There are several hidden gems in Singapore, particularly in Tiong Bahru. Tiong Bahru is actually a really old estate which has recently become hip and funky with the sprouting of uniquely-decorated cafes, pubs and specialty stores which sport items you may not find anywhere else. After hearing many people raving over the food, ambience and all, Ivan and I have actually gone cafe-hopping one Sunday afternoon for a long-awaited date. Barely 2 weeks later, we are back again, mainly for the bookstore BooksActually. It exudes a rustic literary vibe, with its fiction and literature books beckoning for Ivan (more bookworm than I am) to return cos it closed too early! At 6pm on Sunday.
So of course, to kickstart our Friday night, we headed to BooksActually only to find that there's actually an event held there, where people were reading their pieces of work out loud to the audience. I find it very reassuring and inspiring to see the sheer number of people interested and passionate about the arts and literature in Singapore. And as I was browsing the books on the shelves while keeping my ears open for the sharing session, I came across several Singapore literary publications including one penned by Dick Lee, a collection of Singapore-related poems and a Singlish dictionary!
BooksActually is therefore a must-visit if you're in the neighbourhood! Good place to absorb the bookish aura and take a break from food, food, food!
No. 9 Yong Siak Street
Singapore 168645
+65 6222 9195
Opening hours:
Mon 11am - 6pm
Tue - Fri 11am - 9pm
Sat 10am - 9pm
Sun 10am - 6pm
After doing some research into restaurants/cafes that open late into the night for late dinner till at least 10, since we intended to stay at BooksActually till its closing time at 9pm, we decided on PoTeaTo! One reason was also that it specializes in potato, my favourite, and tea, his favourite. :) And I must say, no regrets. :D
The entrance of PoTeaTo is pretty misleading, the 1st time I passed the place I thought it must be a really small cafe and did not pay much attention to it as it is more unheard of compared to its neighbours like 40 Hands, Open Door Policy, etc. However, after reading several good reviews online, Ivan and I eagerly stepped into the cafe. The seating space is not exactly huge, but much bigger than expected. Very rustic and cosy decoration and ambience. It got me even more excited! It is free-seating and we had to hang around the teapots/pastries area before getting a table. The good thing is you could use the waiting time to browse the menus and decide on your orders. You gotta make your orders at the counter as well, I guess that's why there isn't service charge, if I didn't remember wrongly.
The dinner options ($15-$18) were quite limited with fixed sides like potato mash, potato wedges, roasted potatoes, sweet potato mash, fries, etc. I would suggest allowing customers to customize their sides to the main courses! I had a difficult time deciding between the pan-fried salmon with roasted potatoes and roasted chicken leg with sweet potato mash because I wanted roasted chicken leg with roasted potatoes. :( I eventually decided on chicken because salmon wasn't available and Ivan ordered Louisiana pork ribs with potato wedges for himself. Although the chicken has a waiting time of ~30 min (as informed by the waitresses), we had our drinks in jars to keep us happily chatting and immersing in the ambience. We ordered iced chai latte and hazelnut latte ($5.60). I love jars!!!
I highly recommend the pork ribs because there was abundance of meat and the accompanying sauce is freaking awesome! So tempted to ask for more from the counter. The potato wedges were really yummy too. As for the roasted chicken, it was succulent and given that it is my favourite thigh meat, I couldn't pick much on it. But I would really prefer potato mash to sweet potato mash, anytime! I would rather the consistent savoury taste throughout my main course than to have the tinge of sweetness from my mash. While there is room for improvement, I must admit that all in all, I was extremely satisfied with the dinner, ambience and of course the company. ;)
And to end off this really long post, (you should've guessed I have alot of assignments due coming week because I tend to do trivial things when I have more pressing matters on hand), happy twirdsary darling! <3
78 Yong Siak Street #01-18
Singapore 163078
+65 6221 2488
Opening Hours:
Tue - Fri 11am - 10pm
Sat 10am - 10pm
Sun 10am - 9pm
