The Hungry Bunny

Greyhound Cafe opened to much fanfare in Singapore. Originating from Bangkok, aka the land of smiles, the cafe is a big thing in its homeland and insanely popular with the millennial set. It's now over a year since its launch in Paragon Shopping Centre, the crowds have long dissipated, and I thought it finally time to visit the cafe. You know, Greyhound Cafe is the perfect example of why I don't think an overseas outpost will ever fare as well as the original mothership. Greyhound Cafe may serve great food back in Thailand, but its sister outlet here in little ol' Singapore, was awfully pedestrian. And the business, or lack thereof, speaks for itself. Even with its one-for-one mains promotion for dinner, the cafe rarely operates at a full capacity. Because the cafe hires the hearing-impaired, service at Greyhound requires patience and understanding. On the part of the customer. We weren't aware at first that our waiter was hearing impaired, so we rattled off our...

Joe's Kitchen , for some inexplicable reason, is hugely popular. It's purportedly a favourite lunch-time haunt of many in the Alexandra hinterland, and it packs in a full house every lunch/dinner-time, but I don't get it. Granted, it's cheap, but the food is insipid and ingredients less than sparkling fresh.   The Panang Curry Chicken ($11.90) was creamy but lacking in oomph. The chicken, while succulent, had a hint of artificial tenderizer that the curry failed to mask. The Tom Yum Nam Kone Seafood ($7.50) was dreadful. The soup was adequately sour but lacking in a heaty spice to balance out the sour notes. The prawns were tasteless, the squid was overcooked and the mackerel slices were awfully fishy. The Deep Fried Garlic Pork ($11.90) passed muster, tender meat and those fried garlic bits were very yummy. A Chinese-cze char dish, the Hotplate Seafood Beancurd ($12.90) was decent, but skip the squid and fish. The only worthwhile dish, the Phad Th...

I wasn't enthused when a friend asked for company to dine at Long Chim . For one, it's an outpost of a celebrity restaurant, which, on its own, is deterrent enough. Add to that the fact that said celebrity chef is a white guy, yet Long Chim serves Thai street food. [insert *rolls eyes* emoji here] Suffice to say, I was real skeptical about how authentic the flavours could be. Lucky for me that my friend's got good instincts. Long Chim turned out to be my favourite Thai restaurant find of the year. The food, a modern twist on Thai street grub, is bold, unadulterated, and absolutely smashing. No watering down of anything here! The heady spice of the Fish Cakes ($17) was countered with a refreshingly piquant cucumber and peanut relish. One of the best renditions of the ubiquitous Thai appetizer, springy in texture with nary a whiff of fishy stench. A must try, the Spicy Pork with Rice Cakes ($23) was a lively hodgepodge of minced pork, raw shallots, dried chillis, ...

Tamarind Hill has quickly become one of my favourite places to head to for Thai fine dining, the other 2 being good ol' Patara , and popular CBD haunt Sabai on the Bay . Here, classic Thai food is made exquisite with premium, ultra fresh ingredients and gorgeous plating. The Hors d'oeuvres comprised a duo of springy Thai Fish Cakes with a refreshingly crisp cucumber salad, a tender chicken skewer burnished with a chili peanut coat, and a papaya salad speckled with salted eggs. The fish cakes and chicken skewer were lovely, but the hightlight was the salad, a myriad of crunchy and smooth textures and addicting in its piquancy. A classic Thai salad, Lab Gai ($18), was a hodgepodge of minced chicken, fresh shallots, and assorted Thai herbs dressed in a savoury spicy marinade. It was just too bad (for me, at least) copious amounts of coriander leaves were weaved into this. A must-try, the E-Sarn Style Beef Soup ($8) was smashing. The beef was meltingly tender, and the...

