really unbelievable. 

So anyway, this small little cafe is situated at Basement 3. The interior has those vintage kind of feel again. Yes again, I mean, we have visited The Coastal Settlement, The Central@Star Vista, Old school Delights, as well as Biscuit King.

Look at those vintage tin box.

Vintage Malaysian-style Chair

The menu are on the billboard at the counter

You probably feel like you are out at some coffeeshop ("Kopitiam") but once you step out of the place, you are being placed back into the highly-stress moving crowd again. We are not talking about Orchard area being condensed, make a trip down to Vivocity on a Saturday and you probably know what I'm talking about.

We ordered the Pontian Noodles and the famous Popiah, so here it is.

The Old Malaya Cafe

Pontian Noodles

Popiah

The Old Malaya Cafe
Address: 313@Somerset #B3-10, Singapore 238895
Tel: 66341123

Old School Delights

When is the last time you walk into a cafe and found memories of your childhood? Old School Delight, located at Upper Thomson Road is one which served old school Singaporean delicacies such as Mee Siam, Laksa, Nasi Lemak and etc.

Memory lane

Food is to eat, not to frame & hang on walls.

50s to 80s.

If you are wondering, I'm not that old anyway. I didn't live through from the 50s to the 80s but I'm sure some of the customers would have deep memories kept within after looking at these. It is not easy to find it anymore and I'm lucky that they are still available.

Blackboard

The last time I use a chalk to white on a blackboard was in my primary school days. In case if you didn't know what a chalk is (advancement of technology these-days' alarming),  it is actually one long, white piece of pencil-like rock used to write or draw. Similar to that of a marker if you like. And this is where we sat down for some sinfulicious supper. 

P/S: In Laos, Students are still writing on a blackboard in a village school.

TV in those days.

Clearly, I didn't live in a Kampung Village either. The last Kampung in Singapore, Kampong Buangkok in the north eastern region of Singapore in the 21st century, is unfortunately going to be abolished very soon. This piece of land apparently trigger much hype at one point attracting unwanted attention from tourists and sparks controversial floodgates of argument. Now, lets leave that for now.

Menu

Games

These are some of the games I used to play during my childhood. The eraser which is not meant for schoolwork is my favorite game. I remember how I conquer my friends eraser collection by winning every single piece of it. Those were really the days. 

Ask any of the kid now their favorite past time, many will replied: Candy crush. Yes. Or probably Angry Bird. They will not or might not even have played Five Stones, Snake & Ladder before and the once popular Donkey Card/Heart attack game are being replaced by Monopoly Deal. 

The ordering procedure

I love how the cafe make use of whiteboard and marker for the customer to place their order. How many of us are guilty of wasting papers in this era? Don't worry, I'm one of those. Anyway, here is our orders... And we actually wanted to come in and try out their Chendol. But then again, another diet plan failed.

Iced Kopi: $2.80

Bandung Dinosauress: $4.50

Chendol: $3.80

Chendol, is one of the hottest favorite during Summer vacation. The ingredient seems a tad lesser than that of restaurant offering but it is one of the best we had tried so far. 

Laksa D'lite: $6.50, Tuckshop Wings: $5.50, Pulut: $2.20

Tuckshop Wings, one of the tuckshop favourite here. Always a good nibbling snack that leaves you satisfied, a second serving of this is only at $2.50 instead of the usual price of $5.50. I'm starting to feel hungry while blogging. Laksa D'Lite is comparable to that of the renown Katong Laksa and the soup is really heavenlicious. Yummy! Pulut looks abit too oily for liking but it's good as well. 

Chicken Macroni: $5.90

 

Complimentary cake on the house 

As we are the last customer of the cafe, we were given a free cake, on the house. Service was exceptionally good for a cafe, maybe It's a public holiday and everyone is doubly happy but nonetheless, I would definitely be back for more supper!

FoodRabbit

This is the team behind for the success of food tasting @ Upper Thomson Road. Thank you for appreciating food! Till then, we will meet again soon!

Old School Delights
Address: 215M Upper Thomson Road, Singapore, Singapore 574349
Tel: 64584518

Scoopz

Founded in 1996, Scoopz opened its first outlet at Parkway Parade and has been serving up the best of local ice cream flavours ever since. They have since opened the second outlet at Upper Thomson. 

Scoopz Handmade Ice-Cream

We went cafe-hopping on a Good Friday, skipping the crowd in town and landed up at Upper Thomson. This is our first time to Scoopz and were attracted by the colours combination. 

Promotion

The way the Polaroids being hung on the wall is what stands out in the cafe; a homey ambiance where teenagers gather for a good chill out session. It was not really crowded at the time when we entered. 

The chef

Recognition & Awards

Scoopz Lava Cake

Boardgames

The board games are available free for customers while they hang around the cafe just a little while more. There aren't alot of selection to choose from but what is there to complain when they provided it for free? There are some which they do charge you for these. 

