Brunetti
163 Tanglin Road
#01-35 Tanglin Mall
Singapore
PRICE: $$$
RATING: ???–

This is an incredibly old post.. maybe 2 months old? I just discovered these photos lying around so I thought I might as well blog them 😉 Most of you in Singapore would have already realised this by now, but Brunetti opened recently. It’s a Melbourne cafe pretty famous in Australia, and now they’ve set up shop in Singapore, and in Tanglin Mall no less – a mall very popular with expats.

They were pretty crowded (and still are!) when we went, with passerbys mostly drawn towards the astonishing desserts display that stretches through half the shop. Think rows and rows and layers and layers of goodies, in rainbow shades and looking freakin’ YUMMY. Of course, we had to go in and eat 😉

We had lunch there and… well… to be frank, it was sub-par. I hear that they’ve since improved, but I haven’t been back for their lunch meals, so I can’t say for sure. I had the Quesadilla and it was totally average, not very tasty, and so un-exciting looking it was rather depressing. I ate it, and that was all. The Risotto was also alright but nothing amazing.

And the Fish & Chips? Well, considering it’s an Australian cafe, we’d expected fantastically crisp fish and chips. Instead, it came out looking rather strange.. since the fish and the chips were the same milky-yellow colour! Battered fish is usually darker and so it looked half-cooked. One bite and we realised it definitely was half-cooked, because the batter was squashy and doughy and the fish not tasty. The fries were alright, though. How depressing is that? Fish & chips fail at an Australian cafe is rather woeful indeed.

I’ve heard that now they do a crumbed version of their Fish & Chips. This is also a big of a fail, in my opinion, because breaded fish & chips is a very Singaporean thing.. and doesn’t really exist in Australia. Gah.

I like their miniature desserts because they’re absolutely adorable and it means you can eat a couple of them instead of just one larger cake. I think, from memory, they’re about SG$2+ each.. but just take note they really are miniature. I was impressed with their desserts – and I’ve tried most of them since I’ve been back to Brunetti a couple of times (always gone for their desserts though, didn’t dare to try their lunch again). The little delicacies are crafted beautifully, and I especially adore the chocolate ones.. though that may just be my chocoholic side speaking 😉