Buddy Hoagies is a fast-casual restaurant in the vein of Swensen’s and Astons, but with more of a country-style theme.
The menu features most of the usual suspects you find in Western eateries here, from grilled and fried chicken to steak, fish & chips, lamb chops and pasta.
While I wasn’t surprised to find waffles under the dessert section, I was a little taken aback to see how cheap they were. $7.90, even without factoring in GST and service charge, is still a very reasonable price to pay for a Freshly Baked Waffle with a scoop of ice cream in such a setting.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best waffle. In fact, it wasn’t very good at all.
Eating this, I found myself having Vietnam War-level flashbacks of the terrible waffle I had at Nayana, except Buddy Hoagies’ waffle—thankfully—isn’t quite as bad. The batter used actually resulted in a rather fragrant and flavourful waffle, but the texture was where it all went wrong. I’m sure there are people out there who like their waffles to have the consistency of stale bread, but I’m not among them. Dry and chewy, biting into this was not unlike chomping on a mouthful of rubber. I felt nauseous about a third of the way in, and ended up not finishing it.
The Rum & Raisin ice cream wasn’t great either. There was clearly no alcohol in it, and whatever was used to attempt to replicate the taste of real rum tasted too artificial. While I did manage to finish this, I felt quite ill after. Honestly, if not for the cup of warm water I asked for (they charged 50 cents for it) to help me wash everything down, I think I might have thrown up.
The good news is that the mains at Buddy Hoagies do deliver – especially the rosti, which has become more of their signature item than their namesake hoagie sandwiches.
Having had the excellent Rosti & Grilled Sausage years ago, I ordered it again and was impressed at how well it still holds up. It’s normal for food standards at a restaurant to deteriorate as time goes by (and Buddy Hoagies has been around for almost two decades), but this dish is even better than I remembered.
Pan-fried to a golden-brown crisp on the outside with a soft, fluffy inside, BH’s rosti could give Marche’s a run for its money (and with considerably less damage to your wallet). Nothing goes better with a rosti than a grilled chicken ‘snail’ sausage, and this one was just bursting with fat and juices and flavour. The sour cream and tomato salsa (made with whole baby tomatoes instead of the usual diced version) were the icing on the cake – perfect condiments that added even more oomph to an already hearty meal.
Ratings:
WAFFLE & ICE CREAM: 2/5
ROSTI & GRILLED SAUSAGE: 4/5
Address (Bukit Timah outlet):
170 Upper Bukit Timah Rd, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, #B1, 05, Singapore 588179
Contact: 6466 1505
Website: www.buddyhoagies.com.sg
