Thanks once again to cousin L for recommending this place. Located at Lasalle College of the Arts’ swank new premises in the heart of town, this casual dining place serves pretty tasty and very reasonably priced food. The large area it occupies and the vast high ceilings give it a good sense of space, making it very conducive to just chilling out and nibbling.
The regular menu features items like a very decent-sized burger, complete with egg, cheese and mushrooms, and side of very good fries, for only $12.90, shaker salads that come in a jar for under $10, and a selection of pastas and pizzas for around $9.90. In addition, they have a separate tapas selection which is laid out at the counter. You’re supposed to pick and choose, then pay for them at the cashier.
We came here on Saturday night with A’s gal pal T and her bf D. On L’s recommendation A had the burger. For $12.90, the burger was pretty good. The patty was quite juicy, not dry, and while I think it would benefit from some bacon, at that price I really can’t complain.
I had the southern fried chicken wings, which were really good – they tasted like the Ikea ones! The rest of the stuff I had was picked from the tapas counter. We had a selection of bruschettas – one with buffalo mozzarella and trout pate, mushrooms duxelles with blue cheese, and torched smoked salmon. Prices ranged from $2.90 to $5.90, and I think the mushroom one was the best, though all of them were pretty good.
I would recommend coming slightly later, say past 8 pm. We were there just after 7, and some of the tapas selection wasn’t ready yet, like the mini wagyu burger than is served on a fried mantou bun, blue cheese wings and a breaded fried lambchop (confusingly termed the Lambchop Lollilop). Those appeared halfway through our dinner, so we couldn’t risk trying the wings, but I would’ve liked having the whole selection to choose from at the start.
The blue cheese wings were quite interesting. In addition to the blue cheese sauce, it was dusted with chopped mint, which helped to brighten up the flavours. Still, because it was battered then fried, I found it a bit heavier and oilier, and actually preferred the basic fried wings that we had earlier.
Desserts are quite no frills here, with simple things like no-bake cheesecake, trifle and chocolate mousse in little plastic cups, for around $3. We tried the cheesecake, which had a dusting of “roasted soil” on top – crumbled cookie bits. This turned out better than expected.
All in all, we had a very pleasant experience here. The ambience is great, food is good and really reasonable. One of the few places these days that you can go to for austerity drive food without compromising on taste. Needless to say I’m already itching to head back to try the other items in their tapas selection.
A says:
Mad props to cousin L for the recommendation. I really like this place. Good atmosphere, good food and super easy parking in the basement (you get there via Prinsep Street).
The regular dishes are very reasonably priced although if you go crazy on the “tapas”, the bill can add up. Having said that, the tapas dishes are the best things here. I’ll be back to try more soon.
15 Minutes Cafe
1 McNally Street, Blk D, #01-01
Lasalle College of the Arts
Tel: 6333-5915 (reservations accepted only for evening)
Mon – Thurs: 10 am to 11 pm
Fri: 10 am to 12 mn
Sat: 11.15 am to 11 pm
2 comments:
Thanks for the props! I'm convinced the burger was plated differently though when me and M had it. They served the veg on the side, rather than stacked with the patty.
Hi,
am thinking of going there too. Do you have any idea what is the best time to go? Going with a group of friends so we hope to get seats and avoid the crowd :D
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