Not to be confused with The Forage Cafe, an East Side cafe that specialises in honey-themed desserts and coffee, Forage @ 321 Clementi is more of a brunch and grain bowl joint that also has some coffee and dessert options, and—most importantly for me, of course—waffles.
The Waffle: Newly introduced to the menu, Forage’s promo photo for its Mochi Waffle didn’t particularly excite me. I’ve had a bad impression of mochi waffles ever since trying them for the first time at Gelatolabo, and became doubly worried when my order arrived looking like something you could pick up and bludgeon somebody unconscious with. Not the most photogenic of waffles, to be sure… Biting into it, however, my fears were instantly allayed and I could only think one thing: this is how you do a mochi waffle right. Made with what I assume to be mochiko (Japanese sweet rice flour), Forage’s mochi waffle was soft and sticky and chewy on the inside once I bit through the extremely satisfying crunchy shell. Note that this is so different from the traditional Belgian or buttermilk waffle that I don’t foresee everyone liking it—but I sure did. 4.5/5
At $15.90, you not only get a free coffee but two scoops of ice cream. A pretty sweet deal—though I expected them to scrimp on the ice cream by serving up something cheap and medicore, and was glad to be proven wrong.
The Ice Cream: More like gelato than regular ice cream. The Dark Choc Sorbet was very rich and dense, with a light sweetness and strong bitterness that should please dark chocolate lovers. 4/5
The Madagascar Vanilla was less impressive. It was soft, smooth and creamy, but rather bland. If you’re looking for something light and don’t like strong notes of vanilla in your ice cream like I do, though, you might be able to better appreciate this flavour. 3/5
The Food: Forage specialises in healthy grain bowls, but I wasn’t feeling up for one that day (working in the CBD, there are grain bowl places everywhere and that’s all I eat nowadays), so I decided to try one of their brunch items instead.
The Salmon Gravlax with Buttery Eggs proved to be a great choice, being composed of a cured salmon and scrambled eggs layered atop a slice of toasted sourdough toast with sweet potato hash and toasted cherry tomatoes. Yet again, this is a dish that my photography skills doesn’t do justice. It was delicious all around, and something I’d come back regularly for if I wasn’t too lazy to walk over to 321 Mall. 4.5/5
The Coffee: I’ve been to Forage several times for drinks, and have concluded that while their coffee is excellent, their matcha needs work (it isn’t strong enough and could really benefit from more matcha powder).
4/5 (Iced Cappuccino), 3/5 (Iced Matcha Latte)
With there being so few F&B establishments in 321 that have survived its lack of foot traffic (it got very little even before the pandemic hit), I can only hope Forage manages to stick around. Clementi isn’t short on waffles or ice cream places, but it could definitely use more cafes like this that serve healthy grain bowls and brunch fare.
Address: 321 Clementi Ave 3, #01-04, Singapore 129905
Website: forage.oddle.me
