There's an alarming trend in brunch food these days. Slap on an egg onto any dish, a door stopper piece of toast, handmade roti, freshly toasted waffle with a complimentary blob of cream/custard masterfully dashed across the plate and you've got a $16-worth brunch dish. Go forth and snap that money shot while canoodling your $6 cup of #latteart in oblivion, before returning back to the harsh reality of life later, realizing that the damage done to your wallet was only in aid of experiential value. Yes, I'm a cynic at most times, but cafe culture and the mediocrity of it's offerings foster those sentiments.
Hence, if you're out to pay for the experience, you might as well take the journey up North to the tree-lined roads of aerospace park surrounding former Seletar Airbase. Go BIG or go home. Here you'll find The Summerhouse, a multi-concept F&B destination 'confined' within an 11-hectare cluster of gazette conservation bungalow, also home to the newest cafe - Wildseed Cafe and Bar.
The sprawling space on the peripheral of the colonial bungalow is home to an in-house edible garden where chefs harvest herbs and spices crucial to the layered curiosities of their dishes at the restaurant. It's impressive and thoroughly educational. The congregation of unique flavors from genuine cocoa pods to gingerflower and spearmint provoking the senses.
I would implore you start the morning with a Gibraltar coffee. This stiff beverage courtesy of Nomad the Gallant offers the perfect alchemy for their robust blend - two shot of espresso and a spot of milk to soften out the assault. Wildseed Cafe rolls out all the punches with their signature item of Sourdough Kaya Toast ($8) - slight chewy sourdough brings you waves of pleasure with rich kaya and house-churned butter slathered generously in between. This is further dressed up by toasted dessicated coconut, a drizzle of gula melaka over 62.5 degree egg. The amalgamation is spotlessly correct and I would make the trip back to this ulu spot in a heartbeat just based on this singularity alone.
Brunch generally trods in the over-indulgent territory. Highland Pancakes ($8) drizzled with maple syrup topped with roasted sweet corn is dignified despite the simplicity of it's accessories. Loaded with unnecessary fattiness is the Messed Up Croissant ($8) - a larger than life affair that adds heft to your hips upon first glance. Flaky croissant meets chocolate spread, mango jam, papaya jam, hibiscus powder and matcha powder. You'll feel mild pangs of nausea as a cuboid of cold butter gets caught mingling with too much sweet mango jam on the palate. Not too sure where the kitchen was headed with this one.
The Poached Egg Don ($14) and French Toast ($12) prove to be a tad unexciting; the former, a curious combination of cured seabass over a healthy toss-up of brown rice and barley with poached egg over the top, while the latter pales in terms of visual stimulation with lettuce forming a stiff blanket over the bacon strips? WHUT? While the poached egg softened the fishy and overtly salty taste of the cured seabass, I didn't quite find the mix invigorating for the lack of a additional textural elements.
There was a memorable Scrambled Avocado Roti ($16) which highlights sauteed Kranji mushrooms, a spot of sunshine from the egg and grated parmesan for nests of creamy goodness. This tight configuration makes for a dream team where breakfasts are concerned.
At the turn of noon, the lunch menu touts several options that are better suited for the blazing weather. The Moroccan Fennel Salad ($16) for example is a blatantly refreshing combination of marinated prawns, red pepper, fresh lettuce, olives, tomatoes, coriander and fennel. Not much surprise in juxtaposition, so you shouldn't be expecting much.
The branching out to a menu that's more 'worldly' becomes more evident especially with the Falafel Sourdough Burger ($14) which stacks house-made deep fried ground chickpea patties with a herbaceous cucumber eggplant stew, coriander and yogurt sauce for that age old combination. This is one for the nimble palates who have a better understanding of the Middle-Eastern specialties.
Wildseed Cafe's Pulled Pork Rye Burger ($16) is one of the strengths of the joint as well; throwing out plenty of surprises despite the progression of the belly-bursting tasting session. Homemade, still-chunky pulled pork with umamified bacon gravy fills in the spaces in between. Cornichorns and German pickled cabbage provides acidity while the rye bread spread with dijon mustard made for the perfect vessel to sandwich the debauchery.
Desserts should not be an after-thought at Wildseed. The showing of three pleasantries at the table making it evident that this chimera was still real.
I would highly recommend the Ginger Flower Banana Loaf ($6.50), a swirled banana bread drizzled with ginger infused toffee sauce and topped with dehydrated gingerflower. The slice is tender beyond belief and chock full with warmth with every bite. Other desserts such as the Citronella Passionfruit Cheesecake ($6.50) and Peaflower Coconut Muffin ($6.50) get worthy mentions for it's unconventional presentation and relevance to the garden settings.
A unique urban oasis with surroundings of tranquil greenery that invoke a sense of adventure, you will most certainly enjoy a day-trip out to the Wildseed Cafe and Bar. Possibly one that takes a lot more planning ahead, but so worth your while when you're there, soaking in that amicable placidity of the grounds.
Wildseed Cafe and Bar
3 Park Lane
S(798387)
t: 6262 1063
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