Next Door Cafe

One of the things I miss about home is a cosy place within walking distance to have a lazy Sunday morning brunch. Not least of the problems with this idea being that anything 'cosy' in Singapore makes you want to stick your head in the freezer.

We wandered down to Siglap on one of our first weekends in Singapore while looking for somewhere close by for dinner. Although it turned out to be about half an hour's sweaty walk from home, not exactly next-door, the Next Door Cafe has called me back for an evening drink and dinner a couple of times. The Next Door Cafe has a good-sized cider menu, bonus points, as cider is a favourite of mine, and generally gluten free (Westons, sold by Next Door, is labelled GF). They even have Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime Cider, a twist on the apple or pear varieties of cider that I recently discovered back in Sydney and was disappointed to not be able to bring back with me.

The first time I dragged myself down there to try out their brunch, I was shocked to find they didn't have a breakfast menu. They seemed like the kind of place - good coffee, relaxed cafe vibe, even a book swap shelf. Luckily it was a very lazy Sunday brunch mission and by the time I reached the Next Door Cafe they had opened up the lunch menu. The pesto-chicken salad sounded like a good, and probably healthier, alternative to a cooked breakfast. I wasn't disappointed. At both lunch time and dinner time the chef at Next Door Cafe understood 'gluten free' and was able to guide the wait-staff in helping me navigate the menu.

Pesto Chicken Salad, Next Door Cafe, Siglap

http://www.nextdoorcafe.sg/Next_Door_Cafe/Home.html

Les Bouchons

The food at Les Bouchons was good. Simple by Singapore standards, but fresh, and the skill of the Chef showed through. When ordering the salmon, I made sure the fish wasn't cooked in any sauce or crumb and asked for the fries on the side. I checked that the salad dressing contained nothing suspicious. The best way to avoid both gluten and confusion in Singapore is to not expect that restaurant staff know about allergies, let alone gluten, and to simplify things as much as possible.

The high point of the night came when my friend and I decided that we were much too full for desert, but a bit of cheese might just hit the spot. We asked if they had any rice crackers and after going back to the kitchen to check, the waiter came back out and said, 'I'm sorry we don't have any rice crackers, but do you have an allergy?' Impressed, I said 'yes - gluten', and the waiter proceeded to explain that they could put the crackers on the side and that I could eat the fruit.

The second surprise was the size of the cheese platter. Cheese is not cheap in Singapore - especially French cheese served with good wine in a quaint little restaurant with a Parisian feel. When the platter arrived, we thought they must have combined two portions on the one plate. No, it was the platter to share, directly from the menu.

Cheese platter with crackers isolated.

Just when I think I am getting to know Singapore, she surprises me with giant helpings of gluten free cheese.

Les Bouchons is on Ann Siang Road, near Chinatown.

Jones the Grocer

Living in Sydney, if a friend asked for a catch up, the question was never 'What do you want to do?', but 'Where do you want to have brunch?' In my student days, hanging out in gluten free havens of Glebe and Newtown, I would be able to visit a different cafe every weekend day for a year (and if it wasn't for the Molly Coddle Cafe in Stanmore I probably would have), and still not run out of new gluten free possibilities. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that when a fellow Sydney girl took me to a real 'Sydney style' brunch place in Singapore, I nearly died of delight.
Take the rustic charm and scrumptious menu of an out of the way cafe in Glebe, add a real cheese fridge, a deli, a wall of the finest wine and a huge range of beutiful olive oils, spices, specialty biscuits, nogaut, cakes and other goodies, and you will be starting to understand Jones the Grocer. I wasn't surprised to find out upon later research that Jones the Grocer started in Sydney. From there it has expanded to Melbourne, Singapore and Dubai. The key differnce between the dives of Glebe and Newtown and Jones the Grocer is the price, but for those who are far from home, the luxury is worth it once in a while. Jones the Grocer in the Mandarin Gallery on Orchard is likely to be busier on a weekend than its out of the way but out of the bussle sister store at Dempsey Hill, however, if you are there with just two or three people it is still likely to be les than a five minute wait. No gluten free options are listed explicitly on the menu, but like a team of health gurus in a city where no one seems to know or care what goes into their food, the staff at Jones the Grocer were attentive to my description of what it would mean to make a gluten free meal, and we managed to throw together a version of the Country Breakfast that was safe.

Country Breakfast at Jones the Grocer

Mandarin Gallery, Orchard Road, Singapore

Harry's

When it comes to Gluten Free eating out, keeping it simple is best. Though most of the dishes on a typical pub menu are loaded with gluten of some form, it is possible to find a gluten free meal at your local - provided the staff are willing to discuss preparation with clean utensils and are open to altering the menu slightly. Usually this means a  basic steak, (cooked in a clean or separate saucepan or grilled on top of clean aluminum foil), and steamed vegetables or sometimes mashed potato. Though plain, if the ingredients are good quality, this can be quite tasty. Though there might not be a pub on every corner in Singapore, there are a few iconic pubs around and with transport so easy in Singapore, they may as well be your 'local'. Harry's is one of the most well known of the British style pubs in Singapore and they went a step further than the classic coeliac plain steak. They were able to convert their 'steak sandwich' into a gluten free version, without bread but still with the sauteed onions and peppers cooked without sauce and with clean utensils, topped off with some melted cheese, and served with salad - yum! There are a few locations for Harry's throughout Singapore including Boat Quay, (which I tried tonight), and Dempsey Hill.

Privé

Once again I was able to safely eat out by checking in advance, this time at my work place end of year office party at Privé. With three weeks advanced notice of my allergy to gluten, the staff at Privé took every care to make sure I was okay throughout the night. A buffet style dinner was organised for our function. This is an area where Singapore has gained points in the gluten free game over Sydney, where you usually have to battle through 6 levels of staff before you can bypass the obstacles of ‘gluten free,’ (contamination guaranteed), buffet options. Without drawing too much attention to my special needs, the wait staff served me straight from the kitchen: a light and refreshing Apple, Walnut & Brie Salad, followed by Pan Roasted White Cod with Haricot Verts, Virgin Cherry Tomatoes, Almond Flakes & Herbs Beurre Blan.

Brewerkz Indoor Stadium

Eating out with an allergy in Singapore is not impossible - it just takes a bit of planning. On Saturday I was able to enjoy a relaxing meal on the waterfront at Indoor Stadium with some friends from work and their lovely families. The secret was checking ahead. The staff at Brewerkz Indoor Stadium responded to my email about my need for gluten free food with a phone call to double check what I could and couldn't eat. They took my order in advance to ensure that all of the parts that went into my meal remained uncontaminated. Offered several delicious sounding options, I chose Sea Bass cooked in home-made stock with vegetables, (no powder of any kind included in the stock), with fresh fruit to finish.