Wild Rocket

I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

- Robert Frost

Lately, restaurants in Singapore have veered off the beaten path and are sprouting all over the place (think wild mushrooms in the forest wilderness), in locations that don't traditionally fall within the SMRT bus or MRT maplines.

To describe Hangout Hotel as 'secluded' would be an understatement, to get there you have to scale up Mount Emily, drive through a tangle of narrow roads and their much-abused single white lines within a shroud of dense greenery. The way to El Dorado's never smooth but they didn't tell me I would scratch my car, damnit! My friend and I rendered the street directory useless and it was out of sheer luck that we spotted the font-size 40 hotel name on (of all places) the security gantry.

Along with another friend, I took an old-timer out for brunch. "You should get out more often" I tell her. However, she seems resigned to the fact that the 'It' girls, namely Chloe, Miu Miu and Anya, have usurped her status in the bagosphere.

Meet Tess.



Named after Julia Roberts character in Ocean's Eleven because it oozes Rat Pack appeal. I inherited (well, more like ransacked the wardrobe and nicked) this single-tassel beige sling bag from my mum. Only problem is I can't fit my brolley into it!



After placing our orders, we were served cheese-speckled bread and olive oil. Not bad. Great spongy texture.



A welcome change from the ubiquitous blueberries and banana pancakes, we sweetened our Sunday morning with the jackfruit and ricotta pancakes. The pancakes, drenched in syrup, bore an unmistakable fragrance; I cut through the middle and found (to my delight) finely minced jackfruit niblets within. However, the ricotta flavour was regrettably subdue.

Carnivores and omnivores brunching at Wild Rocket rave about its burgers, so we had to give it a try. You didn't think we brave the precariously narrow roads for fruit and cheese, did you?


That's one tall order.

Their burger comes with pepper aioli, arugula and sundried tomato relish. The patty was as thick as the bun, nicely grilled on the outside but imbued with a tantalizing shade of pink. Here's the best part (warning: this is where it gets slightly graphic): slicing through the burger, I found myself dejuicing the patty; for that 3-second performance, I salute Wild Rocket & chef Low.



I loved the pepper aioli in the burger and when I asked the maitre what the sauce was (this was before I read ChubbyHubby's article), he replied "mustard". DANG! Do I look like I just came down from another mountain? I mean, tell me something more believable, like maybe "specially formulated carotene-enriched mayonnaise". Humour me. That aside, the kitchen captured the crunch in the deep fried potato cubes.

The story of chef Wilin Low is a classic Pursuit-of-Happyness tale: Banker/ Lawyer makes big buckaroos. Banker/ Lawyer works 18-hour days. Banker/ Lawyer loses meaning of life. Banker/ Lawyer burns out. Banker/ Lawyer becomes a theatre actor/ chef/ baker/ social worker.

Hurray for the career switch! I love burgers, although I've got to admit I have been adopting a Casanova-ish attitude, fluttering from patty to patty, taking delight in most creations. I guess I just haven't found THE ONE. Wild Rocket's burger but great but it wasn't my 'You Complete Me' burger.

The secluded spot supposedly serves as an oasis of tranquillity but the hostile roads and poor acoustics ushered in an experience quite the opposite. Today, a mother of 3 on my right was determined to include us in her decision making process (to think it's only a single-sided A5 menu!) and dining experience (poor kids have to go through this everyday). As soon as we were done with our mains, I was quite keen on getting out the restaurant.



But I needed my dessert or I would get really grouchy in a with-us-or-against-us sort of way. At Ricciotti, Riverwalk , I moonwallked my way to Zen-quility with the Spaventa, a gelato trio of sabayon, rum & raisin, chocolate chip, with chocolate crunch & whipped cream. Oh yeah...

Other burger finds on this blog.