Selfish Gene

This opened sometime last week. I was quite bewildered by the name. Why would anyone call their cafe Selfish Gene?

A couple of black boards in the cafe gave the hint. Gene is the owner of which he is selfish because… I will let you go there and find out for yourself.

Unimportant details aside, I was pleasantly surprised by this new find.

 Cappuccino

The coffee was really quite good. It was light and smooth. My only slight complaint was the froth. Upon speaking to the owner and barista, I was told they used Green Fields milk. This is the same problem with many other cafes that use Green Fields milk (look at Oriole) The barista said they also use Highlander Coffee Beans of which Green Fields milk work best with. Maybe this is so because the beans don't seem to be that strong and using a lighter milk will be better with such beans. I'm not completely convinced though. I like my froth with more robust texture.

Pesto with poached egg and toast ~ $10

This was pretty good as well. The poached egg gave the dish texture. Pesto came on a crunchy piece of toast. I'm not sure what the red stuff is and if it is necessary….

Banana cake with peanut butter sauce and crumble ~ $7

This was pretty yummy. The sweet cake with the salty peanut butter sauce. Again, there is a play with textures with the crumble. The owners here just understand textures which is something most places lack in cooking. My only suggestion to the owner was if the banana bread could be warm or toasted. I'm used to eating my banana bread warm. 

I spoke to the owner and found out that he and another staff used to work in the St Pierre's Kitchen. This is the fine dining restaurant by chef Emmanuel Stroobant. Its quite a good restaurant (although I would say too over hyped). So its no surprise then that the food in this place is quite good and the use of textures in food is understood here.

Subsequent visits

The barista did 2 lattes for me to compare. One latte used Green fields milk and the other Pura milk. Green fields milk is used generally as the barista feels that it suits the highlander beans better in terms of taste. After tasting the 2 lattes using different milk, I still like Pura milk better. Pura milk is from Australia and provides a richer foam and a creamer latte. Highlander beans produce quite a mild coffee and perhaps from that angle Greenfield does blend well with the coffee made from those beans.

I was quite touched that the barista made me 2 coffees to try and made an effort to see what I preferred as a customer.

Other dishes I have had there:

Lemon Meringue Pie

The crust of this was good although I would have liked it more crumbly. Lemon curd was nice and tart. The pie had a nice meringue burnt top. Most places only make lemon tart and not the Meringue Pie so this was quite nice. 

The desserts in this place are a good size.

Bread and Butter Pudding

I don't like bread and butter pudding unless it is a good one. This is good. Creme anglaise makes the pudding richer and cuts through the sour berries. Good combination of flavors and well thought through.

Website: http://selfishgenecafe.com/

Location: 40 Craig Road

Opening hours: 10am- 6pm except tuesdays

Contact Number: 64231324

Highlander Coffee

Highlander coffee is another decent coffee place around the Tanjong Pagar area. In fact, I would say its one of the earlier pioneers of decent coffee in Singapore

This place is actually situated at the fringes of Tanjong Pagar in Kampong Bahru, which are the conservation houses across SGH.

The place has a coffee academy at the back of the cafe.

Latte with a cookie

You can see from the latte above that the coffee frothing looks decent. Decent frothing doesn't have plenty of holes and the froth is not thin but has shape and texture. Looks like a marshmallow top.

Coffee was a good temperature and was quite smooth.

The food here is practically non existent though. I understand if coffee needs to be the focus but I think its a waste of money having unappetizing wraps in the glass counter. 

Its a good place to go to after you have lunch in the area. 

Website: http://highlandercoffee.com/

Location: 49 Kampung Bahru Road

Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 9am - 6pm
Prices: About $4 for a cup of coffee

The Plain

This is my regular Saturday morning breakfast spot.

The Plain has a simple unpretentious Melbourne style feel to it. So it will be no surprise that the the owner Vincent learnt his cafe trade from Melbourne, Australia.

The strengths of the Plain is without a doubt its coffee. Good milk froth and well extracted coffee at about $4 per hit, it makes this place hard to beat. Especially since the general market price for even coffee half the quality of this one is about $6. The fact that Vincent engages with his customers is also part of the charm.

You can just see the quality of the froth in the picture below. Bad frothing means plenty of bubbles. Good froth produces a meringue type feel to the cappuccino.

Breakfast selection is limited but whatever you order will be of decent quality.

Some Regular picks for Breakfast

The Toastie

1)The Toastie is a classic tomato, cheese, ham on toast. The bread is crusty and fresh, tomatoes ripe and with the right cheese. All the good fresh ingredients needed for a good toastie of simplicity.

2) Dean's breakfast is toast with vegemite, cheese and poached eggs.

3) Fruit Salad with yogurt

Other things available

1) Summer breeze. This is a refreshing fruit iced tea. Vincent's concoction

2) Cakes. It's hard to know what is available that day. Vincent's sister in law makes good desserts at a decent price.

Website: http://www.theplain.com.sg/location

Prices: About $15 per pax for breakfast & Coffee. Very decent value for good quality

Location: Ground Floor 50 Craig Road