Chapter 55

Great place for their 1-​for-​1 weekday lunch promotion and it accommodated our group of about 12. No problems getting a seat at 11.30am on a Friday.
Vongole spaghetti ($ 18) — 3.75 stars
Hearty, more clam shells than meat, but at half the price I’m not complaining.
Strawberry gelato ($ 4.80) — 3 stars
Too sweet after the first few spoons.

Had dinner here last night with family and friends. Our group of 6 had buffalo wings, pesto salad, truffle fries. Squid ink risotto, osso buco, mushroom pasta and anchovy pizza with Bonito flakes. We also had a few scoops of gelato for dessert. I got salted caramel, which was good but not the best I’ve ever had.
All the dishes were good. The wings were juicy and spicy and the risotto was creamy, although a bit stingy with the shrimp and scallop (there was only 1 piece of each in the dish). Service was pretty fast and friendly.
The place was almost full, which showed the terrible acoustics. There was a group of 8 seated about 3 meters away from our table and their loud chatter and laughter echoed. The table size is odd too— definitely squeezy for 6, too roomy for 4.
Overall it is a nice casual Italian place, and I would consider going back.

I’m surprised this place rates so low. It’s a popular lunch spot among my colleagues because of the buy one get one free lunch deal, and the fact that the food is pretty good
They don’t take reservations for lunch on weekdays, but it wasn’t a problem for our party of 17. We made sure we arrived by 12pm to get a table.
The menu that qualifies BOGO isn’t large, but it’s still decently diverse. You don’t have to get the same item, just anything on the BOGO menu. A lot of people got the salmon with balsamic vinegar, and the Dory main dish was pretty popular too. I had the beef lasagna, which I thought was excellent. At half the price, it was a steal.
The service was not outstandingly bad or good.
Definitely a good place for a fancier lunch.

3 stars! 1 star each for FOOD, AMBIENCE and «WILL I COME BACK?». No stars for service and price.
Also, I apologise in advance for the epic length review.
The word ‘hipster’ is overused, really. This is a typical brunch restaurant. I don’t see where it’s ‘hip’ or ‘ster’.
Food is average. Mushroom soup is not Campbell’s. Or at least to my un-​hipster taste buds. Buffalo wings were like sweet and sour chicken wings, not spicy. Pasta was meh. The only thing I would come back for are the pizzas, Super thin crust and light. Nice.
Ambience is homely. Lots of wood benches and tin pails for decoration. Seats are tightly packed and walk space is narrow. I might have seen a mason jar or two. /​shudder
«Will I come back?» Yes, for the pizza and for the «buy 1 get one free» lunch special. Now the mechanics of this BOGO is dreadfully complicated and very sneaky if the customer is not careful. I will explain this in the next section. This would have been so easy to fix when asked, and would have won a life-​long customer. But. hey, which restaurant manager would want to do that?
Service is non-​existent. Poor guys are overworked and do not have time for pleasantries.
Price. Ahhh, the only thing this place has going for it is the 1 for 1 lunch special. When you get seated, you will see from the menu that not all items qualify for this. Items that do, have a little label next to it.
So! Imagine the following scenario:
Ah Beng and Ah Lian decide to try this new ‘simi-​lai eh hipster’ café near Ah Mah’s flat in Tiong Bahru.
They order two muchroom soups ($ 11 for 2) This items is automatically 1 for 1. Don’t know why they have to make life so confusing.
Then Ah Beng orders a Vogole pasta MAIN for $ 18. Ah Lian orders a Funghi Pizza for $ 18.
For appetisers, Ah Beng orders Buffalo Wings ($ 16) and Ah Lian orders Calamari Rings ($ 16).
So, quick recap: 2 soups, 2 mains, 2 appetisers.
QUESTION: How much was Ah Beng and Ah Lian charged for their lunch? (Assume no service charge.)
ANSWER: You would think, this is easy!
1 for 1 mushroom soup + 1 for 1 MAIN + 1 for 1 appetiser = $ 11 + $ 18 + $ 16 = $ 45
Wrong. Because Chapter 55 is so scared that customers will ‘take advantage’ of the 1 for 1 deal, this is how they calculated the bill:
Mushroom soup is $ 11 for 2. (Written in the menu, don’t argue.)
Higher cost items are charged, lower cost items are free. (Written in the fine print, don’t argue.)
Actual bill is: $ 11 + $ 18 + $ 18 = $ 47
Ah Beng and Ah Lian pays up and leaves, vowing to never come back and also something about mothers and fathers.
Ok, ok, the story is a little dramatic for a difference of $ 2. But it is the principle of the whole thing. Even if it is not for principle, then it is about making a quick decision to make Ah Lian and Ah Beng happy customers.
Long story short: After the trauma of mathematics and Chapter 55. Ah Beng and Ah Lian grew closer and lived happily ever after,

