Brunch at Pique Nique today has inspired us to come up with a new label for our posts - Disappointing. Not quite as harsh as Not Recommended, Disappointing is, well, exactly that - when you go with a certain level of expectation, and what you get is a completely meh experience.
We got there pretty early on Sunday, around 11.30, expecting it to get crowded later with the brunch crowd rush. We needn't have worried. There were at most 3 tables when we arrived, and it didn't really fill up over the course of our stay.
We'd seen the menu on Facebook and it had a lot of potential, but at the same time we've also heard less than positive things about both their food and their service. Still, we went with a pretty open mind.
Since Pique Nique is the creation of Chef Pang of Canele fame, I had high hopes for their salted caramel here. I ordered the buttermilk pancakes with salted caramel and whipped butter (there's the option of either whipped butter or whipped cream).
The salted caramel was good; there just wasn't enough of it. The pancakes were too thick, so the bits without the caramel were pretty bland. And I have no idea where the butter was.
A had the Hot Iron waffles with caramelised banana, chocolate fudge and vanilla bean ice cream. This was where things really started going downhill. The ice cream was rock hard, and after tasting it, it was suspiciously more like peanut butter than vanilla bean. We flailed wildly for the attention of a server, and when one finally came our way, after hearing what we had to say, she had the nerve to tell us to give her a minute, and proceeded to take another table's order!!
I was getting seriously annoyed, so I flagged down another guy who was nice enough to check with the kitchen, and got a fresh one made for us.
The waffle itself was good, but again the ice cream was too hard, the banana and chocolate fudge seemed to be perfunctory add-ons, and once again, the whipped butter was no where to be found.
We also shared the Breakfast Dog, which came with chopped tomatoes, relish, bacon and a fried egg. I was slightly disappointed to see that the egg was just unceremoniously plonked on top. The hot dog bun was nice and light, but other than that, it was quite ordinary.
The fries came separately, a bit later, and I must say they're very good fries. Very crisp outside but really light and fluffy inside. Unfortunately, the ketchup that they served didn’t seem to taste like Heinz. 'Nuf said.
So, will we go back? Not likely, but I won't really go so far as to damn it Not Recommended. Hence, Disappointing.
A says:
The menu looked right up my alley, but from what we ordered, only the fries and the waffle itself were good. And by that, I really mean just the waffle. The toppings were very blah and the ice cream was hard. I prefer the one at Canteen.
Service-wise, the local Chinese girl was super bad. Lousy attitude and blatantly refused to help us twice. The nice Filipino guy was so much more helpful.
Overall though, I can see why this place was so empty on a Sunday morning. Disappointing.
Pique Nique
#B1-01/02 Takashimaya
Ngee Ann City Tower A
391A Orchard Road
Tel: 6238-6705
Open daily: 10 am to 9.30 pm
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