Tucked away in the basement of the Palais Renaissance, is this slightly
chi-chi bistro where the TV stars that patronise effeminate, Prada-togged, celebrity-hairstylist David Gan's Passion Salon upstairs also visit.
We popped by yesterday afternoon for a late breakfast. And because there were nice
chi-chi people all around, I didn't want to be seen unglam whipping out my handphone and taking pictures of the designer furniture and food like some
suakoo. So the picture above is courtesy of 'Storm in a Teacup', a foodie blog I chanced upon.
Marmalade Pantry is one eatery out of the stylish Marmalade Group that includes the Marmalade Restaurant (at Purvis Street), Pierside Kitchen & Bar (at One Fullerton) and 2 TOAST branches (little pink-tiled cafes at Ngee Ann City and OUB Center).
After hearing so much about the Pantry, we finally swopped our usual sunday brunch of Prawn Noodles and Banana-leaf Masala Delights for something a little bit more
atas. Actually not 'a little bit more' because for the price we paid for our Crab Caesar Salad, an Ultimate Beef Burger and a Portobello Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto, we could have had 20 bowls of noodles at the kopitiam.
And if we had sucumbed to the temptation of ordering a couple of Mimosas (Orange Juice and Champagne, mebbe Moet and Chandon), it would have upped the noodle bowl count to 30 =))
In short, not cheap.
But the portions are very generous in this Contemporary Scando-Aussie styled bistro whose Sabbath Day menu has been heralded as one of the bigger and better ones on the increasingly popular Sunday Brunch circuit. The salad was humongous and had chunks of crab worthy of its $18 price tag with generous slivers of croutons. But with a tacky name like Ultimate Beef Burger, I was expecting something more spectacular. It didn't dissapoint though but I wouldn't call it the final say in
Moo-stacy. The lack of melted cheese was more than made up for by the mayonnaise and lovely sun-dried cherry tomatoes. And even me, a soggy-rice non-fanatic (I hate
Mui Fan btw) polished off half of K's Risotto. Yummy with just that right lemon
zing that downplayed the
jelakness of so much savoury Carbo.
Too bad we didn't have space for dessert. Because the tarts and cupcakes at the Pantry are supposed to be legendary. Will save those for another trip ya?
Go try Marmalade Pantry on a lazy Sunday morning. But remember, wear something casual-chic and make reservations ;)