Kafe Utu – Blending African Flavours with Modern Flair [MEDIA INVITE]

Caribbean Goat Curry

The hipster Keong Saik neighbourhood has welcome a new Café and Lounge, that brings with it the culture of Africa. Kurt Wagner, the owner of Kafe Utu grew up in Kenya and wanted to bring a piece of home to Singapore. Actually, Kurt brought more than a piece, he decorated almost the whole three stories of the building, even the doors, with items homemade and handmade in Kenya.

Welcome to Kafe Utu

For food, Kafe Utu is presenting a combination of east and west African dishes, together with modern café cuisine as well. A few of the recipes originated from Jon, Kurt’s brother whom together owned a few restaurants in Nairobi. Those dishes are Liberian Peanut Chicken Stew ($28), Swahili Fish Curry ($29), Caribbean Goat Curry ($28), and West African Spicy Greens ($28).

Kafe Utu - Level 1

Liberian Peanut Chicken Stew – Sakura Chicken Thigh, Natural Peanut Butter, Smoked Fish and Habanero (served with coconut rice). Surprisingly, the taste feels familiar. To put it in a local context, tasted like a combination of creamy satay sauce with chilli padi and served with basmati nasi lemak. Instead of sweet, it tilts towards savoury version. Yum Yum.

Liberian Peanut Chicken Stew

Swahili Fish Curry – Red Snapper, tamarind, coconut milk, house curry paste & habanero (served with coconut rice). I like the firm texture of the fish fillet, cooked with tangy, assam curry fish-head like flavour, with extra richness from the coconut milk. It is best to eat the fish together with Kafe Utu version of tomato salsa.

Swahili Fish Curry

Caribbean Goat Curry – Fresh goat meat, house curry paste & habanero (served with coconut rice). You can expect a strong gamy flavour from the goat. The curry paste helps to minimise the strong gamy flavour, and the spiciness of this dish is definitely higher compared to the rest of the African dishes.

Caribbean Goat Curry

West African Spicy Greens – Mixed Greens (cassava leaf), chicken thigh, smoked fish & habanero (served with coconut rice). At first, I thought it was a vegetarian dish, however, under those greens come the surprise. It is packed with umami flavour, originated from the smoked fish and chicken thigh. It did well to nicely balance the greens and meat proteins.

West African Spicy Greens

Although the above dishes supposed to come with rice, we had ours with Homemade Chapati ($2 per serving). Aromatic, fragrant and crisp roti, works nicely to scoop the curries.

Homemade Chapati

Complementing the African cuisine are the modern brunch dishes that is comparable with modern café in Singapore and Australia. The spread includes Pulled Pork Breakfast ($24), Quinoa Chia Seed Pudding ($18), Curried Avocado with Raw Garlic and Toast ($16, add egg +$3), Mama’s fresh garden salad ($25), Utu Bowl ($20).

Kafe Utu - Level 2

Pulled Pork Breakfast - Fresh pork shoulder, house hickory smoked BBQ sauce, curried avocado, corn salsa, poached barn egg & potato hash. Amazing flavour on the plate. The pulled pork shoulder is super juicy, the poached egg is perfectly cooked, while the creaminess of the avocado and corn salsa really spiced up the dish. Not to be missed is the perfectly crispy hash brown. Oink Oink.

Pulled Pork Breakfast

Quinoa Chia Seed Pudding representing the healthy brunch cuisine. It has chia seed, quinoa, Greek yoghurt, seasonal fruits (grilled banana, grapefruit and blood orange) topped with roasted almonds and pure maple syrup are just delicious. Who says healthy food can’t taste delicious.

Quinoa Chia Seed Pudding

Curried Avocado with Raw Garlic and Toast with egg. Style like modern breakfast in Australian café, the fresh and creamy avocado on sourdough toast definitely get your tongue wagging. The twist here is red curry paste and raw garlic, which helps to overcome the richness of the avocado together with the bitterness from arugula leaves.

