Despite living in Hougang, I’ve never been to Jalan Riang, a neighbourhood in Serangoon nor know of its existence until the day I found out about Fifteen Nine, a cafe that’s named after their shop number.
Big deal, you might think, yet another cafe in the already oversaturated Singapore market.
But cafes lately have all been coming up with pretty innovative ideas to set themselves apart, and Fifteen Nine has a few interesting dishes on their lineup. The 46-seater restaurant’s menu features a good mix of Asian flavours with Western dishes such as mac and cheese, eggs benedict and burgers.
Starting off with the Har Cheong Chicken Wings ($10), seven wings came in a cute little steamer basket, and the skin was crisp with a good crackle when I bit into it. The taste of the prawn paste was prominent, with tender meat inside, and thought that it would go well with a cold beer.
If you’re looking for something a little more western, opt for the Eggs Benny – Foie Gras Mousse ($17). It was supposed to be served on Foccacia bread, but my order got changed to a muffin instead because the cafe was out of bread. I can’t fault the muffin though, it was buttered with nice crisp edges and topped off with the mousse.
I can’t fault the muffin though, it was buttered with nice crisp edges and topped off with the mousse.
The gaminess of the mousse wasn’t overwhelming, while the sous vide eggs had a runny yolk. I would have preferred more hollandaise sauce, however, the sauce was creamy with a nice hint of lemon.
Mac & Cheese Escargots ($14) caught my eye while I was flipping through the menu, and I decided to give it a try since I’m not squeamish about eating snails. The dish came to the table in a cute enamel coated cast iron pot which kept it warm, even though it took me close to 30 minutes before I started digging in.
The macaroni was cooked slightly softer than I would prefer, but I enjoyed the stringiness of the gouda-mozzarella cheese mixture as well as the slight spice from chilli padi. There was a decent amount of escargots, but I thought the snails lacked the earthy taste that I’m usually used to; this might be a good thing for those who aren’t too fond of escargots.
But what I really came here for was the Indo-Mee Burger ($16). A tender chicken thigh fillet crusted with broken bits of Indo-Mee noodles before being deep-fried, sandwiched between fluffy toasted burger buns that had nice crispy edges.
I particularly enjoyed the Sriracha sauce topping the patty, giving the burger a nice kick of heat and sourness; I think my tolerance for spice has definitely increased thanks to the amount of spicy food that I’ve been eating lately, so this one’s still considered mild.
Served with salad and fries, I felt the salad could have been enhanced by a stronger balsamic dressing, but the fries were pretty spot on — fluffy with a crisp exterior, the five spice powder used to season it definitely won me over.
What’s a meal at a cafe without coffee though? I skimmed through the drinks menu and found a Kaya Butter Coffee ($5.50), now that sounds interesting!
The beans are Hook Coffee’s Shake Your Bun Bun blend, but the barista at Fifteen Nine has added their own ingredients to the coffee, including brown kaya and actual butter, resulting in a rich, creamy coffee. The overall flavour profile was bright, with subtle hints of coconut from the kaya and a taste reminiscent of browned butter.
Reading other reviews of Fifteen Nine, it seems not everybody has had the same experience I did, which does spell consistency issues for the cafe. I’m willing to chalk it up to teething issues because I really did enjoy the food when I visited. Hopefully, upon my next visit, the quality of the food will be consistent with what I had.
Expected damage: $20 – $30
Fifteen Nine: 15-9 Jalan Riang, Singapore 358987 | Tel: +65 86683046 | Website | Facebook | Opening hours: 11.30am – 12am Monday to Friday, 10am-12am Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays
The post Fifteen Nine: Brace Yourself For This Crunchy Indo-Mee Coated Chicken Burger At Jalan Riang appeared first on SETHLUI.com.