Vegetable-forward menu at Back To Eden

Cafe lovers may remember Curious Palette in Prinsep Street, well-known for its coffee and berry ricotta pancakes for the past eight years. 

While that era ended on April 2, the same location has been the home of vegetable-forward cafe Back To Eden since May. 

It is still run by owner Ryan Kieran Tan, 38, who is also behind eateries Wakey Wakey in Bugis and Strangers At Work in Raffles Place. 

The new direction is a reflection of Mr Tan’s own lifestyle, when he became a vegan four years ago. 

No, there is no plant-based meat, affirms the award-winning barista. All his outlets carry coffee from his Strangers’ Reunion label – albeit with oat or soya milk at Back To Eden. 

The vegetable-driven menu offers hearty vegan-friendly dishes that showcase flavourful housemade sauces, creams and condiments. 

Highlights include goulash with garlic mash ($18.90) with vegetables and mushrooms; and Back To Eden’s version of Shakshuka ($18.90), which has chunky tomato peperonata (Italian vegetable stew) topped with a pumpkin, carrot and Himalayan black salt “yolk”, smoked cashew sour cream and coarse-grain dukkah. Dunk slices of house-baked herbed focaccia to soak up all the delicious gravy. 

For sides, order the Oyster Mushroom Berempah ($11.90), coated in a “secret berempah recipe” and served with fragrant curry leaves and a creamy lime mayonnaise; or maple-glazed roasted butternut squash ($13.90) with pink-hued beet hummus. 

Besides coffee (from $4 for an espresso), get your smoothie fix with the Flamingo ($10.50), a blend of grapefruit, orange, frozen raspberries, coconut water and maple syrup; or the blueberry pie-inspired Purple ($10.50), with blackberries, blueberries, frozen bananas, rolled oats, oat milk, cinnamon and lemon juice. 

Where: 64 Prinsep Street
MRT: Dhoby Ghaut/Rochor
Open: 9am to 5pm daily
Tel: 6238-1068
Info: www.instagram.com/backtoeden.sg

Omakase at The Social Outcast 

From dishing out gourmet burgers at a Tampines coffee shop in 2019 to setting up a two-month-old omakase restaurant in Joo Chiat, The Social Outcast’s chef-owner Aminurrashid Hasnordin – better known as Mint – has come a long way. 

Amid the challenges of the cut-throat dining scene, he has constantly pushed boundaries in his quest to elevate the halal food scene. 

This upmarket version of The Social Outcast is not for purists seeking an elegant Japanese meal.

I arrive and enter a vibrant space awash in bright orange. This is where The Social Outcast’s sub-brand The Madman & Co (open: noon to 9pm, Wednesdays to Sundays) offers a small a la carte menu and grocer section retailing Mexican sauces, premium meat and seafood. 

As I lower my head through the arched doorway to enter the dark dining space, I am transported to another world. 

The 12-seat counter is covered in Astroturf with little dinosaur figurines and mini table games that make for conversation starters, says Mr Aminurrashid, 43.

The omakase menus available are a five-course lunch ($118++), seven-course dinner ($138++) and 10-course dinner ($218++). On weekends (8pm seating only), a wagyu ($128++) or Alaskan king crab menu ($188++) is available too. 

Highlights available across both dinner menus include lobster consomme; Eggs on Eggs – a warm charcoal-hued chawanmushi with century egg, uni and ikura; Bali-style sate lilit with sambal matah finished with hot coconut oil poured over; and spicy tom yam porridge. 

I like how each dish is served and clearly explained by The Social Outcast’s co-founder Noelle Chua, 33, who makes me and four other diners feel right at home.  

Consider this just the beginning of what their chef can do, as he is constantly developing new dishes. 

The truffle butter served with my baked cheese and bread dish is good, but the smoked chipotle avocado butter he lets me try turns out to be even better. 

A chicken liver dish he is perfecting also has to be on the menu at some point, we insist. 

Where: The Social Outcast, 89 East Coast Road
MRT: Eunos
Open: Wednesday to Sunday seatings at noon or 1.30, 6 or 8pm; weekend seatings at noon or 1.30, 4, 6 or 8pm; closed on Mondays and Tuesdays
Info: order.thesocialoutcast.com

Kappou at 18 Robinson

With several high-end Japanese establishments flooding the scene, local chefs helming such restaurants have to work even harder to stand out. 

One of them is chef Aeron Choo, 29, who started out in 2016 with a 12-seat restaurant at Fortune Centre. 

In May 2022, she moved Kappou to its current premises at 18 Robinson in the Central Business District to better serve her well-heeled corporate crowd. 

While many chefs can wow diners with luxury ingredients, what impresses me about the animated chef Choo is her in-depth knowledge of the 72 micro-seasons of Japan – which is translated in her showcase of ingredients.

Dinner is priced at $298++ or $388++. 

My $388++ meal is a fun experience I will remember for a long time, thanks to the goofy chef who is quite the storyteller. 

Her signature caviar toastie comes complete with an augmented-reality element. After downloading an app, I scan a photograph of the dish and it shows a video of the caviar production process in Chengdu, China. 

The following soup dish with Japanese blue crab and scallop dumpling is served on a tray with three pieces of paper – green, red and white – to show the changing of seasons.

Another highlight is a tofu dish, where the tofu took eight hours of her life to make, says Choo dramatically. It is made with burdock root, lotus root and yellow bean in a winter melon broth. 

The menu is well-balanced with palate cleansers, tempura items and a comforting seafood steamed egg rice. 

The finale showstopper is the Ice Block Tuna, where tuna fat is blow-torched over negitoro. The mixture is then sandwiched between two large blocks of ice to re-solidify the oil – what Choo calls “tuna luncheon meat”.  

When the smoky tuna fat is served on a bed of warm rice and egg yolk, the fats start to melt again, making for a hot and cold party in the mouth. 

It is quite the party at the end of the meal, when diners can change the playlist to their favourite songs. 

I get a Polaroid photo and handwritten card to take home, along with a lucky-dip lollipop as I exit. Such elements enhance the experience, and I applaud Choo for her warm hospitality.  

Where: Kappou, 03-01 18 Robinson, 18 Robinson Road
MRT: Telok Ayer/Raffles Place
Open: 7 to 11pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays
Tel: WhatsApp 8454-6456
Info: www.kappou.sg