Curried Avocado with Raw Garlic and Toast with egg

Mama’s fresh garden salad. This salad has a nostalgic feel to Kurt, reminding him of the salad that his mum made. A generous dose of baby leaf, fruit tomato, cucumber, avocado, red radish, alfalfa. The earthy flavour definitely stands out here, but I like the twang from the apple cider vinegar dressing.

Mama's Fresh Garden Salad

Utu Bowl - Quinoa, Orange Zest pickled carrots, apple cider pickled cabbage, fresh kale, marinated goat’s cheese, sous vide egg, roasted pumpkin, fresh avocado & spiced pumpkin seeds. What an explosion of healthy flavours in your mouth. Simply put, delicious.

Utu Bowl

For starters, we had Beetroot Burratini ($18), Potato Wedges ($14), Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($15) and Padron Peppers ($14).

Kafe Utu - Level 3

Beetroot Burratini - Picked beetroot, white truffle oil, burratini & fresh basil leaf. I definitely like the combination of beetroot and burratini. However, the white truffle oil definitely does not belong in this dish. Instead, they should just replace the truffle oil with apple cider vinegar dressing or maybe balsamic vinegar.

Beetroot Burratini

Potato Wedges. The wedges are good, crisp externally and moist internally. However, the three homemade dips here are extraordinary. They are mango chili marmalade (Fresh Mango, habanero, onion & coarse black pepper – Spiciness level LOW), Congo Bongo (Fresh Veggies, habanero, natural peanut butter & house spice blend – Spiciness level MEDIUM) and House Chili (Garlic, chili padi, habanero, citrus & butter – Spiciness level MINDBLOWING).

Potato Wedges with the homemade dips

Buttermilk Fried Chicken. This is Kafe Utu version of Popcorn chicken. Bitesize crispiness to be eaten with homemade dips.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken with the homemade dips

Pardon Peppers - Pimentos & Citron Sea Salt. For those who live on the edge. Definitely not for me, but a must try for those who like everything and anything spicy. Good Luck!

Pardon Peppers

The desserts line up included Ricotta Hotcakes ($23), Mandazi ($8), Tiramisu ($8) and Canele ($5).

Ricotta Hotcakes. This is definitely one kick-ass hotcakes. It is fluffy and creamy, topped with delicious ice cream, icing sugar and apple syrup. A must order for a pancake lover. Although it is listed as brunch, I think the ice cream made it suitable for brunch or desserts.

Ricotta Hotcakes

Mandazi - Swahili Coast Fried Bread with Coconut Flakes & Cardamom. Interesting flavours, however, the cardamom is too strong for my liking.

Mandazi

Canelé has a dense texture to the pasty due to over caramelisation. I find it needs a bit of liquid to smoothen up the pastry, like Utu soft serve ice cream. In Kafe Utu, it is likely that the soft serve cream is made using House Ubuntu Coffee.

Canele and Tiramisu

Tiramisu - House Ubuntu Espresso, layered with sponge fingers & mascarpone frosting. A signature dessert here that exploit your love for desserts and coffee. It is fully caffeinated and creamy, a perfect dessert to showcase the nutty and chocolaty roast profile from their signature coffee beans.

Not forgetting, the coffee here definitely suits my palate. I like the chocolate and nutty flavour from their coffee beans. I tried Bidi Bado (Abracadabra – Utu Style Mocha, $7). Mocha rimmed with natural peanut butter, pink peppercorns and toasted almond. Almost like the coffee mocktails, filled with a lot of nutty ingredients and sparks from pink peppercorn. Best of all, Kafe Utu uses Hokkaido Milk, known as one of the best milk in Asia for your coffee.

Bidi Bado - Abracadabra

If you are a coffee junkie, this information might interest you. Kafe Utu are using the LaMarzocco Leva coffee, it is also one of the first to be in the F&B market. Their coffee bean is their house blend, “Ubuntu” consisting of Uganda, Mexico and Brazil. Therefore, you can expect a rich buttery texture with hints of cashew nuts & brown sugar, subtle notes of red wine, caramelized apricot acidity and intense dark chocolate finish.

