"Can you Google the place?"
After fumbling for 5 minutes, the phone was snatched back.
"Use the app! Not the actual map!"
Thank goodness I'm pretty good at map-reading, else I don't know if I would have been kicked out of the car.
Locating Dempsey after a not so long drive, we found the farmers' market which was tucked away on the grounds of The Pantry at Loewen Gardens. I can't remember how many stalls there are but it was a small one. Perhaps about 20 of them or so?
There's this guy selling organic vegetables next to another stall with jars of olives. Strolling past the paella fella (the paella was not ready), we saw some wine sellers. I stopped at a stall to point out a cool wine bag to Ele when the Frenchman started to introduce the organic rose that he was selling. Didn't like it too much because it was very dry but according to him, sweet wines will not go well with foods. Tried the garlic mayo dip and found it not as delicious as No. 5's (need to sneak into their kitchen soon).
Since the stomach was complaining a little from the lack of brekky, we decided to try the Cornish Pasty at the stall operated by The Pantry. I bought a date scone for mama too. The expensive Pasty was not warm and it did not impress Ele even though she was excited at the beginning as it's a traditional English pastry.
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| $7 Cornish Pasty |
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| the scone |
Since there weren't any other exciting food to try/buy, we went off in search of proper sit-down brekky. Popped over to Cafe Hacienda but they were full! At 11am! Can't believe it. The polite server told us that they try not to take in reservations on weekends but I spotted half the place empty with reservation tags. Then he said we should visit them next time, during weekdays, that's when they are quite empty!
Next stop, Jones the Grocer.
The weather was not too hot and because the aircon was a little too strong, we asked for outdoor seats. The lady host who looked really busy all the time, showed us to a table indoors. We didn't want the table because we would have been sandwiched between a couple and a big family and the tables are really big (too far to talk properly) so we chose the bar seats. The host warned us that it would be very noisy as the operations at the bar were on-going. Since we love to kaypo about operations all the time, we decided to sit there.
The host left after putting down two menus and two glasses of water. After about ten seconds, we changed our mind again as the aircon was too strong! So I asked a server if we could change our seats to the long bar seats outside. Apparently the host had to be informed so she went in search of the host while we shook our legs a bit. By the time the host appeared, the outdoor seats were taken and she replied:
"There are no more long bar seats but I have a table for four."
"Can we have the table then?" I asked politely since I didn't really get what she was trying to say.
"I'll check." Oh. So duh, then why tell me. Anyway we were given a table on the other side of the outdoor area after she checked. Ordered the traditional english breakfast with some sparkling water because from our observation of the bar, the coffee did not seem fantastic enough.
The brekky arrived and I found it sad. Not tasty.
I observed that the servers kept bringing food orders to wrong tables. Poor folks, had to go back and forth. And the reason was simply. Someone mixed up the table numbers! I was on table 10, with table 9 on my right and table 12 on my left. Table 11 was next to table 9. They were either understaffed or undertrained. Everyone seemed to be in a big fat rush, making service very mediocre.
To get our coffee fix, we went in search of a hidden coffee place. It's located along Bukit Timah Road and you have to enter via their back door. The place is called Papa Palheta and it's not a cafe. The guys there roast and retail coffee beans but you can have a cuppa there.
I asked for a dark roast but they don't have it all. So I settled for a regular latte. The latte's pretty all right but I would prefer it to have a stronger coffee taste. No doubt the barista has the skills to steam a good pot of milk, something was just not right.
They use a tipping system so it means you pay whatever amount you want for the coffee. The lady, however, said:
"The guideline for latte is about $3.50 to $4.00, just so you'll know."
I think all lattes should be served in a small cup, just like what they did, because coffee is meant to be savoured, not poured down into your throat. Anyway, I put $4 in the cute pumpkin pot.
If you want to try it yourself, check out their website:
http://www.papapalheta.com/
Till another brunchday experience!
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