Regroup

I don’t remember when it became acceptable for cafes — not restaurants mind you — to charge $ 6.50 for a cup of coffee or have an average brunch dish cost $ 17. (Brunch dishes — they’re just eggs y’all!) I suppose when youngsters (and older, aka me) started turning up at cafes in droves with their laptops and staying for hours.
At least with Regroup, I didn’t feel too bad parting with $ 17 for my squid ink linguine (4 stars). For starters, it had soft shell crab in it. While the crab wasn’t as delicately crispy as others I’ve had, the garlicky, spicy sauce was right up my alley. Typically, I feel like I order squid ink pasta more for its unique colour (I’m a sucker for green tea and pistachio flavoured items because of their gorgeous colours. Heck, I swear it was the wildly unnatural, beautiful lilac skins of yam baos [taro buns] that conned me into consuming far more of them than is probably advisable). But this time, the linguine itself seemed to be that much more flavourful. Warning: Don’t eat this before an important presentation or risk looking like a toothless pirate.
Tried some of my friend’s truffle mushroom soup (4 stars) — it didn’t taste creamy and wasn’t salty. She found it a bit bland though. Also had some of her goldrush waffle (4 stars). The waffle was somewhere nicely between being soft and crispy, the dark chocolate ice cream was solid, and the honeycomb crumbs were a nice touch. The salted egg sauce was good, but it’s not my thing to begin with. I had a single scoop of ice cream and the girl at the counter very nicely agreed to do 2 generous half scoops for me, making it $ 4 well-​spent. Their pistachio (4 stars) is definitely one of the better ones I’ve had. The stout butterbeer (3.5 stars) had a good flavour but melted too quickly.
Besides the food, I love the décor of the place (5 stars). It’s spacious, brightly lit, and minimalist. They also have 3 fans going in addition to the air-​conditioning — I’m guessing because the large windows make it fairly warm in the day. It was pretty empty on a weekday afternoon, and I got some studying done. Note that there’s no wifi available. I see their pistachio latte, smoked salmon salad, and a good book making a perfect afternoon in my near future.

The coffee here is ok to nice. They do latte art. Flavour wise, it’s on the safe side and even slightly on the bland side. But the nearest decent coffee at a walk is Wheeler’s Yard but that place you’ll probably have a much longer wait albeit tastier cup. 3.5 for the coffee.
Waffles take quite a prominent spot on the menu but we were in the mood for some salt so we ordered the truffle fries. I have to say the fries were not very good. Firstly they are thick cut but more importantly the oil seemed a little over-​used and the insides weren’t fluffy. like the fries were a little old. Simple dish that a lot of places sell and make good margins on, so it was an unpleasant surprise that it was subpar.
I do like the atmosphere of the place. It’s laidback. Kudos for the cool stylish tap for getting your own water. Other than that, it doesn’t stand out that much. It doesn’t have the charm of the Duxton flagship I would say.
I was there on a Sunday morning before 11am and the place was nearly empty.
They don’t have parking so maybe it appeals more to residents. I have a friend who stays round the corner and I actually drive by weekly but the fact is, I’ve only been in once. so that is saying something. If I need a coffee and can be fussed to park at my friend’s condo and walk. But if I were gonna drive to drink and I’m not crunched for time, I would head over to Old Hen for a bit more life and vibe and taste.
Icecream here is rich and sweet. Some almost too sweet for my taste but it’s quite creamy and should please be a crowd pleaser. I’ll try the waffles when I come back next time and see if it warrants an update!