Chapter 55 is right in the heart of Tiong Bahru and, literally, just a short walk away from where I work. I ended up coming here with my husband for lunch and we were super stoked to utilize the 1-​for-​1 deal. It’s unfortunate though, the pizza and the pasta we ordered were pretty bland… But the gelato was super rich and creamy and did make up for the mediocre lunch.

My group of girlfriends, a total party size of 8 decided to check out Chapter 55 at hipster land. So I called in to make a reservation, but an automated voice answering machine told me I would receive a text message to complete the reservation, which I did. It was a short URL to make a reservation via Chope. However on Chope, I could only select a maximum party size of 6. So in the comments I asked for 2 more seats.
A few hours later I got a call saying that their café’s reservation policy requires each person to spend at least $ 25 and order a main course. Waffles which are priced $ 18.50+ with 2 scoops of ice cream are not considered a main course. Even the staff encouraged me to walk in. This is ridiculous. So we decided to walk in, and the food better be worth the effort!
Despite the phone call, I was delighted to be greeted by the beautiful ice cream display!
And I pinched myself to be sure I wasn’t dreaming when I saw the $ 23 per pint price tag. Okay, let’s see if their ice cream is really twice as good as other competitors, to be priced this high.
The interior has a very homely, retro feel to it, the lighting isn’t instagram’s best friend. You will have to improvise or try and get a table by the windows.
1. Beef Bolognese Cheese Fries $ 15+
With truffle tries price at $ 14, we decided to try something else. Sadly, this dish wasn’t what we expected, even though there is supposedly cheese in the sauce. We couldn’t taste any. It was a plate of very soggy fries, with a very under seasoned beef bolognese sauce.
2. Squid Ink Risotto $ 25+
Tasted cheesy and I felt gerlat very quickly. This is the first plate of Risotto that I didn’t like, I am normally a huge fan of Risotto.
It’s waffle time! Despite the unsatisfying experience with the main courses, I was so certain the highly instagrammable waffles with ice cream would be the highlight of my night!
3. Waffles with Mao shan wang durian and belgian chocolate $ 18.50+
I liked that the durian ice cream colour wasn’t overly yellow, which a lot of ice cream parlours, normally add yellow colouring to, it didn’t smell very fragrant but it tasted good. I liked the durian ice cream. The Belgian chocolate tasted okay, it didn’t leave an impression for me. The waffles, which I was looking forward to, tasted ok, I’ve definitely had better waffles in the surrounding area.
4. Waffles with Pulut Hitam and Pistacchio $ 18.50+
The only redeeming factor that Chatper 55 had for me tonight, was the Pulut Hitam ice cream, which I truly enjoyed. However not all the girls at my table liked it. It wasn’t displayed, but they had it in the freezer. You could bite into the black rice bits in the ice cream. It a legit, pulut hitam ice cream! The Pistacchio was also a memorable ice cream flavour. You can distinctively taste the pistacchio.
The bill for 6 girls and we weren’t very big eaters, so asking all 6 of us to order a main course each isn’t the wisest café policy, even from a business stand point.
The staff weren’t well organized and took a long while to clear our table. The first staff cleared one plate, and a male staff cleard 2 more plates. We were done with all our plates and when the waffles came, we still had half a table worth of dirty plates. Only after the second waffle came to our table, did another male staff who served us the waffles, clear the rest of the dirty dishes.
The chinese local lady at the cashier who spoke mandarin was very friendly and polite. I had higher hopes for their ice cream and waffles with such a high price tag on each plate.
On the bright side, they have BOGO weekday lunch offers.
wifi password: chapter55

