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I have been hearing a lot about Strangers' Reunion lately and I actually already made a small note in my calendar to give it a visit the next time I go cafe hopping.
Given that there are so many cafes starting up recently,
it is definitely no mean feat for Strangers' Reunion to have established itself as one of the more prominent cafes around.
It was an awesome piece of news for me when I knew that I got invited to a food tasting at Strangers' Reunion.
And for their new dinner menu,
no less!
Was secretly trying to starve myself eat lesser on the day that I was supposed to go for the event so that I can fill my tummy with as much goodness as possible.
Prior to the event,
I've been seeing photogenic captures of their famous buttermilk waffles on my Instagram feed and was hoping that they would include it for the food tasting as well.
Heh.
I also carried high hopes for their truffle fries (as did everyone else who attended the event) since it is one of the items I most look forward to seeing on cafes' menus.
Read on to see how they fare for me!
And also, if you read till the end of this blogpost,
I have a surprise waiting for you!
:)
And also, if you read till the end of this blogpost,
I have a surprise waiting for you!
:)
Love that they had small clusters of flowers on each table.
They work super well as photo props (extremely important for Instagram addicts like me!!) and lends a nice touch to the entire decor of the cafe.
So thoughtful of them to have these cards on the tables as well.
So now you know that you can find them on Instagram @strangersreu and hashtag your photos using #strangersreunion!
;)
My plus one for the night!
♥
We each had a personalized menu,
and I was really impressed because I've never had a menu all to myself before.
Thought it was really sweet and thoughtful of Strangers' Reunion team to do one each for the bloggers who attended the event.
I was already getting all excited for dinner after seeing the drool worthy descriptions of their new dishes on the menu.
So now you know that you can find them on Instagram @strangersreu and hashtag your photos using #strangersreunion!
;)
My plus one for the night!
♥
We each had a personalized menu,
and I was really impressed because I've never had a menu all to myself before.
Thought it was really sweet and thoughtful of Strangers' Reunion team to do one each for the bloggers who attended the event.
I was already getting all excited for dinner after seeing the drool worthy descriptions of their new dishes on the menu.
I love how the paintings and the wall art decor adds a subtle oriental touch to an otherwise westernized cafe.
Kind of like a east west fusion going on.
But that's just limited to the decoration.
Menu wise, Strangers' Reunion serves mainly western creations!
Prior to dinner,
Ryan (the co-founder of Strangers' Reunion) offered us coffee.
How could I pass up the chance to try out a cup of coffee that is personally made by the Asean Barista Champion of 2013?
Watching Ryan the pro at work.
Doing this seems like second nature to him,
I barely had enough time to snap the step by step process of him doing the latte art.
And after tasting the coffee he made,
I was more than convinced of the titles he got in terms of coffee brewing.
Thom loves his coffee more than I do and is always after me to hunt down the best coffee joints in Singapore,
so I know where to bring him the next time his caffeine addiction kicks in!
Beautiful work of coffee art along with the beautifully set up table
The chef of the night was Stranger Reunion's head chef,
Daniel Chin.
He's a World Gourmet Summit-certified chef and has won numerous culinary awards in his ten years of experience in this industry.
Needless to say,
we were already expecting highly of dinner before it had even begun.
Kind of like a east west fusion going on.
But that's just limited to the decoration.
Menu wise, Strangers' Reunion serves mainly western creations!
Prior to dinner,
Ryan (the co-founder of Strangers' Reunion) offered us coffee.
How could I pass up the chance to try out a cup of coffee that is personally made by the Asean Barista Champion of 2013?
Watching Ryan the pro at work.
Doing this seems like second nature to him,
I barely had enough time to snap the step by step process of him doing the latte art.
And after tasting the coffee he made,
I was more than convinced of the titles he got in terms of coffee brewing.
Thom loves his coffee more than I do and is always after me to hunt down the best coffee joints in Singapore,
so I know where to bring him the next time his caffeine addiction kicks in!
