One is over-rated, the other understated. Guess which?
Croute by Hummerstons |
The Missing Pan |
|
| Address & Opening Hours | 491 River Valley Road, Valley Point Shopping Centre #01-11/12, Singapore 248371 T: 6887 4996 M-F: 10am-9pm, Sat: 9am-9pm, Sun: 9am-6pm Croute menu |
619D Bukit Timah Road Singapore 269724 T: 6466 4377 T-Sat: 9am-9pm, Sun: 9am-5.45pm |
| Concept & Decor |   Croute, pronounced as kroot, means crust. A bakery-cafe. Very relaxing, with lots of magazines, clearly a place that people can chill out for long. |
Also a bakery cafe, the decor was rather characterless. Bright with lots of light wood. |
| Chef | Chef-owner Bouk Cebula, who also owned the defunct Hummerstons | My Google-fu failed. |
| Food |  In addition to a main each, we four shared a bread basket ($9, with choices of dips). The best of the four mains was truffle scrambled eggs ($18), a hot mess of black truffle atop creamy scrambled with umami mushrooms and pork sausage. All stacked on a piece of homemade sour dough bread.  I’d also recommend Spanish pork tortilla ($24), which had everything: braised shredded pork, scrambled eggs, guacamole, homemade pico de gallo, sour cream in a tortilla wrap. It was tangy and slightly spicy with chipotle. |
 According to Huccalyly, so-so 62 Degree Eggs Benedict ($22, smoked salmon, avocado and seaweed crumbs on homemade sourdough). She said, “They shouldn’t put ‘avocado’ on the menu, when it is like guacamole.”  French Toast Salpicon ($19), stuffed with chicken and mushroom, topped with chunks of goreng pisang, and fruits – pretty, savory, and sweet. Huccalily asked, “Are you eating dessert or main?” I didn’t mind it as the dish worked. Charred brioche, a pleasant burnt aroma. Best to share between 2 persons. |
| Coffee | Smooth with a nutty aroma, not at all bitter. |  Weak and mineral. Below average. |
| Service | Minimum contact with wait staff. You pay at the counter and they deliver the food to you. | Considering how busy the cafe was, the wait staff was cheerful, swift and prompt. |
| Pros (+) & Cons (-) | +quiet, relaxing, unpretentious +plenty of parking +town area |
-hard to find parking -crowded & may need to queue -overpriced |
| Price | Paid about $25 each, including drinks. | Paid $62 for 2 persons. |
| Rating | 3.344/5 (All four of us loved this place. Huccalily was impressed, asking me excitedly, “How do you know this place? You’re really a foodie!”) | 3.063/5 (Both Huccalily and I didn’t like it. We won’t return.) |
Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
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Categories: $0-$20, $20-$40, All Day Breakfast, Brunch, Bukit Timah, Cafe, Dates, Families, Large Group, Orchard, Western
incidentally, I have a post on the missing pan coming up! and I liked it – but I don’t drink coffee, and we were lucky to not have a queue when we arrived.. I’ve seen croute when grabbing some ice at the ice cream gallery, and hadn’t been intrigued enough – but now I am!
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I think cafes should be personal and intimate. missing pan feels too commercialized.
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