Korat Thai rounds off the trio of Thai eateries scattered in Orchard Towers, the other two being Cafe Sapunsa and Thai Tantric . We rotate between the 3, depending on whichever is the least busy. The Muslim-friendly Korat Thai doesn't do pork, but that lacuna is offset by the excellent finesse of the fresh and sweet seafood. Straightforward and rustic, the food at Korat Thai boasts big bold flavours. The Hubs says this is like the best of Thai street food that you could possibly find in Singapore, but in air-conditioned comfort and at prices reflective of an Orchard Road tenant. That said, Korat Thai's "premium prices" are cheaper than at fine-dining Patara , Tamarind Hill or Sabai . Like Cafe Supunsa and Thai Tantric, the tiny stall gets crazy-mobbed and service consequently choppy and dour, but who cares about good service when the fantastic food's all the draw you need. The Deep Fried Chicken with Garlic & Pepper ($10.90), fried to a crisp and ...

For some reason, I was under the impression that Folks Collective was just another hipster coffee joint. You know, one of those industrial chic cafes with more style than substance. Turns out, the replacement tenant of La Cantine at Asia Square is actually a contemporary Thai bistro. It's regularly packed with lots of expat-types, so unexpectedly, spice levels are watered down. That said, the food is fairly decent, and price points are sufficiently competitive to keep the restaurant a popular haunt with the CBD lunch crowd. I liked the sun-dried Pork Strips ($10.90) luscious and redolent with garlic and kaffir lime, and served with a piquant chilli fish sauce.  The roasted Lemongrass Chicken ($14.90) had an aromatic marinade, but it hadn't had time to steep into the meat. The breast meat was a smidge dry-ish, but the thigh segments were juicy enough. The Tom Yum Potaek Chicken ($10.90), a Thai classic spicy and sour clear broth, was fragrant and possessed a bri...

Thai Tantric may sound like a venue for naughty business, especially since it's located in the recesses of the seedy Orchard Towers, but it's really simply another eatery for cheap and good Thai food. Amongst diners of the ilk scattered along the dingy halls of Orchard Towers, Thai Tantric seems the most popular. There's usually a queue for tables, and the wait for food takes inordinately long as well. I'm not entirely convinced that the long waiting times are justified by the standard of the Thai cuisine served at Thai Tantric ; Sapunsa is of equal standing and Jane Thai Food isn't too shabby either. For those unfamiliar with Orchard Towers, head to the 3rd floor and follow the pungent scent of fish sauce. Your nose should lead you to Thai Tantric , tucked away in a decrepit corner. The garlic and pepper seasoning on the Moo Tod Kra Theam ($10) chunks of deep fried pork, was wonderfully aromatic, but the pork was fried to oblivion; it was dried out, string...

To some, Orchard Towers may be a seedy incarnation of Gomorrah, what with all the dodgy massage parlors and kinky nightclubs. To us, it's a treasure trove of affordably authentic Thai cuisine, tucked away in little crannies of the aged mall. Sure, the touts have gotten more brazen over the years, but if you're there to sample the food (I mean this literally, and not metaphorically), a tip is to hold on tight to your significant other and avoid eye contact with the "nightlife". A recent discovery, Cafe Sapunsa , has overtaken our previous love for Jane Thai Food (the Crazy Horse neighbour was our default go-to whenever a craving for Thai curries hit, until they sold out and its food went to the pits). Conveniently situated just past the bridge crossing linking the two wings of Orchard Towers, and right where the carpark is at, the spartan eatery benefits from a fair bit of foot traffic. Service is speedy and efficient; always a bonus when space is limited and a high...

At first brush, Thai-based Jim Thompson may appear to be just another homeware retailer in the Dempsey Hills lifestyle enclave, but the multi-hypenate chain actually houses a restaurant. Set in a beautiful black-and-white colonial, amongst lush gardens, and basking in the glow of twinkling lights, the restaurant is striking. But that's where the superlatives end. Service was well-meaning, but inefficient and sluggish. The staff to customer ratio was higher than at Tamarind Hill , but service was slower at Jim Thompson . The food was lackluster, far from authentic, and depressingly watered down, probably to indulge the large proportion of Caucasians frequenting the restaurant. Notwithstanding the abysmal fare, the restaurant was still a full-house on a mid-week evening. Packed with business-types. I think, Tamarind Hill would have left a far better impression on business associates. A major bummer: the mosquitoes infesting the restaurant. I sat indoors, an air-conditioned but...