Flung

I walked by Flavour Flings on my way to the coffeeshop previously but they weren’t officially opened yet.

Now they were and I walked in. It was a pretty simple layout with a chalkboard of sorts painted on the wall above their cashier (only cash please!) front.

Ok, very well.

I did flip through their menu, pages on a clipboard and settled for nacho cheese fries. Especially when I noticed something…

Their menu had turkey ham, salmon and chicken sausages. There were no signs of bacon at all. A hipster cafe always had bacon spammed (pun!) everywhere because it was a thing to do. This was a big clue to me… Was it Halal?

It didn’t make sense, or were they being ‘neutral’, being situated in a neighbourhood?

I did ask the staff at the counter, it is Halal! The owners were Muslims and this was a legitimate Halal hipster cafe in Hougang. (Say that ten times fast.)

Anyway, my first try was a flat white and nacho cheese fries.

Just because I could say these are not your cheese fries and just cause if you can’t make a proper flat white then meh to you.

Both were very satisfactory.

The flat white, with a little coffee art on it with the milk, a little petal design, simple but effective was served in a glass cup. I sipped at it and thought to myself, “Yes. Yes this is proper creamy milk with proper coffee beans. Ok can”.

I wasn’t that poetic yet because this was a pretty passable flat white and I was pretty cool with it. The nacho cheese fries however, came in a little dish, overflowing with its chips, cheese and mayonnaise just… ALL OVER IT with sprinkles of green onion and I was “Ok. Good”. It was a generous helping and ha ha ha ha it was beauty.

It was good but darn it, if it was sour cream instead of mayonnaise, I would have been all over it like WOAH. But that’s my preference.

But the ‘usual’ way over here is to have mayo instead of sour cream so alas.

Meh, I ate it.

Take 2.

I came in another day and… Ok, this was the day that made me convinced to try all of their menu items.

It was their Florentine.

Imagine poached eggs over toasted brioche. Spinach in between, chicken sausages on the side and a salad that was very much not made of iceberg lettuce. No. They got the proper lettuce with leaves of green and purple.

The presentation was lovely but looks can be deceiving.

Was it true? Were the eggs just for show or did the cook manage to do it properly?

I gave a tentative slice with my knife and… it dripped.

Runny yolk all over the brioche and I stifled a scream in the cafe.

THE EGGS WERE POACHED PERFECTLY.

I stared at it in amazement because this was a freaking cafe in a neighbourhood. Well, a hipster cafe but good grief. They did it right.

I started on my meal and smirked in satisfaction because yes. Yes, this is indeed a Halal Hipster Cafe and it was good.

I ate it.

Take 3.

I had seen a couple eating pasta when I was in the cafe while having my joyous Florentine.

Pastas are make it or break it.

The noodles had to be al dente and the sauce suited to the shape of it.

I ordered the carbonara.

Flavour Flings was an egg place after all, and I wanted to see if this was a cheat my feelings carbonara or a proper one. The ingredients said yolk and cream, besides the mushrooms and turkey ham.

How much cream was it going to be? Proper carbonara does not have cream and well, even though I have a fondness for cheese, I do not like carbonara being overly creamy with a ‘dairy’ taste.

I waited for a while and the staff placed the plate on my table.

Oh my heck.

It was a beautiful mound of pasta, like a pyramid of delicious goodness. The mushrooms were not those sissy button mushrooms from a can. No. They were the good brown wild-ish mushrooms. You know, those mushrooms. Interspersed with those cut slices of turkey ham with a little sprinkling of those green spring onions (I keep forgetting the English word for it since we use it for soups too in our Singaporean dishes).

Mostly, I was impressed because I didn’t see a pool of white sauce. No, when they said cream in the ingredients, it looked like they used more yolk (the proper way) than cream. The cream is just to balance out the other ingredients because oh my goodness.

As I twirled my fork around, the noodles coated with the carbonara, the mushroom and the little bits of sliced meat, it was beauty.

I ate it.

Take 4.

I know. I probably went to this cafe twice in one week then but I was eager to check it out and tell my friends because from the instagram photos, they had been going WHAT. I ordered the carbonara again. Because it was that good, no matter, I wanted to see if their dessert was available.

I mean, it’s a thing for cafes like these to have good desserts. Plus, across the road from Flavour Flings was Ciel Patisserie so if I really needed a dessert, I could go to Ciel too.

This time there were two girls seated in front of my usual table.

I went “Darn it” under my breath as they posed around the tables, taking pictures of their food because I lost the chance to take a picture of them taking pictures of food. No matter, they ate their all day breakfasts while I waited for my food.

The girls gave a brief glance as the staff went out with my carbonara to serve me but did not stop their talking. I grinned, the carbonara was still the same so their quality seemed to be quite good.

As I finished my pasta, I waited.

I had ordered an ice cream sandwich for dessert.

It was a salted caramel and Belgian chocolate ice cream sandwiched in between medium sized macaron shells.

The staff went out of the kitchen with it, the girls stopped talk, trying to discreetly look at it.

Not so discreetly since I could see them turning around to see my plate.

I snapped a picture of my ice cream.

And ate.