Platypus Kitchen, Bugis Junction

Stuck in a mall, they are not clear on their positioning. The location and menu hopes to attract families, yet the price point and dishes might be intimidating to some. The menu is large, offering the best of Platypus Group, from handmade pastas to bowls, lobster rolls, cast-iron grilled chicken and more.. Oh, they offer craft cocktails too. Confused? Quite pity given that some of their dishes are pretty good - notches above pedestrian style over substance cafe brunch grub.

The Beef & Chili Poutine is technically not a poutine since it doesn't consist of cheese curds or gravy. That said, the chili was tasty, and the cruise and crunchy fries were addictive.

Harvest Chicken Salad 

The Harvest Chicken Salad was sadly quite lacklustre, despite the potential to be great. The poached chicken slices were laid out oddly on a bed of greens, and scraps of blue cheese dotted the toast - it was clear the person who prepared the dish neither eats nor cares about salads.

I don't know if it's me, but I wish cooks would chop up their salad into helpful bite-sized shreds. I'm having a salad, not a steak, can I please just use a fork and keep the knife for the steak? Chopping it up also ensures the greens are evenly coated with dressing. Ehh, I'm beginning to sound like a Salad Nazi. Moving on...

That aside, the mains were pretty well done. We had a couple of handmade pastas, a strong heady Forest Mushroom Tagliolini, and lightly seasoned Squid Ink Pasta with Boston Lobster. No complaints on my end; but if pasta were your thing, you might have more to say about these.

As a "rice bucket," I very much enjoyed the two Signature gourmet bowls that we had - Ribeye & Truffle and Crustacean Bowl.

Take a knob of Japanese rice, gently lay a delicate onsen egg on top of it, adorn with cubes of chargrilled wagyu and finish it off with a few drops of truffle oil and micro greens. Satisfaction. Truffle onsen egg rice bowls are almost done to death but before the trend cannibalizes itself, I'll enjoy every morsel of it.

Their signature Crustacean Bowl was a failed lesson in self-restraint. Uni creme, butter-poached Boston lobster, topped with honey ponzu, black caviar, and chargrilled cheddar. It's no secret that aburi anything is a pleaser in my books, and this Crustacean Bowl is a delicious makeup of torched flavours.