PUBLISHED June 9th, 2012 11:57 am | UPDATED March 28th, 2016 02:15 pm
There is no disputing that we are all hungry chimps over at City Nomads….and so when we heard about a cafe by the same name which opened up a few months back, well of course these hungry chimps also became curious monkeys.
You could easily miss Hungry Chimps, which holds court on the second floor of a row of shophouses on Prinsep Street above the gaming hang-out Play Nation, which incidentally is the brainchild of the same owners. As we trotted up the stairs, we were pleasantly surprised at how large, bright, airy and down-right cute looking (in a non-sickly way) this place was.
and I guess that’s got something to do with all the ape art adorning the walls!
This place is all about comfort food, and it has to be said these guys do it pretty well. Think beef stew, hearty pasta, fish n chips, all day breakfasts and lots more. If you happen to be in the area, this place does great value weekday lunch specials at $9.90 nett. So that’s precisely what we thought we’d check out.
We decided to top up on the lunch offer – add $3 nett for a latte/cappuccino/speciality tea, $4 for a Creamy mushroom soup or $5 for dessert.
So seeing as we topped up with the mushroom soup, let’s start with that. Now I know it can be hard to get excited by a mushroom soup at times, but this was one very tasty soup indeed. And for $4 it was way better than many we’d had with a rich, savoury taste and a creamy yet somehow still chunky consistency. Just lovely.
The City Nomad went for Grilled Chicken Pasta, a nice, easy and simple spaghetti dish to chow down on for a spot of lunch.. grilled chicken fillet with a hearty, garlicky tomato Marinara sauce. Yes that’ll do the trick nicely!
But our favourite was The Ocean Catch a lovely fresh, meaty, soft fillet of Dory covered in delicious garlic and mustard batter. Not only is the batter delicious in flavour because of this added twist, but also it’s of a perfect texture and consistency – thin and crispy…no soggy batter for us hungry chimps! In keeping with tradition, this friendly fish is served up with Tartar sauce and a little side of coleslaw, plus thick cut fries or butter rice – or if you’re feeling in the mood for something lighter as I was, swap this for salad.
In keeping with the craft and speciality beer trend that seems to be gathering pace on our sunny isle at the moment, wash all this down with a micro-brewery brew such as the likes of a Thatchers Old Rascal, a Trappist or Fruit Beer (micro brews range from $13-17 a bottle).
And of course, with the top up, round off with a handcrafted iced or hot latte – we rather loved the Macadamia one.
It also has to be said that the milkshakes here look VERY tempting – mmmmm anyone for a Fresh Blueberry with Cornflakes or an Oreo Cheesecake milkshake?
Overall, this is a great little spot for some good value grub, catching up and chilling out. And with just a 5 minute away from Dhoby Ghaut MRT the perfect hide-away from the tail end of the maddening crowds of Orchard. AND I’ve get my eye on the all day breakfast so I’ll be swinging by to hit up some of that in the not too distant future, possibly followed by a geeky gaming/board game session down below at Play Nation…