28 April 2015
Even before its official opening last week, Rise & Grind Coffee Co. (RGC) has garnered quite a following on social media with its photogenic brunch items and coffee with pretty latte arts. So last weekend, I dragged S to go to Bukit Timah Plaza (BTP) with me. I had originally wanted to visit Dutch Colony at the Grandstand, but upon knowing that RGC serves coffee beans from Dutch Colony too, I thought that we should try someplace new, especially because RGC serves savoury food too.
Do not bother looking for the café within the BTP itself. It is actually located outside, right outside DBS and next to Buzz, to be exact. Though it looked pretty small from the outside, it could actually contain at least 30 people I guess; there were some alfresco seats too! I also loved the fact that they used fresh yellow ranunculus as the table top flower; the yellow colour really brightened up the space and photos, although I am not sure if the flower was there only because of their recent opening.
The food items are priced quite reasonably; nothing is more than S$18, and there is not GST or service charge! Since I was feeling a little hungry, I decided on Lemuel’s Benedict (S$12) and RGC Honey Wings (S$9) for us to share. Both S and I had 5 oz (S$5) each too. The Benedict was supposed to come with poached eggs but due to some issues, they only had scrambled or sunny-side-ups, which I chose. RGC was also giving out complimentary waffle to customers of at least 2 people, so I was eligible for that!
The coffee was excellent! I believe we had the House Blend which was from Colombia & Sumatra with a flavour profile of bold, creamy and dark cocoa. That sounded exactly like what I had: smooth and sufficiently strong, just as expected from Dutch Colony beans. The female barista looked terribly familiar, and finally I realised that she was previously from The New Black!
We did not have to wait long for our food items. Look at the colours, don’t they just look inviting? It was stated in the menu that there was sautéed spinach in this dish too, but I saw none of it. Not like it mattered, because I loved the dish anyway. It may be because I haven’t had any egg benedict dish for a very long time, but it tasted awesome, even with that yuzu hollandaise sauce on the side. I basically devoured one half of the portion in less than 3 minutes!
The wings looked like a cross between the ones from On The Table and from KFC. I am not sure what tangy sauce they used to accompany these crispy chickens but boy, they were awesome! There was that hint of spice, which I usually taste in Indo-style Chilli Crab sauce, that made the wings even more addictive. It was a pity that the wings were quite fatty (layers of fats between the meat).
Some may think that anything complimentary usually tastes pedestrian, yes? In this case, it was 50% true. The waffle was so hard that I felt like I was cutting through a cardboard. If not for the chocolate ice cream, this waffle would have been quite inedible. The ice cream was actually very good too, creamy and chocolatey. The salted caramel sauce tasted not bad too, but don’t take my word for it since I don’t really fancy salted caramel stuff.
Overall, RGC was a place that scores pretty high on all factors: ambience, food, coffee and price. Will I come back again? Definitely! And the next time I am back, I will try Shakshouka (S$16) even if S does not like lamb.
Rise & Grind Coffee Co.
1 Jalan Anak Bukit
Bukit Timah Plaza #L1-CA1
Singapore 588996
Opens DAILY
Mon – Thurs: 10am – 9pm
Fri: 10am – 10pm
Sat: 9am – 10pm
Sun: 9am – 9pm
Diary of a Glutton 