I took a long break since my last post, but a recent brunch I had at Siri House in Dempsey was scrumptious enough to compel me to write and recommend it to all of you. Launched 2 years ago by Thai property luxury developer Sansiri, Siri House is a lifestyle, social and dining space housed in the former premises of House at Dempsey.
A short tour through the space revealed a sales gallery doubling up as a bar where guests can enjoy tipples and a private dining session in a replica luxury Sansiri apartment, the main dining area, an outdoor terrace and an art space and shop to feature artists’ works on a rotational basis.
We were there for the new weekend brunch menu featuring Mod-Asian fare, and picked out dishes and drinks which were recommended to us.
From the extensive cocktail menu, we had the –
Summertime Madness ($12) – a herbaceous and citrusy take on the Aperol Spritz;
9-Volt ($22) – a Szechuan pepper gin drink which fired and awakened our taste buds;
Blush ($22) – which featured clarified tomato juice in elderflower, gin, Seedlip Garden and vodka, and
Hunting Season ($20) – our favorite of the 4 cocktails we tried due to its refreshing kick. It uses Fernet Hunter as a base, together with clarified grapefruit juice, sherry, champagne vinegar, salt, sugar, gin & tonic.
Meanwhile for the food, a side of Scrambled Eggs ($6) arrived first. Without bearing much expectations, we were delightfully surprised by the creaminess and silkiness of the dish that persisted despite a long photo-taking session. Got to be one of the best scrambled eggs I’ve had in a long while.
Seemingly a simple dish (but I reckon not), the SH Salad ($18) made a light and crisp appetizer with a mix of textures from the tiger prawns, candied ikan bilis, Belinjo crackers, mixed greens and soy ginger dressing. The prawns used were really fresh.
Served piping hot from the fryer, the Arancini ($21) made with dashi infused japanese rice mixed with octopus was crunchy on the first bite, and revealed mozzarella in the centre of the rice mixture. The use of Japanese ingredients in this classic Sicilian snack was brilliant.
The Scallop ($29) caught our eyes with its interesting list of ingredients – wild caught hokkaido scallop carpaccio, yuzu kosho, dashi jelly, smoked ikura, sea grapes, and hamachi bacon. There was a burst of flavor from which element, but we felt that the hamachi bacon topping was overpowering the other tastes and textures.
The star and our favorite dish was the Unagi Risotto ($33). The savory risotto, made with rice infused with a mixture of burnt onion dashi and tomato consomme and seasonal mushrooms, made a great complement to the sweet soy-glazed grilled unagi. It has got me very tempted to attempt a Japanese-style risotto in my kitchen.
For desserts, we had the Bomboloni ($16) – Italian-style doughnuts that are gaining traction in Singapore recently. They came with 2 fillings, namely cashew chocolate ganache and mixed berry jam.
Compared to the former dessert, we preferred the Tropical “Tau Huey” ($15) which is an Asian take on the panna cotta. (The Bombolinis were heavy on the palate and stomach.) Macerated mango with chilli and passionfruit granita were used to pair with the coconut panna cotta and the tropical flavors were refreshing.
From now till 13 June, Siri House is offering delivery (bit.ly/shdelivery) and takeaway (bit.ly/shtakeaway) options in view of the no dine-in measure.
Special thanks to Natasha and the team for hosting us!
Address: Block 8 D #01-02 Dempsey Road, Dempsey Hill, Singapore 249672
Opening Hours: Mon – Thu 11.30am to 10pm, Fri – Sat 11.30am to 11pm, Sun 11.30am to 4pm
Don’t end the crab feast without ordering 게장밥 (Fried Crab Roe Rice, KRW2000 each). Generously fried with bits of crab roe and stuffed into a shell, this was a mouth orgasm.
On the side, we had 메밀전 (Buckwheat Pancakes, 8,000KRW), which were savory, earthy and nutty at the same time.
Among the items we had – Chai Café Latte (6,500KRW), Black Bean Macaron (2,500KRW) Egg Tart (3,000KRW), and Gateau Au Chocolat (4,000KRW) – the Portuguese egg tart was so unexpectedly good, I was relieved that my friend and I each bought one for ourselves.
Have you not known about my obsession with all things white? My day-to-day wearables, the places I like to immerse myself in, my photo-editing style of always increasing exposure. For me, it is synonymous to cleanliness, to light, to minimalism. As opposed to the antonymous dirtiness, darkness and clutter. Three words that put my mind to unrest, that sometimes put me in fear.
In consistency with my white obsession, I therefore like daytime – mornings, especially. Mornings where the sun is unobstructed in a cloudless sea, where the most part of my room is naturally lit up through translucent curtains, where light and shadows are juxtaposed appropriately for a photo. Such mornings are days where I gain more drive and inspiration to live more fulfilling-ly (moment of shock as I realise that this word does not exist).
On such mornings, there are a few options:
Recently, one of such mornings was spent at Apartment Coffee. It was my third time at the white-washed, minimally-themed coffee house since its opening in late 2018. On usual afternoons, the space is packed comfortably with customers and conversations spill across everywhere. All the more I have to be pressed to reach as early as possible, best if at 9am when the closed sign is flipped.
Like the previous two visits, I had perched myself on the wooden high stool for the coffee bar counter and called for my usual order of White. I am always fond of the smoothly textured milk + espresso here, though those who prefer very strong and robust flavours may not. One day I will get the filter. Oh, no takeaways here unless you bring your own tumbler.
Whilst waiting for my coffee, I would swoop up my phone and camera for a good round of photo-taking. This time a few people got caught in my photos, for I arrived an hour past 9.
Interior-wise, I dare say this space is my best-loved. The white walls, ceaseless coffee bar, brown wooden stools and tables and large windows put together remind me of Scandinavian design. Due to its location and windows, sunlight enters and leaves, creating brief moments of contrasting light and shadows that I so love to admire.
Despite gloominess from that global health situation which I will not go on to elaborate on, the first quarter of 2020 has seen a pretty fair boom in new cafes in Singapore. This is after a lull in the previous 2 years that had more than slightly depleted my usual excitement in café-hopping.
Opened last November without much fanfare is Double Up Coffee, located along Jalan Klapa in an enclave that houses several other well-known cafes. Just recently, it started to gain attention from social media postings.
Stepping through the glass doors, I was first greeted by the concrete coffee counter, followed by another sitting area furnished with small stools and tables. The minimalist concrete-themed setting was predominant.
Small and simple, the menu is has 3 sections – Business (i.e. coffee), Pleasure (i.e. non-coffee) and Chow (i.e. pastries). Having always been more of an espresso person (vs. filter), I opted for the Spro with Soy Milk ($5.50), while my friend got herself the Iced Spro with Milk ($6). Spro here refers to espresso. Though my soy espresso was a tad limp, I loved the iced espresso with milk for its smoothness and non-acidic aftertaste. I later found out that beans here are sourced from Bearded Bella.
The sole pastry available that day was the Blueberry Crust ($5.50), which I thoroughly enjoyed for its lightness and flakiness.
Rather than a comfortable spot to do “work from home” whilst sipping caffeine, I see this spot as one where I can hold light conversations and, from time to time, empty my mind and daydream.