Ubuntu Coffee Bean

Cold Brew, Protein Balls and Hokkaido Milk in the background

I loved the décor of this place. Without a doubt, you will be exposed to culture and visual art of Africa sub-continent. During the day this place is to be known as Kafe Utu, as the sun set, it will turn into Utu Lounge.

Kafe Utu - Level 2

Overall, Kafe Utu has definitely introduced to me a taste of African food. The menu here is curated to present the best of modern brunch cuisine together and the best of African Flavours as well. Not forgetting, their House blend, Ubuntu coffee bean is just amazing. Definitely, a must visit place. Cheers!!

Outdoor Bar - for Utu Lounge

Thank you very much to Kris and Kafe Utu Team for the tasting invitation.

Food: 8/10

Value: 7.75/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 9/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80

Kafe Utu

12 Jiak Chuan Road

Singapore 089265

T: +65 6996 3937

W: https://kafeutu.com/

F: https://www.facebook.com/kafeutu/

IG: @kafeutu

OH:

Tue to Sun: 08.00 – 17.00

Closed on Monday

Utu Lounge

Tue – Thu: 18.00 – 23.00

Fri & Sat: 18.00 – 01.00

Sun: 11.30 – 17.00

Closed on Monday

Shabestan – Persian Green Month [MEDIA INVITE]

Sabzi Kebab @ Shabestan 

Shabestan is an authentic Persian restaurant located in Singapore riverfront district, Robertson Quay. Helmed by Executive Chef Hamid Hosseini, Shabestan served authentic Persian cuisine that combines premium halal lamb, beef, chicken, fish with Persian’s finest ingredients like saffron, olive oil, pomegranates, prunes, raisins and nuts.

Shabestan

To celebrate World Vegan Month, Shabestan launched a new vegetarian and vegan menu as part of its Persian Green Month. This special menu offers healthy, plant-based dishes for vegetarians and health-conscious diners. It is available until 15 December 2018.  

We started the tasting with Appetiser Platter ($35). Consist of Hummus, Homemade Cheese, Muhammara, Kashk-E-Bademjan, and Borani Esfanaaj; Served with Persian Bread ($3).

Appetiser Platter. From Left: Borani Esfanaaj, Kashk-E-Bademjan, Muhammara, Homemade Cheese and Hummus

The Persian Bread is just awesome. It is crisp, light, fragrant with a slight chewiness in it bodes well with all the appetizer. I like the homemade cheese (creamy with a touch of twang), Muhammara (bursting with flavour from roasted bell peppers and crunchy pomegranate) and Borani Esfanaaj (an aromatic mixture of fried onions and spinach) as they suit my palate.

Persian Bread

Shirazi Salad ($12), a combination of freshly chopped cucumber, tomatoes, onion and house dressing. It is crunchy, juicy and refreshing. The acidity in the house dressing is very strong, and it helps to open up your appetite. It is also good to consume with your main meal, as the acidity helps to balance any overwhelming flavour from the main meals.

Shirazi Salad

Dolma ($9), a stuffed mixture of rice, split yellow peas, savoury herbs used as a filling, wrapped with grapevine layers. Persian version of rice dumpling tasted like rice and peas wrapped in cassava leaves. Good for small bites, a prelude to the main meal.

Dolma

Dolma

Mirza Ghasemi With Egg ($25) - Northern Iranian grilled eggplant with garlic, tomatoes and spices. It also comes without Egg for Vegan. The eggplant is grilled and cooked until soft, infused with garlic, tomato and spices. The garlic flavour is very strong here, however, the sweetness from the fried onion and tomatoes really perk up this dish. I personally like to have it with Persian bread.