Beautiful work of coffee art along with the beautifully set up table
The chef of the night was Stranger Reunion's head chef,
Daniel Chin.
He's a World Gourmet Summit-certified chef and has won numerous culinary awards in his ten years of experience in this industry.
Needless to say,
we were already expecting highly of dinner before it had even begun.
Feta Pumpkin Salad
with house dressing, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes, vanilla beans & sunflower seeds
Baby Spinach Salad with freshly shaved Bone-in Prosciutto
with red wine vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes, orange, pomegranate, crouton & pistachio
Truffle Fries
with freshly grated truffle, truffled aioli & parmesan
The Truffle Fries from Strangers' Reunion certainly made it to the top few truffle fries in my personal list.
I love how crazily generous they were with the grated truffle and parmesan!
Also, the truffle flavour was intensified with the addition of truffled aioli.
After you try the truffle fries from Strangers' Reunion,
you'll be hard pressed to find another to top theirs!
This was also the star favourite of the night, apparently.
Ryan gave us an extra serving of these after seeing how quickly they were gone from the bowl.
Fellow Nuffnang bloggers Beatrice and Rachell doing what they do best!
It's really a nice change to go to food tasting events with other bloggers.
They make me feel like I'm not the only weirdo in the cafe frantically and obsessively taking photos as soon as the food is served.
Heh.
Pumpkin Soup
with homemade goat cheese & togarashi crouton
Za'atar-Spiced Eggplant Fritters
with lemon yogurt
Bouchot Mussels in White Wine Broth
with fennel, zucchini, eggplant & a side of focaccia soldiers
(This also came in tomato coulis but I was too distracted eating and forgot about all taking photos!)
Crispy Squid
with cabbage slaw & thai dipping sauce
I loved most of the starters that we were served with,
and I ended up having to only take a few bites of the main dishes that were served afterward because I couldn't stomach THAT much food.
Bummer.
Sometimes I wish that I had the appetite of a guy.
We were commenting on how fresh the mussels were (yes I love all kinds of shellfish!) and Ryan told us that they were air flown live from France and kept in the kitchen till they were ready to cook.
I personally preferred the mussels in white wine sauce because it complements the fresh mussels better!
The pumpkin soup came as a surprise favourite for me,
especially since I'm no lover of pumpkin.
Took in a mouthful and immediately,
I was a convert.
The pumpkin soup was extremely smooth and creamy in texture.
I liked that the pumpkin flavour wasn't that overpowering,
but instead there were dimensions of different flavours in the soup.
40 Deg C Sous Vide Salmon
with squid ink tobiko, seasonal vegetables & cha soba
Crispy Pork Belly
with Ginger Beer, apple & date chutney, tomato salsa & truffled mash
Air-flown Australian Wagyu Ribeye in Red Wine Sauce
with onion marmalade, tomato salsa, seasonal vegetables & truffled mash
Pan-Seared Barramundi
with balsamic dressing, tomato salsa & truffle mash
Truffled Wagyu Burger
with sunny-side up, tomato relish, homemade aioli, matured cheddar, a side of mixed greens & sweet potato chips
I love how crazily generous they were with the grated truffle and parmesan!
Also, the truffle flavour was intensified with the addition of truffled aioli.
After you try the truffle fries from Strangers' Reunion,
you'll be hard pressed to find another to top theirs!
This was also the star favourite of the night, apparently.
Ryan gave us an extra serving of these after seeing how quickly they were gone from the bowl.
Fellow Nuffnang bloggers Beatrice and Rachell doing what they do best!
It's really a nice change to go to food tasting events with other bloggers.
They make me feel like I'm not the only weirdo in the cafe frantically and obsessively taking photos as soon as the food is served.
Heh.
Pumpkin Soup
with homemade goat cheese & togarashi crouton
Za'atar-Spiced Eggplant Fritters
with lemon yogurt
Bouchot Mussels in White Wine Broth
with fennel, zucchini, eggplant & a side of focaccia soldiers
(This also came in tomato coulis but I was too distracted eating and forgot about all taking photos!)
