So you caught ’50 shades of grey’ in the cinema recently but have you caught the one lining 291 South Bridge Road @ Chinatown? If not then you might have just missed the Black-&-White themed cafe called ‘Monochrome Bistro’.
Both of us have long wanted to visit this cafe after catching them on 8days. Not to mention that we are both fans of monochromatic colours eg. Black & White. These two colours just seem so versatile & mysteriously captivating; Just like how the shop front blended in so nicely with the rugged vicinity of Chinatown.
Upon entry of the cafe, you will immediately be greeted with an abstract-looking & stylish interior. That explains why if you punched in the hashtag : ‘#Monobistro’ or check out ‘MonoBistro’ in Instagram, you gonna see loads of selfies & wefies of customers who frequent them.
M busy snapping away with her Casio camera as she is so amazed by the furnitures hanging around the walls which even a designer couldn’t refuse its classically Monochromatic style & beauty. As you can see we were all quite cooperative to blend in with their colour theme. An attempt to camouflaged among the furnitures I would say 😉
So we know the shop does blend in very well. Question now is how about their food? Are they also versatile enough to fit the choosy & difficult palattes of ours?
Anyway, we were very fortunate to have a friendy & handsome host (Kevin) whom hosted us with his great service. Didn take long before we embark on the gastronomic journey of East meets West with his food recommendations that is well-suited for the working executive crowd.
First came Joanna’s Favourite dish, the Chicken wings!
This is definitely the one suitable for the naughtier people! Cos it’s called for the ‘Threesome? Wing it’ – ($16) ><
Basically there are three different flavours: Honey Oat, Chilli crab & the chef’s special thai chilli sauce all in ONE basket! Always wanted a threesome this lifetime, now you can tick it off your bucketlist without cheating on your spouse ! Lol!
Tips to you readers: ‘Don’t ever leave this cafe without trying this dish! Highly Recommended!’
Next, came my own personal favourite! The ‘Squid Ink Risotto’ with Pan-seared scallops, crunchy quinoa, parmesan cheese, edamame beans and alfalfa sprouts – ($23)
It was said that the boss himself order this every single time he visit his own cafe! One bite into it, I can understand why. Wow! I just love the super crunchy texture of the quinoa and the dish’s strong palatable flavouring.
Even the signature Italian dish found its way to the menu. Here we also have their signature ‘Pork Belly Pizza’! Like the fact that it isn’t as oily or fatty as it sounds 😉 Ladies, have a peace of mind with the calories intake for this one!
This is one of the more Unique dishes I have to introduce! It is their ‘Butter-Curry Waffle’ served with fresh prawns and house-made curry butter sauce – ($16)
A savoury waffle with a fushion of sourish & spicy taste. Feeling skeptical, think again after you tried it! The texture of the waffle was good and I like the sauce for its unique flavouring. This is probably the only one in Singapore! I give this a 4.5/5! I fault them for not buttering me enough ! It’s so good I want the sauce not just all over the waffle but all over the plate! Hello! Lol!
Asian Pork Belly ($23) served with criss-cut fries and peaches. Have this the asian way!
‘Monochrome aglio Oglio’ ($19) – one dish that is most representative of the cafe in terms of colour coding will be this one here! Just look at the colour! Portion is just nice for one. But if you are calling as much food as we did here, you better get an extra mouth to help.
To complete our dinner that night, we had one of their most interesting dessert: the ‘Churroffle topped with a scoop of ice-cream’. In short, it is actually a yummilicious combination of churruos & waffles! Had a rough day, don’t worry. Just have this dessert! This dessert with its extra topping of cinnamon sugar confirm gonna sweeten the rest of your night for sure! Double confirm!
Texture wise, you could taste both the churruos and waffles and the good thing is the chef did it at the right denseness. If you are concern with its sweetness level, I would say even with that extra dose of cinnamon sugar, it wasn’t overly-sweet for the palattes & the ice-cream complimented the churroffle very well.
All in all, I think Monochrome Bistro does deserve a toast for providing both visual(cafe interior) and tasting delight! My only regret was not being able to try their famous ‘Spicy Crab Meat Linguine’ 🙁 Heard many good reviews about this one. Nonetheless, that means it gives me a good reason to go back again one of these days!
