SG Cafe Series: Charlie Brown Cafe

There aren't many cartoon-themed café in Singapore.  In fact, I think Charlie Brown Café might be the one and only one.  Located in 313 Somerset, it is easily accessible by public transport, food is reasonably-priced and is a pretty good place to chill out.  Good thing is - there is no service charge but GST is still applicable though.

That's a Charlie human-sized figurine that welcomes all guests into the café.  If you're a Peanuts comic strip fan, this is a place to check out.  Other than food and beverages, character souvenirs are be purchased here.

The café adopts a open concept, which means that it may get a little warm and humid especially during the warmer months.

Besides coffee, tea, baked pastries, they also serve all-day breakfast, soup, salad, sandwich, finger food and ala carte meal items.

Tried the fried chicken wings.  It was quite delicious.  The colour may appear a little dark but it was in fact, flavourful.

The café runs a membership programme and members are entitled to 15% discount.  Do make good use of the discount ^^

Charlie Brown Café
313 Orchard Road #01-25/25A (Discover Walk; facing open carpark)
Singapore 238895
Tel: 68365344
Website: http://www.charliebrowncafe.com.sg/

Getting there: Take the MRT and alight at Somerset Station.  At Exit B, turn left and walk in the direction towards Marche, until the outdoor section.  The café is on the right side.


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[Singapore Foodcourt] Kim Dae Mun Korean Food



It has been 5 years since I last blogged about Kim Dae Mun Korean Food.  This food court stall has grown contained to receive rave reviews from Korean food lovers in Singapore and it is often being referred to as the "Best Korean Food" in town.  Their customer base are mostly locals as well as a good number of Koreans who are on vacation in Singapore.  With it's accessible location in downtown Orchard, it is without doubt that the waiting time will be slightly longer during lunch and dinner. 

Consistency in food quality has always been their strength.  All their dishes are consistently good and they managed to keep the prices very affordable.  All set meals are below $8, which include rice, soup and side dishe (choice of kimchi, anchovy or cucumber).  There is option not to take the rice and/or side dishes and they are happy not to include those charges ie. 50c off for the rice / side dishes.

I have introduced many friends to this stall.  Other than the standard bulgogi and kimchi stew, I would usually ask them to try the fried glass noodles and potato pancake.  Most of them found the glass noodles to be delicious =)

The portion for the glass noodles is generous.  Main ingredients are cabbage, green vegetables, pork and egg.  There is option to have chilli or not.  There is also option to exclude the meat if you prefer not to have it.

The potato pancake on its own is quite ordinary.  What makes a great difference is the dipping sauce, that adds a little sourish appetising taste.  The kimchi fried rice is also not bad.  Rice was fried with generous serving of kimchi.

Although the rice cakes is sold as a side dish, the portion is big enough to be a full meal.  From the colour of the sauce, doesn't it already tell how good it taste?  Yes, and it comes with a full egg for every portion of ddeokbokki.

This is the most economical Korean food option in Orchard.  And it easily beats some of the more expensive restaurants in Orchard hands-down. =)

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food

100 Orchard Road Singapore 238840

Concorde Hotel Basement Foodcourt

Opens daily except for Mondays

Nearest MRT: Somerset Station

Getting there:  Exit MRT station and walk along Somerset Road towards the direction of Plaza Singapura.  At the Killiney Road junction, turn left.  At the traffic junction, continue in the same direction cross over to OG Orchard.  At the same junctions, turn right and cross over to Concorde Hotel.



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[Korean Fried Chicken] Nene Chicken @ *SCAPE

The success fried chicken store from Star Vista has come to town, right here at *SCAPE!  It is occupies the place where Gong Cha used to be, facing the entrance of *SCAPE building.

The opening promotion meal comes with rice instead of Buffalo fries and pickled radish.

 

For those of us who had bought take-out fried chicken in Korea, you would be familiar with the compartmentalised box that they use.  The food is neatly placed in the allocation position.

 



What I took-out was the SWICY Chicken, which stands for Sweet & Spicy Chicken.... YangNyeom (양념) style for those who are familiar with the Korean term for chicken coated with sweet & spicy sauce.  The meal set comes with Buffalo fries as well as the very delicious pickled radish! 

Enjoy the tender, tasty and juicy chicken!