This place opened late last year in December right before Christmas and occupied a spacious corner on Tiong Bahru Road. It is on way home and I noticed that it was always packed at night so I wanted to give it a try.
We went for Sunday brunch and I have to say I was skeptical at first because their menu was so extensive. Usually when a restaurant is trying to offer everything it is a bad sign — on top of their brunch menu, they have a long list ranging from pasta to pizzas to risottos to appetizers and desserts (waffles, pancakes, gelatos). We ordered buffalo wings to share, I remember it being decent but not particularly authentic but on the spicy side. The dish that blew me away was one of their fresh pasta dishes. The sauce was AMAZING, it is very flavorful and seems to be saffron based. The seafood was very fresh, which is quite a rarity when eating out and reflects their attentiveness in sourcing ingredients. It is also very reasonably priced. To be honest, it was really out of my expectations. I later read from other reviews that the chef is from Pasta Brava — that explains it. Also read that its owner is the same as Ice Edge Café, a popular café in Kovan (ok too far for me so good they open one in TB). I tried a piece of the pizza that my friend was having, the crust was pretty good too. The pasta was really filling as the sauce was so rich, so I didn’t have any room for desserts. That is a pity though as they appears to serve a great selection of gelatos. I read that they have a 1-​for-​1 pasta deal during weekday lunch time and that’s a pretty good deal, I would totally take advantage of this if I work around Tiong Bahru. This is a pretty big space and can accommodate any group dining comfortably.

i like the one for one lunch deal even though there are limited choices for it.
and you got to go there early to get a table if not you’ll have to wait in line or sit outside in the heat of the day.
my friend and I both had pizza; she ordered the bonito and i ordered the good old funghi pizza. it didn’t leave me swooning but i’d say it’s definitely one of the better pizzas i had in Singapore. the bonito was interesting to try but i am not sure if i want to order it again. pizzas are still better eaten the Italian way than fusion is my take on this. give me sausages, funghi and olives on a pizza anytime!
it was actually nice to have a gelato counter in store; the server was friendly and willing to give in to our undying want of trying almost all the flavors and then still smile at us as we try to make up our flippant minds. some were misses like the yuzu lacked the tangy taste i desire and the passion fruit mango was more like just mango. eventually i went for the belgium dark chocolate which i think is one flavor that could never go wrong and i was right. oh to note, they do have pretty powerful tasting mao shan wang gelato.
in all I paid $ 20 for a pizza, a drink (nothing worth mentioning even though it was lemon grass) and a scoop of gelato.

My colleague who had accidentally ran into this bistro a week ago bugged us to accompany her soon to sample the food. So today, despite the heavy afternoon rain, we walked from our office to sought out the place. Walking along Eng Hoon Street, the restaurant was easily noticeable by the corner of Tiong Poh Road. It’s pretty big. One thing that I found very attractive on their signboard was how they highlighted their «1 for 1 on weekdays» offer.
We went as a group of 5. Seeing that the restaurant is not Halal-​certified, I couldn’t try out their main courses, hence I went with the desserts. Like one of the popular quotes that I snapped stated, «Life is short. Eat dessert first!»
The appetizers came as bowls of mushroom soup. The mushrooms weren’t in chunky forms but they were grounded in, which was nice!
Two of my colleagues ordered one plate of white wine pasta (Vongole?) and the other, some sort of seafood pasta. Can’t recall the names of the dishes, but both of them commented that the spices in both of their pastas were too overpowering; one even masked the white wine sauce. They also ordered buffalo wings (5 pieces). Personally, from what I see, those wings were overpriced. Such small pieces for $ 16?!
Came my Salted Caramel Waffle and a glass of Black Cow. Funny names to give the floats: «Black Cow» for Coke Float and «Snow White» for Sprite Float.
Well, as you can see from my waffle photo, I just loved the presentation. What a plating! Loved how they stenciled in cocoa powder of their logo at the corner of the plate. The waffle itself cost me $ 17 due to the fact that I opted for 2 scoops of ice-​cream. Otherwise it would have been $ 15 for one. I opted for a scoop of Salted Caramel and Hazelnut gelato on my waffle, while I got another scoop of Hersheys gelato for my coke float. Loved the waffle!
We even sampled a teaspoon of some of the gelatos on display. I had the Salted Egg flavoured, Cotton Candy flavoured and Strawberry Cheesecake flavoured… Nice. But definitely, I have tasted better and creamier gelatos elsewhere.