Mirza Ghasemi With Egg

Ghormeh Sabzi Vegetarian ($29) - A savoury medley of fresh herbs, cottage cheese cooked with red beans, sun-dried lime and fresh vegetables in Persian spices. It reminds me of Palak Paneer, the spinach and feta cheese in Indian cuisine. However, the version here is different, it is cooked for close to 4 hours, allowing it to extract the essence of the herbs. The cheese added a chewy texture and umami flavour to the dish. For me, it is definitely a “rice thief” dish.

Ghormeh Sabzi Vegetarian

Assorted Rice ($10 each), Baghala Polo (rice, lima beans & fresh dill); Zereshk Polo (wild barberries, fresh pomegranate and saffron flavoured basmati rice); Javaher Polo (basmati rice mixed with Persian nuts, berries & sun-dried orange peel).

Javaher Polo (Left); Zereshk Polo (Top); Baghala Polo (Right).

I like the Bagholo Polo as suitable to go with the savoury or main dishes, while the Zereshk Polo and Javaher Polo are more like a rice salad, due to the sweetness and nutty ingredients in the rice.

Sabzi Kebab ($25), served with Basmati Rice and Bagholo Polo. Chef's recipe charcoal grilled vegetarian kebab with seasonal fresh vegetables & homemade cottage cheese. The grilled vegetables are aromatic and nicely charred. The homemade cottage cheese is springy and delicious.

Sabzi Kebab

Dessert is Persian Saffron Ice Cream ($8). It is homemade with pistachio, cream and saffron. Not a straightforward pistachio ice cream, I feel the combination of cream and saffron are too strong for my liking.

Persian Saffron Ice Cream

Persian is known for their tea. I manage to try Persian Tea, served with saffron sugar. Fruity and aromatic tea, infused with mint leaves. The saffron sugar adds a touch of class in the tea.

Persian Tea with Saffron Sugar

True to its identity, Shabestan restaurant décor exudes Persian characters in each corner. You can be forgiven if you think you are dining in Persia instead of Singapore.

Part of Dining Area

Overall, the dishes in Shabestan have its own unique characteristic. Although some dishes might look similar to other Mediterranean restaurants, it definitely has a distinct taste. Don’t miss out on Persian Green Month at Shabestan. Cheers!!

Thank you very much to Shabestan’s Team and Catherine Ong’s Team for the tasting invitation.

For Shabestan Persian Green Month Menu, click here.

Food & Drink: 7.75/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: N/A (Media Invite)

Ambiance: 8.5 / 10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25, $26, $50

Shabestan

80 Mohamed Sultan Road

The Pier @ Robertson

#01-13. Singapore 239013

T: +65 6836 1270

W: https://www.shabestan.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/Shabestan.SG/

IG: @Shabestan.sg

OH:

Sun – Thu: 12.00 – Midnight (LO 23.00)

Fri, Sat and Eve PH: 12.00 – Midnight (LO 23.30)

Fat Belly – Home of Flat Iron and Onglet [MEDIA INVITE]

Flat Iron Steak @ Fat Belly

Flat Iron and Onglet are the words that are foreign to our ears and you will not even associate it with a steak cut. While we are familiar Ribeye, Filet Mignon, Tomahawk, Sirloin, Striploin, and even T-Bone, you will hardly ever hear the two types of cuts mentioned above. I personally only get to know Flat Iron about a year ago, and Onglet only when I visited Fat Belly.

Fat Belly - Opening Hours

Flat Iron is a flat muscle off the shoulder blade. It is a trendy, tasty cut that recently found in the early 21^st century. With a modern cutting technique, you will get a delicious, well marbled and super tender meat. Meanwhile, Onglet is a French name for skirt steak. It is the cut under the rib, surrounded by tough membrane that needs to be removed before cooking. After the removal of the tough membrane, it still needs to be cooked properly to produce a delicious steak.

Location: Hidden inside Sugarhaus

Fat Belly, a boutique casual steakhouse by the folks behind Sugarhaus. Our host, Stanley mention that Fat Belly main intention is to entice and teach steak lovers on these underappreciated cuts.

