Friend: I want a nice cafe by the river! Lets find one.
Metropolitant: Hmmmmm.
A quick google search, and we found Whisk And Paddle, Café by the river. And so we decided to head down to the cafe for an incognito tasting! (*Truly objective, brutally honest)
This place is a little hard to find if you don’t stay in Punggol. You will first need a friend who drives or, grab a taxi to head down to 10 Tebing Lane, #01-01, Singapore 828836. The entire stretch reminds us of East Coast Park, bustling with activities and families having a day out on a weekend. With a huge car park, you shouldn’t have any problems finding a lot. We found a lot easily on a Sunday evening around 6.45pm.
As stated on the website, they are right next to a river, no idea which river, but it’s definitely not a canal some restaurants are situated next to. (Cough *Tian Kee – Yes, we hate that place)
At around 7pm, we grabbed a seat and the place is already full with a small queue forming.
We looked through the menu and decided to order what we felt was staples that would let us have an idea of the standards of their food.
So, first to arrive was the drinks, Ice Coffee and the Home Made Ice Tea (Elderflower).
The first dish arrived 30 mins after we made the order. Considering the cafe was running a full house, we were pleasantly surprised. The portion of the French Onion Soup was suitable for 1 person, and it was a pretty decent interpretation of the classic french onion soup, but the soup base was a tad too sweet for my liking. The cheesy goodness on the toast made the soup better than it was.
Next up we had the Eggs Benedict with Salmon. We found the taste of the sauce a little too mild, but the saltiness of the smoked salmon when eaten together with the fluffy waffles and the poached egg, made up for it. We found this dish comforting and oddly satisfying.
Next up we have the Smoked Duck Breast with Lychee. On its own, the smoked duck breast is a little salty, but eat it with the lychee, this dish will definitely whet your appetite.
We liked their Macaroni and Cheese the most. When the dish was presented, we didn’t like the color, and definitely not the texture when we put our fork into the dish. But after a mouthful of this dish, we find ourselves finishing this dish pretty quickly. Savory and the flavors of the cheese definitely packs a punch! We’d suggest you share this dish as the portion is pretty big and it is very rich.
It was time for desserts(yay!) and we had to try their thick toast. After trying Bangkok’s Shibuya Honey Toast and Dazzling Cafe’s amazing thick toast, we decided to try their Treasure Island Toast. Unfortunately, we were spoiled by the thick toast from the other establishments. Their version of the thick toast wasn’t all that bad, but it was not what we were expecting. The middle of the toast was getting mushy when we cut it open, and the outer crust wasn’t crispy. This created a super chewy, yet wet toast that we have to do masseter botox to reduce our cheeks after eating it.
What we like about this place?
– Great service, despite running a full house
– They actually provide mosquito repellant!
– Ample car park
– Nice environment and ambience
– They make a decent cup of coffee!
– Reasonable pricing
– Kids and doggies are allowed
What can be improved?
– More fans? As an alfresco cafe, this place was a little warm
– When night falls, there were an insane amount of flying bugs (Can’t be helped though)
– Scrap the thick toast, your cakes are good enough!
Whisk & Paddle
Address: 10 Tebing Lane, #01-01, Singapore 828836
Phone: +65 6242 4617
Fax: +65 6242 4634
Email: enquiry@whiskandpaddle.com.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whiskandpaddlecafe
*This is an incognito tasting, the cost of the meal is paid by the reviewer