Hello all, hope all of you are doing fine and ending your workweek after a week long of work. Today, I went back to the mall which I previously featured a couple of restaurants and found a new gem which served really authentic Thai food. It really feels great to find a nice place to dine in, together with food that warms my heart. So let's get right on into it.
The Place
Warm Up Cafe
Address: 1 Vista Exchange Green, #02-10/11 The Star Vista, Singapore 138617
Another find within the mall, The Star Vista. This is a very interesting place because it offers various seating that one can try at the place which also included an al fresco area. The staff were really friendly and wore a signature smile like all Thai nationals do. It really elevates the experience. The place looks to be patronised by people of all ages so I guess there is a good variety of food available. Thai food have a special place in my heart and a nice Thai food dinner will make a good wrap up to a busy work week.
Here's how the place looks like:
Love the ambience here especially with the many seat options available. Think the cushion seat area will be well received by the younger crowd whom can cluster together after school or after church service. The place has a very unique interior which had a mix of garden and also Thailand night market feel. It is spacious and also has a place for live band performance. I was lucky today when I visit and there is a live band performing right before my eyes serenading to a number of Thai songs which were soothing to the ears. So let's head on to the food.
The Food
There is a huge variety of food in the menu and I am spoilt for choices. They also serve Thai grill steamboat Mookata here but probably not gonna eat that today. Instead I had a little craving for noodles so here's what my wife and I ordered:
- Boat Noodle (Beef)
- Dried Beef Noodle
- Creamy Crab Omelette
- Stir Fry Kai Lan with Crispy Pork
- Beverage (Coconut Crush and Lemongrass Drink)
What a spread we've ordered. Guess we were a little too hungry but every dish served looked really amazing. While there are many Thai restaurants in Singapore, really good ones are hard to find and I hope today's food will be nice and authentic.
Boat Noodles (Beef)
This is one dish that is less commonly found here in Singapore contrary to others like Tom Yum Soup, Pad Thai etc. This boat noodles served here is a little different from how it is served in Thailand. Boat noodles in Thailand got their name because they were historically sold from boats along the Thai rivers like in the floating market area and are typically served in small bowls. But the one served here at Warm Up Cafe was instead a big hearty bowl. There are two options you can choose for your boat noodles here, either the pork or the beef variant. My wife ordered the beef variant as she missed the beef boat noodles she had in Bangkok.
As usual, I also get to eat a small portion of what my wife ate so that I can give a review on the food. The broth is very flavourful and should have been simmered over many hours to have the essence of the meat and other ingredients. The whole bowl is filled to the brim with various beef parts such as brisket, beef balls and other beef parts which is a pleasure to savour. The meat is cooked to the right tenderness and the beef ball is super bouncy. A solid bowl of noodles that feels really hearty when you have it with the soup.
Dried Beef Noodles
Another variant of noodles that I ordered which is served with a bowl of boat noodle broth is the dried beef noodles, served with ingredients such as beef brisket, pork ball, vegetables and 2 fried wanton. There are light sauces to mix at the bottom of the bowl and together with the fresh ingredients used for this dish, it is a joy to eat and I also get to drink the boat noodle broth. To enhance the flavour of the noodles a little, I took 2 spoonful of the broth and lightly spread them over the noodles to elevate the taste. Another well done dish which is nice and refreshing.
Creamy Crab Omelette
This dish is just phenomenal, nicely done omelette with big chunks of crab meat that is well mixed so that almost every scoop of the omelette will come with at least one piece of crab meat. Frying a nice omelette needs good skill, fry such a plate of crab omelette that melts in your mouth certainly needs really good control of the cooking. Each bite of this will make you want to scoop more. Nice and silky and the umami of the crab meat is tasted along with the eggs. One of the best crab omelette I've tasted.
Stir Fry Kai Lan with Crispy Pork
One of my favourite Thai dish. Usually hard to go wrong, just some places served a mountain of Kai Lan but with tiny little bit of the crispy pork but look at the big chunky crispy pork found here. Looks and taste really good. There is no bitterness to the Kai Lan and a nice crispy sound can be heard when munching the crispy pork.
Beverages
Coconut crush is refreshing and can kick away the cloying tastes from the food. It is not overly sweet which is great for people like me whom prefer less sweet beverage options. My wife loves lemongrass drink so she ordered it. She told me, it met her expectations and tasted refreshing for her as well.
Overall:
This place is really a gem and we've only tasted barely a small portion of their menu. I will certainly come back for more. Every dish that we've ordered so far tasted really authentic and satisfied our stomachs. Nice place, nice food and nice music.
Closing
Thank you for coming by and reading my post. I am really glad to be able to share with everyone this amazing restaurant which had even a live band performance while you have your meal. This is a place that I must return as there is so many more items in the menu that I would love to try. Have a great weekend everyone!
See you in the next post!