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Friday, December 13, 2013

Restaurant review: Wild Honey@Mandarin Gallery, Singapore


Those who know me well, know that I am a sucker for having breakfast for dinner (or Brinner as it is known). Give me perfectly poached eggs topped with a delicious creamy sauce, fresh bread, rustic potatoes and grilled vegetables and I can make do with that for dinner every single day of the week. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I'm not always up for scarfing down a huge meal early in the morning, plus evenings give me the time I need to relish the comforting flavors that breakfast offers. Several cafes have mushroomed in Singapore in recent years which serve all day breakfast/brunch so people like me never run out of choices. 

Last month, me and my gal pals were looking for a nice place in the city to chill on a Friday evening and we found ourselves heading towards Wild Honey@ Mandarin Gallery, Orchard road. Wild Honey is a place that serves all day breakfast dishes. We initially called the branch at Scotts Square to make a reservation but unfortunately, there was no seating available. The branch at Mandarin Gallery on the other hand does not accept reservation so you can just waltz in. We reached at exactly 6:30pm and the café was pretty crowded but we did manage to get a table. As time passed, the crowd started to thin out so by the time we were getting to leave, the café was considerably quieter. 



The décor of Wild Honey is cool, colorful, quirky and cozy. The relaxed ambience makes it an ideal place to unwind with a small group of friends.


The menu has an impressive range of dishes ranging from all day breakfast, sandwiches, salads, drinks and desserts. They have a good mix of sweet, savoury, light, hearty, meaty and vegetarian dishes. 


We ordered a round of drinks. The drinks could be considered pricey compared to other cafes in Singapore but they are large servings and would be adequate for sharing.

Mandarin Wilderness
An ice blended mix of raspberry, banana, mandarin and honey. I saw this drink from a distance and thought it was a dessert because it looked somewhat like gelato. It was a beautiful coral pink served with a string of fresh raspberries. It appeared like a berry drink but it had the unmistakable flavour of bananas. Wonderfully refreshing and highly recommended.


Wild Mocha Dolche
I ordered the iced version of this drink which had espresso, chocolate, honey and milk. It was sweet, comforting and absolutely delicious. I wish someone would make this for me every now and then.


Fresh Market Juice
I cannot remember the name of this fresh fruit juice that was ordered by one of my friends. She said it was like regular juice that you get in many places and nothing out of the ordinary. 


We were seven gluttonous girls and we ordered a range of dishes. The food was vibrant, presented nicely and the quality impressive. In between tucking in to our meals, chatting and giggling, we had a whale of a time.

Here is a summary of the dishes we ordered...

Portobello Road ($22)
Baked portobello mushrooms, fresh wilted spinach, red pepper & onion confit, perfect poached eggs, lemon Hollandaise on toasted brioche. I ordered this one and it was really good. Perfectly poached egg with the yolk running through, a subtle flavour of herbs, good hearty bread, delicious spinach and mushrooms.....yum!


English ($24)
A Wild Honey Signature Dish. The full works consisting of scrambled eggs, back bacon, cumberland pork sausage, sautéed mushrooms, Dad’s baked beans, breakfast potatoes, grilled vine ripened tomato & signature brioche.


European ($19)
A Wild Honey Signature Dish. Their version of eggs Benedict with two perfectly poached eggs, sautéed mushrooms, imported Italian prosciutto and homemade Hollandaise sauce on signature brioche.


Norwegian ($24)
Avocado, grilled asparagus spears, two perfectly poached eggs wrapped with imported Norwegian smoked salmon, homemade Hollandaise & salmon pearls on our own whole-wheat brioche.


Tunisian ($19)
A Wild Honey Signature Dish. A sizzling pan of spicy shakshuka (tomato, onion, red pepper, chilli), studded with Chorizo sausage, crowned with two fried eggs, signature brioche & Israeli salad.


Monte Cubano ($22)

Pressed toasted focaccia roll with spiced, pulled pork, Virginia ham, dill pickles, Swiss cheese, arugula, coriander mayonnaise & mustard.


Orange Chiffon Cake ($7)
Lovely soft cake perfumed with orange with layers of fresh cream covered in a rich dark chocolate icing. I really like the combination of orange and chocolate so I liked this dessert.


Chocolate Brownie ($8.50)
A slab of dark chocolate brownie served with vanilla ice cream. The brownie was good but I've had better. My friends even went as far to say that they prefer the brownies I make (I'm refraining from saying BOO YA!) 😛


Wild Honey: All-day breakfast done right
The ambience at Wild Honey is intimate and relaxed and the service is good. The food we ordered was generally well received except for the Tunisian which my friend said was a bit bland and not as flavourful as she would have liked. Most of us had ordered dishes which had poached eggs and I must say that the perfectly done eggs made all of us very happy. Another highlight was the brioche which was very good. The prices are slightly on the expensive side and you could typically expect to shell out $35-45 per person. Keep in mind that as with many other places, in addition to the 7% GST, there is a 10% service tax. Having said that, I had an absolutely fabulous evening with my friends and I will return for sure.


My rating for this café is,





Wild Honey

Address:
Mandarin Gallery (No reservations)
333A Orchard Road #03-02

Phone: +65 6235 3900
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday: 9am - 9:30pm
Fri, Sat and Public Holiday eve: 9am to 10:30pm

 

Scotts Square (Reservations available)
6 Scotts Square #03-01

Phone: +65 6636 1816

 


Cheers,
Megha


That this is not a sponsored post or invited review

1 comment:

  1. Great blog; Wild Honey is my go-to brunch place along with Open Door Policy. http://why-is-a-raven-like-a-writing-desk.com

    ReplyDelete

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