You can’t toss a rock in this part of Bukit Timah without hitting a cafe or coffeehouse somewhere.
Located literally a stone’s throw away from King Albert Part MRT Station at Sime Darby Centre, Kong Cafe is a popular hangout for students and parents alike.
As other reviewers have pointed out, Kong Cafe’s bright, clean, simple aesthetic works well to give its smallish interior a roomier feel, while the menu is a more elaborate mix of Western brunch and Korean casual fare. So you’ll see bagels, hummus, and bacon avocado toast alongside dishes like bibimbap and ramyeon.
The waffles at Kong Cafe were, naturally, what interested me most. Since it was late in the day and I hadn’t had lunch, I decided to go for the savoury option and ordered the Waffle with Fried Chicken.
Tantalised by the mouth-watering photos hanging on the walls, I eagerly awaited my meal. Alas, it turned out to be a less-than-satisfying one. Though for once the food did actually look as good as the pictures, it all went downhill after I took my first few bites.
The waffle was just the kind I can’t stand. Thick, dry, dense, only slightly crispy on the outside and too bready on the inside. I’m sure others might enjoy waffles like this, but I had a tough time trying to finish it, which wasn’t helped by the batter’s minimal flavour, or the paltry serving of butter and maple syrup.
The portion of fried chicken was also rather pitiful in comparison to the huge size of the waffle (note that this is an entire waffle, if you can’t tell from the photo above, with one half stacked on top the other). It tasted okay, like a hybrid of MOS Burger’s and KFC’s original chicken, but was otherwise pretty unspectacular and lacking in flavour. I thought it was also a real shame that the cafe didn’t provide an option for honey butter or soy garlic sauce for this chicken, which is only available for their wings for some reason.
The scrambled eggs were decent, at least, but not as smooth or creamy as I think a dish like this requires—they needed to be softer and moister to offset the dryness of the waffle.
Ultimately, my advice to those craving a good chicken waffle would be to head over to Revelry at Lorong Kilat. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes, but I think they do this classic dish a whole lot better there.
Ratings:
WAFFLE: 2.5/5
FRIED CHICKEN: 3/5
SCRAMBLED EGGS: 3.5/5
Address: 896 Dunearn Rd, #01-11, Singapore 589472
Contact: 8108 6600