The Lower Seating at Sugarhaus

The Menu at Fat Belly is very focused. Three type of cuts, USDA 150 day Grain Fed Angus Flat Iron Steak ($35 for set, $22 for a la carte); USDA Grain Fed Angus Short Rib Steak ($38 for set, $25 for a la carte); and Wagyu Mable Score 4-5 Onglet Steak ($50 for set, $38 for a la carte).

For sets, you can choose a side dish and a dessert, normally priced at $5 and $10 to $12 respectively.

First up is the Flat Iron. The sensation on the first bite is bursting with flavour. The jus from the meat also burst into your mouth. It is tender with a little springy texture, follow with melting in your mouth sensation. Kind of giving you the sensation when eating pork jowl. Yum Yum!!

USDA 150 day Grain Fed Angus Flat Iron Steak

Next up is Onglet. With wagyu marble score of 4 -5, you can expect it to be a succulent meat. Of course, the process of itself from butchering, prep work (sous vide) and grilling it play a part in the final result. Tasted like filet mignon with a lesser juice. The meat just slowly falls apart when you chew it.

Wagyu Mable Score 4-5 Onglet Steak

Both of the steaks are cooked to medium rare, served with sea salt and homemade chimichurri sauce, we personally like ours with sea salt only. There is also a small portion of salad with balsamic vinegar dressing with each steak.

Our Dinner

For the sides, we sample Creamed Kale, Truffle Fries and Sautéed Thyme Mushrooms. All of them are very well executed and it just depends on your preference. We strongly recommend the creamed kale. The combination of cream and cheese are just absolutely addictive. We first polished up the kale, then I used the balance of the sauce as a dipping sauce for the truffle fries. The bowl is squeaky clean after we polished the sauce off.

The Sides - Up Close

Dipping the fries with Creamed Kale

For desserts, Foie Gras Chocolate Bar is just too attractive to pass. While the sticky date pudding is highly recommended by Stanley.

Before we ordered the Chocolate Bar, we were briefed about what to expect and how the desserts might taste like, so we might not be over surprised by it. Instead of anticipating the foie gras as the main ingredients, the dark chocolate is the main attraction. The excellent rich and crisp dark chocolate coating will set your tongue wagging, leaving the creamed foie gras to linger in the background. The tangy apple jelly helps to balance the ‘jelakness’ in this dessert. Interesting dessert indeed.

Foie Gras Chocolate Bar

Foie Gras Chocolate Bar (Check out the Chocotale Bar Fillings)

Sticky date pudding was moist, however, it is missing the oozing feel when you cut through the pudding. The Honey Milk Ice Cream nicely complemented the pudding and goes well with the painted chocolate and crunchy cereal.

Sticky Date Pudding

If you decided on the ala carte menu, I strongly recommend you try their waffle and ice cream. I visited Sugarhaus before and their waffle got everyone nodding in approval.

Waffle from the last visit

Located inside Sugarhous, Fat Belly seating is more of bench seating with the view of the open kitchen, where you can see the Fat Belly team at work. However, you can also choose to seat on the normal table for a more casual setting. Don’t expect fine dining service, instead of more friendly and casual café service that serves sumptuous food.

The Bench Seating at Fat Belly

Overall, it was definitely a memorable experience. We fully recommend the Flat Iron steak and the creamed kale. We’ll definitely come back to try out their Short Rib Steak in the future. Cheers!!

Thank you very much to Sihan (Fundamentally Flawed), Stanley and Fat Belly team for the tasting invitation.

Food & Drink: 8.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: N/A (Tasting Invitation)

Ambiance: 7.25/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50

Fat Belly

10 Jalan Serene

#01-04 Serene Centre

Singapore 258748

(Hidden inside Sugarhaus)

T: +65 6314 2247

W: https://www.fatbellysg.com/

F: https://www.facebook.com/fatbellysg

IG: @Fatbellysg

OH:

Sun – Thu: 18.00 – 22.00

Fri & Sat: 18.00 – 23.00

Menu Available Online