No signs, no entrance: push the gold door.
The good people of The Plain bring about The Bravery, a cavernous cafe with high ceiling. Hipsteristic decor is pushed to the edge, plywood tables with crates as stools. Huccalily disliked it because the decor seemed unfurnished and the stools were low, or in her own words, “Ta ma de, I’m wearing a SKIRT. Everything also show already.” However, I loved the decor because the cafe was carefully decorated to an extreme irony, as if it was mocking itself and its hipsterism. When the afternoon sun flitted through the colored French doors, the cafe was bathed in a sunset color.
The service was as fantastic as The Plain. We especially loved the middle-aged man and angmoh server (two bosses?) who were considerate, thoughtful and cheerful without being sycophantic. But a Malay server (another partner?) called Chiobu “hey, girls,” and she, the feminist, didn’t like that. I am surrounded by strong, independent women; I have awesome friends.
Although not halal-certified, the food was cooked by a Malay auntie, so the bacon in the Brave Begedil ($17, pictured above) was turkey. The Brave Begedil sounded very interesting on paper–two poached eggs, turkey bacon and avocado on begedil, which was hashbrown mixed with corned beef–but like PAP candidates, the dish didn’t quite pan out. The hashbrown, which tasted very Indian–a good thing–became monotonous after a while and the ingredients didn’t work together.
Both Chiobu and Huccalily had the eggs on toast ($8) each with additional items, avocado ($2.50) and smoked salmon ($5). The poached eggs were nicely done, runny, but we wondered why there wasn’t hollandaise sauce to moisten the hard toast. (There wasn’t any hollandaise anywhere on the menu.)
My beef steak ciabatta ($13.50) was the best item we had. The caramelized onions gave a nice zing to the sandwich. All four of us shared a pancakes stack ($15), with banana, ricotta cheese, honey, and crushed pistachio. The pancakes complemented the road name the cafe was on: it tasted like cum. (Strangely, the items we tasted at The Plain tasted like cum too.)
No coffee art?
Overall, we think this is The Plain Part II. Like the Plain, the coffee and service were good but not so the food. Including drinks, we paid about $95 for four or $24 for one. Rather good value.
The Bravery Cafe Singapore
66 Horne Road Singapore 209073
facebook
T: 6225 4387
W-M: 8am-8pm
Rating: 3.175/5 stars
Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
Categories: $20-$40, All Day Breakfast, Brunch, Cafe, Dates, Halal, Kampong Glam, Large Group, Lavender, Little India, Western
To risk sounding like a self-righteous old prude, I can’t help but to think you have stretched and taken certain imageries too far. Quite sure you have a wide range of readers out there :)
LikeLike
hahaha, we all felt the same way, including a magazine food columnist among us.
LikeLike
I’m not sure I completely understand what you mean about the pancakes – but I’m entirely I want to know either. this place looks so hipster it hurts – but that beefwich does look good.
LikeLike
The decor has to be taken as irony, right? It seems so extreme.
The beef sandwich is not bad, the best item we had there. And the coffee is good too.
LikeLike
one day those hipsters will start renting stalls in kopitiams to sit there with their coiffed hair and tight trousers to sip kopi. they are such a weird group of people..
LikeLiked by 1 person
It has been done! Google Sinpopo.
LikeLike
This may be the worst food review i’ve ever read.
LikeLike
May we introduce you to some other blogs? Hahahaha.
LikeLike
The pancakes complemented the road name the cafe was on: it tasted like cum. (Strangely, the items we tasted at The Plain tasted like cum too.)
Good to know what else you eat apart from what you blog.
LikeLike
Haha. Apart from lesbians, I’m sure most of us have tasted it.
There is even a cookbook for cum:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1481227041
LikeLike
Aiyo, so sad. I really don’t like the food at The Plain. I was hoping this would be better. Thanks for the warning!
LikeLike
Coffee and service are still good though.
LikeLike
I have seen this of a lot of cafe’s around that even though the coffee is excellent… their food isn’t the best. Great photos… :)
LikeLike
Thanks. :)
LikeLike