Crispy Squid
with cabbage slaw & thai dipping sauce
I loved most of the starters that we were served with,
and I ended up having to only take a few bites of the main dishes that were served afterward because I couldn't stomach THAT much food.
Bummer.
Sometimes I wish that I had the appetite of a guy.
We were commenting on how fresh the mussels were (yes I love all kinds of shellfish!) and Ryan told us that they were air flown live from France and kept in the kitchen till they were ready to cook.
I personally preferred the mussels in white wine sauce because it complements the fresh mussels better!
The pumpkin soup came as a surprise favourite for me,
especially since I'm no lover of pumpkin.
Took in a mouthful and immediately,
I was a convert.
The pumpkin soup was extremely smooth and creamy in texture.
I liked that the pumpkin flavour wasn't that overpowering,
but instead there were dimensions of different flavours in the soup.
40 Deg C Sous Vide Salmon
with squid ink tobiko, seasonal vegetables & cha soba
Crispy Pork Belly
with Ginger Beer, apple & date chutney, tomato salsa & truffled mash
Air-flown Australian Wagyu Ribeye in Red Wine Sauce
with onion marmalade, tomato salsa, seasonal vegetables & truffled mash
Pan-Seared Barramundi
with balsamic dressing, tomato salsa & truffle mash
Truffled Wagyu Burger
with sunny-side up, tomato relish, homemade aioli, matured cheddar, a side of mixed greens & sweet potato chips
Of all the main dishes,
two left me with the deepest impressions!
I highly recommend and personally love the Sous Vide Salmon and the Wagyu Ribeye steak.
The squid ink tobiko which accompanied the salmon complemented it perfectly.
The salmon was also really tender and it fell apart in my mouth almost instantaneously.
I'm still craving for the impeccable cooked salmon now and I might return really soon just to have it again!
As for the Wagyu Ribeye Steak,
the red wine sauce balanced really well with the beef to give it an all rounded flavour.
The doneness was also well executed and we ended up with a juicy,
succulent slab of steak.
After the main dishes,
came one of the most highly raved items on Strangers' Reunion's menu...
WAFFLES!
Buttermilk Waffles
with artisan greek yogurt and fresh fruits
Buttermilk Waffles
with vanilla ice cream and fresh fruits
And true to what I heard from the many people who raved and gave many thumbs up for these waffles,
they were absolutely crispy on the outside and really fluffy on the inside.
Couldn't stop after my first bite but I felt obliged not to eat so much so that others can have their share too.
Definitely returning to have one of these all to myself.
And for those of you who love the waffles from Strangers' Reunion,
you will be SUPER DUPER happy (I know you will because I am!) to know that they are working on having a Waffle Bar featuring 9 gourmet waffle flavours!
Sounds too good and I can't wait!
A photo with Ryan and my fellow bloggers to end the night!
A huge thank you to Ryan and team for your wonderful hospitality and extending this invite to me.
I had a great time and an even greater feast!
For aspiring baristas,
you'll be excited to know about their Barista Training School which will be launched in February 2014 along with the waffle bar I've mentioned earlier!
Strangers' ReunionOpening hours:
33 Kampong Bahru Road
Singapore 169354
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays & Mondays - 0900-2200hrs
Fridays & Saturdays - 0900-0000hrs
Closed on Tuesdays
And now for the surprise I told you I had in store for you!
Here's your chance to dine like a queen (or king) at Strangers' Reunion just like I did.
I'm giving away a FIFTY DOLLARS VOUCHER to a lucky reader of my blog.
Here's what you have to do in order to qualify!
Like Strangers' Reunion on their FB page:
https://www.facebook.com/StrangersReunion?fref=ts
Then leave me a comment on this post telling me what dishes would you love to try the most at Strangers' Reunion and WHY + your email address by 25th February 2014!
Winner will be notified via email!
:)