Nene Chicken *SCAPE
#02-39
Operation Hours: 1100 to 2230 daily

Nearest MRT: Somerset Station



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Related Posts:
- Bibigo at Suntec City (Click here)
- Chicken Up (Click here)
- Bear Bites @ *Scape (Click here)


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[Singapore Restaurant] Togi Korean BBQ & Salad Bar

Something is amiss - Chuseok without songpyeon, traditional Korean snacks made of glutinous rice.  This rice cake is typically eaten during the mid-autumn harvest festival.  Made into half-moon shape, it is filled with sweet or semi-sweet filling such as peanut, red bean or sesame seeds.  During ancestral rites or celebration, this is a dish that can't be missed.

I decided to drop by the Korean restaurant in the vicinity to check out the complimentary Chuseok platter that is available during lunch from today until 20 Sep 2013 as part of the festive celebration!  The platter comprises 2 pieces of tteok (rice cake), Korean moon cake, pork meat ball and japchae (fried glass noodles).

Togi is pretty generous with the banchan (side dishes).  Even if it is for 1 diner, 6 side dishes will be served plus a small bowl of porridge.  My favourite is the odeng (fish cake), followed by the mash potato, steamed broccoli.  If you are not aware yet, most restaurant do not charge extra even if you request for additional servings of the side dishes.

In addition to the already sumptuous side dishes and the Chuseok platter, I had a big bowl of Tteok Mandu Ramyeon (Rice Cake Dumpling Noodles).  While the serving portion was huge, somehow, the side dishes seems more appetizing which I finished most of it but not the noodles.

Nonetheless, it was a good start to a good Chuseok to be able to taste songpyeon which is really not that common in Singapore.

Togi BBQ & Salad Bar
111 Somerset Road, #02-16, TripleOne Somerset, Singapore 238164
Operation Hours: 1130 to 0000
Tel: 67377397

Nearest MRT: Somerset Station

Bear Bites 熊の食 Singapore

Would you bear to eat such adorable paw steamed bun?  Inspired by fusion food concept between Taiwanese and Japanese food, Bear Bites was first set up at Fengjia night market in Taiwan. 

It's first stop in Singapore is now at SCAPE, open space area which is located right next to Cineleisure.  Set meal starts from $7.80 which includes karaage crispy chicken steamed bun + fries + bottled drinks. Add $1 to upsize to cheese fries.  Ala carte bun starts from $4.80.

The uniqueness in the steamed bun is in the choice of bun flavour (original milk, brown sugar, curry, oat, strawberry and squid ink) and six types of sauces to choose from (mushroom, sweet and spicy thai, black pepper, tartar, honey mustard and golden cheese). Quite a variety of combination to explore, I would say.  But do note that strawberry flavour would only be available when the fruit is in season which would be during winter.  So, in the mean time, there are 5 flavours to try.

Tried the chicken bun and I must say that it was quite yummy.  But for a meal to be piece at $7.80, there are certainly other more economical choices available. 

Other than the steamed bun burgers, the other cute options would be to try the bear paw gelato.  The bun for the gelato is slightly smaller and the bun flavours are same 6 types.  As for the gelato, the options are green tea, chocolate and salted biscuit.  If you are someone who prefers milky flavour, salted biscuit might be the taste that suits you.  How did you think the combination of yam bun + salted biscuit will go?

What a novel idea and I certainly hope that more of such ventures would be seen in Singapore soon ^^

Bear Bites 熊の食 Singapore

2 Orchard Link #02-42

*SCAPE

Opening Hour: 10.30am to 10.30pm daily

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BearBitesSingapore

Getting there: Take MRT to Somerset station.  Exit to the street level.  Walk along Somerset Road, cross the junction towards Cineleisure.  *SCAPE is next to Cineleisure.

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Related Posts:
- [Korean] Nene Chicken @ *Scape (Click here)
- [Korean] Kkul Dak @ Plaza Singapura (Click here)
- [Taiwanese] Sweet Musings @ Star Vista (Click here)

Dong Dae Mun Korean Food at 313@Somerset

I had the perception that this Korean Street Food stall found in many shopping malls in Singapore only sells the many various kinds of street food fried stuff.  It was only very recently that I found out that they also sell meals such as Kimchi fried rice and Bulgogi set meal etc which comes complete with side dishes and soup!

 

The good news is that the good quality is rather good at this stall located at 313 Somerset, and the price is under $6! That's good value for money! 

 

   

 

 

  

The kimchi fried rice set comes with a small bowl of thick rice soup. Quite tasty and flavourful.

