It was practically music to my ears when I heard that Whisk & Paddle were opening a second outlet in the west. Being a westie, I had no reason – or desire – to travel all the way to its original riverside branch in Punggol, so having one closer to home gave me a good opportunity to try it out.
Located right across Bukit Batok Driving Centre, and just outside the newly opened Bukit Gombak Park, the new Whisk & Paddle is a large, spacious café with a botanical glasshouse theme.
Although the prices are comparable to what you’d expect from Swensen’s, the food quality is definitely a step up.
The Cappuccinos and Lattes here are really good. Smooth, full-bodied and slightly nutty, this coffee reminded me of Tiong Hoe’s. The old-school gem biscuits served alongside are a nice touch that add to the nostalgia factor. 4/5
My dining companion ordered the Vongole Marinara, which I sampled. It was served so quickly that we had to wonder at first if it had been pre-made and microwaved. This turned out to be a pretty well done pasta dish, though. The linguine was al dente, the marinara sauce had just the right amount of spiciness without being overly tomatoey, and the clams were fresh. 4/5
The Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict Waffle was a slightly more mixed bag. While the waffle looked a lot better than it did in the menu pictures, and was far lighter and crisper than I expected, the Hollandaise sauce was a little too watery and could’ve been more buttery/lemony. The two poached eggs were also unevenly prepared. One of them was perfectly poached, while the other was overcooked and ended up being more of a half-boiled egg. The smoked salmon was nice, though I wished there had been more of it. 3.5/5
The Warm Choco Fudge Cake was a decent enough dessert to cap off my meal, but I guess the baking scene in Singapore has evolved so much that it takes a lot more than a pre-baked chocolate cake heated up in a microwave to impress me anymore. 3/5
If I have one major gripe about this place, it’s the acoustics: they’re pretty damn terrible. A café with a ceiling as high as this one shouldn’t be so noisy when the place is barely half full. My advice would be to install some sound absorption panelling to reduce the amount of echoing. All in all, while I enjoyed the food and coffee at Whisk & Paddle, the noise levels took away from what would otherwise have been a pleasant dining experience.
Address: 816 Bukit Batok West Ave. 5, #01-01, Singapore 659089
Contact: 6550 2330
Website: whiskandpaddle.com.sg