Giant 5: $7.50

Here comes our dessert. We ordered the Giant 5, 5 mini scoops of handmade ice-cream. The durian is one of the must-try flavor in the shop. We had peanut butter, strawberry shortcake, salted caramel and chocolate as well.

Give it a try if you must, as a dessert/ice-cream lover. Scoopz definitely give you an edge over the sticky chewy-ness of the ice cream they offered, and the portion is not really stingy. They are open from 12pm to 12am from Sun - Thur and  12pm to 2am  for Fri, Sat & Eve of PH.

Scoopz Ice Cream
Address: Upper Thomson 222 Upper Thomson Road Singapore 574354
Tel: 64568698

Pancake King

Pancake King, Located at Bishan Street 11, Nu Sing Eating House specialize in local snacks like egg tarts, muffins, apple pie and pancakes. I'm sure many of us would be familiar with Mad Jack Cafe, and Pancake King is actually run by the Mad Jack Group. They currently have a total of 19 outlets all over in Singapore.

The friendly auntie behind the stall

Assorted snacks for sale

Chocolate Walnut Cake: $2.20

Muffins (Chocolate, Blueberry & Walnut)

Famous Egg tart: $1.20 each

The buttery crust at the side of the egg tart and the silky-smooth texture of the filling makes it look different from the other egg tart that is available in the market. Unique characteristics might be one of the reason why they are so popular within Bishan Estate.

If you are nearby and are looking for some local snacks, why not give it a try?

Pancake King
Address: Nu Sing Eating House, Blk 509, Bishan Street 11, #01-382
Tel: 83176212

Saybons

To all my vegetarian friends out there, Saybons @ Junction 8 offers affordable French food for everyone. 

Saybons is inspired from the French phrase- C'est Bon which means 'it's good' in French. To make it a little easier and unique, we anglicized the phrase and added a 's' at the back. Most people should be able to pronounce this one we guess.

Back view of the Restaurant

The Interior 

Saybons adopted the light blue colour for their decorations, wall color, and plastic cups to represent a lighter feeling when you enter the restaurant. It's a rather small one comfortable for less than 20 persons. 

The menu are attached right outside the restaurant and one on top of the counter. They basically served from toast bread to soups to savoury crepes as well as dessert crepes. They also offered one of the French favourite, the escargots.

Garlic Herb Butter, Tomato Toast, Pumpkin Soup, Ice Lemon Tea: $7.80

I had the promotion of ordering the Pumpkin soup at $3.90 and additional add-on of two toast and a drink at $3.90. To be honest, I'm not a fan of the Pumpkin soup but it's really not that bad. It's not those watery cheapo soup you get at foodcourt, although the price is affordable.

The toast is neither too hard, crispy nor soft, crunchy and I would come back from their crepes in the near future. It was no doubt a healthy breakfast to start off the day. French-cuisine lovers, fall in now! They have two other outlets at Plaza Singapura and Aljunied.

Saybons - French Food Factory
Address: 9 Bishan Place, Junction 8 Shopping Center #02-27A Singapore 579837
Tel: 62583138

Mongkok Dimsum 旺角點心

While Lifestyle Asia picks it's top five dim sum restaurant in Singapore, there should be a post catered for the masses, where anyone can just drop by and have some dimsum anytime, anywhere. 

URL: http://sg.lifestyleasia.com/features/wine-and-dine/best-dim-sum-restaurants-in-singapore-2012

Don't get me wrong, they are not as cheap as you think. We just realise that it shouldn't revolve to just the restaurant. Mongkok Dimsum 旺角點心, located at Geylang, is a popular hangout place for teenagers and young adults.

Chee Cheong Fun 猪肠粉 

  Chinese Gyoza (Guo Tie, 锅贴)

Prawn Fritters

Fried Tofu

Mango Prawn Salad

Xiao Long Bao

Siew Mai

Geylang, infamous for Singapore's red light district, actually do have a few restaurant that served up some of the best food in Singapore. If you do not mind those glaring eyes staring at you, head down and give it a try!

Mongkok Dimsum
Address: 214 Geylang Road Lorong 18 
Tel: 68415133

Bbuble K

Taiwan has taken over many parts of the world with its entertaining variety shows, addictive street food and Mandopop iconic figures. There has been a similarly dramatic rise in the food bank and an increasingly hype of new cafe and eatery in town. 

Located in the heartland, at Bbuble K, Sample Delicious Taiwanese street food and drinks such as Ji Dan Zai 鸡蛋仔 and customizable Bubble Teas.

Bbuble K Menu

Counter with friendly staff 

Bbuble offers sodas from $4.60, milkshakes from $4.60 and tea-based drinks (from $4) which can be semi-customized in terms of tea flavours, additional ingredients and sugar leveal.

Complete your meal with snacks such as a basket of Popcorn Chicken at $3, Cheesy K Fries at $3.50 or the ever popular Ji Dan Zai from $2. They have cheese and chocolate flavor to choose from!

Bbuble K, Hangout Cafe

Address: 684 Hougang Ave 8, #01-987, Singapore 530684

Tel: 98731987