As for the Bulgogi which I chose chicken meat, the thinning shredded meat slices was well marinated and so, very delicious.  It wasn't oily and hence I guess it might be cooked not using any oil.   Love the shredded cabbage laid beneath the chicken on the hot plate.

 

 

 

Looking forward to try the other dishes in time to come! 

 

Dong Dae Mun

313@ Somerset, Basement 3

313 Orchard Road, Singapore 238895

 

Getting there: Take the train to Somerset Station.  The station is connected to 313 Somerset.  Take the escalator to the Food Hall located at Basement 3. 

 

 



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Artease Cafe ~ Roasted Rice Milk Tea

I was contemplating what post-lunch beverage to get when I chanced upon this big poster outside the café.  The taste of Korean Barley Tea (보리차) came to my mind almost instantly and I wonder if this Roasted Rice Milk Tea would taste similar to the Barley tea except that I have the choice on the sugar level for the milk tea.  To satisfy my curiosity, I decided to give it a try!

Sample of the roasted rice tea was on display at the counter.  The rice grains do look somewhat big and they look like barley grains too!

 

The end product is pure white in colour, just like that we see on the poster.  The taste of the roast rice mik tea is pretty light and refreshing with a toasty taste!  I had asked for 50% sugar and I reckon that I could possibly reduce to 25% next time, so that the roast rice tea fragrant can become the main taste.  

 

Other than tea, Artease also serve coffee and fries with a variety of seasonings.  That's how the fries look if you order the original flavour, which comes with a light stash of herbs.

Enjoy a cuppa with some fries at the café sounds like a good plan, for a quite afternoon.

Artease Cineleisure

Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
8 Grange Rd #01-03
Singapore 239695
Tel: +65 6235 6966

Website: http://www.artease.sg

Getting there: Take the MRT to Somerset Station.  Go towards Exit A, take the lift to the street level.  Walk along Somerset Road.  At the T-junction, cross over to Cineleisure Orchard.



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Chocolate Lava Cake from Chocolate Origin

Seriously, this lava cake in a cup ~ try it and you will love it.  The cake is almost perfect, at least to me, in terms of firmness, richness and sweetness.
 

It is an excellent idea to hold in a cup with the cold vanilla ice cream at the bottom with the warm and moist cake with the chocolate lava on top. Better still, there is no fuss, no mess and you can scrape the cup till the last bit of ice cream. At $5, this is an affordable indulgence when you need something to perk up your mood. ;)
 

 

Chocolate Origin

313@Somerset, #B3-10A, 313 Orchard Road

Opening Hours: Mon to Sun 10am to 9.30pm

Website: http://www.chocolate-origin.com/ 

 

 

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Just Buns

If you happen to be at 313@Somerset and looking for something to snack, do consider these soft cinnamon buns from Just Buns (located at B3-49), next to Prima Deli stall.  The ones you see below are Cheese & Almond bun and Oreo bun.

The buns ($1.50 each) are freshly baked and are really soft and fragrant.  Fret not the strong cinnamon smell, the cinnamon taste in these buns are light and just right.  Just check out the cream cheese topped with almond and chocolate fudge topped with crushed oreo, they are simply irresistable!!

There are also other interesting flavours such as Just Durian, Just Chempedak, Just Banana etc, which I will return to try them one of these days.

 

Kim Dae Mun Korean Cuisine

Located at the food court below Le Meridien Hotel, it is not difficult to spot the stall because it has a never-ending line of queue during lunch and dinner.

This is my all-time favourite - BBQ Chicken set ($6.50). Besides chicken, there is also BBQ pork and BBQ beef available. Note that the BBQs are cooked in water and not oil. Something for the health-conscious to note.

Potato-pancake ($3.50). Some people may not find this dish special but I like it. It becomes rather tasty when dip into the soy sauce.

Korean Fried Glass Noodles ($4.50)... another yummy dish cooked using thick vermicelli with pork, carrot, spring onion, cabbage and egg. The ingredients are simple and I suspect the secret to this dish is the cooking sauce used, which I am not sure what they are.

Kimchi Fried Rice ($4.50)...needless to say, it is rice fried with kimchi. Though it is a simple dish, the right type of kimchi has to be used for this dish to be yummy. I'd say, Kim Dae Mun's one is quite appetising. You may just ask for me after finishing this one big plate....

Reasonably-priced yummy dishes. Great value for money...