[Media Invite] Indocafe - the white house @ Scotts Road | GSS 2016 Food Trail

In conjunction with GSS 2016, Indocafe is offering ala-carte weekday buffet @$29++ and weekend buffet @ $33++ (valid on PH as well) via HGW HungryDeals from 3 June till 14 August 2016. Minimum two to dine for the ala-carte buffet.

Was invited by the kind folks of HGW to sample the ala-carte buffet at Indocafe. Have always passed by this exclusive looking dining place and this was the first visit with fellow foodies; littledevil_98, chubbybotakkoala, ivan_teh_runningman, thehungrycow, madamechewy and o_oican.

step right in

interior

Indocafe's interior is steeped in Peranakan style, and exuded an air of old-world elegance. No little nonya's around though.

screen panel decor

ala-carte buffet menu

A quick glance of its ala-carte buffet menu revealed about 20 items including desserts. Each order would be in a 2-pax portion. It was purposefully portioned in such a way so that diners could try more items in the menu, comfortably.

pretty looking pot of chili

let's snack on keropok while waiting

Have I mentioned that the dishes in the ala-carte buffet comprises of Penang-styled food? What do you think of, when Penang food is mentioned? Char kway teow? Char kway kak? Passembur? Assam Laksa? Hae Mee (prawn noodles)? Bingo! All correct and can be found here, at Indocafe for this GSS 2016.

let's dig in

Otak Klasik

O'Jian

One could order up a few plates of O'Jian (oyster egg omelette) as the egg batter was rather thin and with a few small sized ocean oysters. Not enough! But, I will insist that you order one Otak Klasik for yourself. No need to share. Not an ordinary otah as it was fashioned after 'chawanmushi' and made with Barramundi fish fillet. An upgraded version of otah, that has all the requisite flavours. Yums!

The two chars (char kway teow and char kway kak) were pretty likeable. Just don't expect the wok-hei flavours as that's not found in these plates. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable especially the char kway teow with the lap cheong and good sized prawns. It's a pity that it wasn't spicy. The Char Kway Kak here, tasted more like our local chai tau kway (dark sauce fried carrot cake).

Char Kway Teow

Char Kway Kak

Of course, not forgetting the assam laksa and prawn noodles. Hmm, how shall I put this. It was a good try but these were just not robust enough. Preferred the assam laksa over the hae mee.

assam laksa with prawn paste (hae gor)

prawn noodles

Oh, do order the kueh pie tee. Just need to get your hands dirty, as it was presented ala-diy mode. These cups were tasty. A nice snack or interlude.

kueh pie tee deconstructed

there, ready to be eaten

For meats, one could get the har cheong gai (prawn paste chicken) or the grilled stingray/sotong. The sotong has stronger flavours as it was marinated with sambal. The fried chicken was nice but too light in flavour. Wished it had more prawn paste flavours.

prawn paste chicken

sotong panggang (grilled squid with housemade sambal)

Next, on to the desserts. There were 3 choices and we sampled two. The bubur cha cha and chendol. Ooh, good choice! Bubur cha cha was served hot and cold chendol was so delicious.

The bubur cha cha was interesting as it had banana in it. A bit different but quite nice.

bubur cha cha

definitely must try chendol!

The chendol was pretty similar to the ones in Penang. Recommended. Plus, it tasted so good in our hot weather. Remember to stir it though as the gula melaka is all the way right at the bottom.

In overall, Indocafe offers nice ambiance for your dining pleasure.


View and book HGW GSS deals here. Or, call reservation hotline (68846884). GSS offers ends on 14 August 2016.

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Once in a while, we will see an online post or instagram pictures of non-mainstream bakers and their bakes. Kind of intriguing as there will be custom designs or unique flavours that might not be so readily available at the larger mainstream bakeries. Most of these boutique bakers will have their own media portal for customers to access and order their bakes. However, consumers will still need to search for these individually. Wouldn't it be nice if these are consolidated and accessible by a single portal?

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A Han Bakes specializes in custom cakes, and desserts table for weddings or parties. Have not tried their bakes yet, but if you would like to, here is what readers of Purple Taste could enjoy (courtesy of Buttertrade):

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Special thanks to Buttertrade for extending the promo code to Purple Taste readers.

The Lokal @ 136 Neil Road

Second time to The Lokal and first time having dinner there. The place is small and cosy hence, reservation is advisable. Brought colleagues there for dinner as they have yet to try. Visited on a weekday night and the place was rather busy. Liked the friendly vibes from the crew.

outside the restaurant

Besides the dinner menu, one could also order up the specials indicated on the chalkboard. Took our time to peruse over the menu. Service was friendly as usual.

dinner menu

let's see what the Chef is up to

Complimentary tap water is available and served promptly. But they were also having a 1-for-1 Kir Royal, so why not! This is basically a sweet champagne cocktail with Crème de cassis.

Kir Royal

iced lemon mint tea for the teetotaller

If you're very hungry and in a group of say 5 pax or more, then it is rather advisable to order up an appetiser or two. We ordered the truffle oil fat fries and boy, it was good! Chunky, slight crisp on its outerside and fluffy on its insides. Plenty of parmesan, was just how we liked it. Yums! Served with housemade chili and ketchup.

Truffle Oil Fat Fries @$10++

Though the mains took a while to arrive, the portions were pretty generous. Ordered a few mains from the chalkboard menu and also from the regular dinner menu. We tried the half roast chicken, the Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata, the panfried seabass and grilled pork chop.

The service staff did inform that the pork chop would be served slightly pink when we ordered this dish. Liked that the pork chop came with loads and loads of kale. Superfood ftw! Tried a piece of the boneless pork chop and thought it was less pink than expected. The parts with some fatty bits were the best. Otherwise, its meat was quite lean.

Grilled Pork Chop @$22++

Panfried Seabass @$28++

The panfried seabass originally was to be served with clams. No worries if you can't take clams as substitution is possible at this friendly cafe.  We had ours substituted with carrots.

The size of the roast chicken was quite wow. Everyone thought it was rather large.

Roast Chicken (half) @$26++

The Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata was served with a snow-caped mountain of Asiago cheese over a bed of watercress greens and in it, was the steak. Quite a nice visual, I must say. Overall lovely taste. First time having cheese and watercress combo and I liked it!

Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata @$28++

nice steak

And of course, we must have desserts. Something sweet for the finale.Why have one desserts when we can share two? Haha! That was what we did, and am glad that we did!

First up was the chalkboard daily specials menu: The Dark Choc Mousse with Biscotti and Kaya. The kaya  at The Lokal, was definitely different from the kaya that was already imprinted in our mind and taste buds. The version here tasted slightly like a more lemak (creamier version of) butterscotch. The biscotti was very good. Super duper crunchy too. Useful to scoop up those dark choc mousse and some kaya. But the presentation of this dish...somehow reminds me of a Pegasus. Hmmm.

Dark Choc Mousse with Biscotti & Kaya @$10++

Then, the best desserts that night, was the sticky date pudding. Bestest. And loving the $10++ price tag for the desserts (and fat fries too!).

Sticky Date Pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream @$10++

Had tried a few sticky dates pudding in my lifetime and so far, am liking the version at The Lokal. Best eaten with sauce and ice-cream. Recommended!

ps: Note that the main course listed on the chalkboard is not eligible for use with The Entertainer App.