Elite Event: An Intimate Affair at First 25 Cafe

A much smaller crowd than the usual Elite event, I enjoy it a lot as I get to chat with a bunch of elites. Michelle even got us hyped up for Christmas with the fancy Unilocal stocking.
Food — it was slightly above average but can’t quite get the fusion inspiration. They were more of a Western twist. My favorite was their umi pasta — the seafood and meat flavor blends very well together. The addition of a poached egg is also a nice reminder of the Singaporean way.
I do wish the chef would be more active in hosting us. Especially since it was a slow night for the restaurant. I didnt know they are planning to revamp their menu until I read it from another Unilocal reviewer.
Overall, it was a fun elite event where we got to exchange holiday plans and discuss about food.

Thank you Michelle for yet another wonderful event. I love the intimacy of it, definitely got to know more Unilocal elites this time!
Thank you Lucius and team for serving us an endless array of dishes tonight! You guys were so generous and kept our bellies full :)
Dishes we had tonight:
We started with a Warm mushroom salad — smelled like truffle, but with mini enoki like mushrooms, spinach, pine nuts. Love the individual components but I think it needs a bit more to come together. Definitely tone down the pepper!
Truffle fries was next. It was nice and crispy and had a good flavor and smell! It was very thin and I wonder if the fries might have been air fried?
We then had Fried chicken — great crispy skin and juicy meat but the batter could use more flavor? Or maybe serve a sauce on the side
Pork Yuzu with couscous — nice and tender pork. Not sure if I tasted Yuzu. Couscous was great, cheesy and creamy. The two together was the best dish tonight! Bacon in the couscous was awesome!!!
Following that, Beef and mashed potato was next! The wooden platter was great! Beef was very nicely done — medium rare. But I wanted more flavor from this juicy piece of meat. Mashed potatoes were good and there were mini asparagus!
Finally, we had their signature Smoked uni carbonara. Very photo worthy. But I’m not sure I tasted much uni or carbonara. The pasta was nicely cooked. The egg was nice but sauce is a little watery. It should have been cooked down more. Also it was funny how the crayfish was thought to be chicken by at least two people at the table, including me!
Really happy to be here in this cozy and cute café! The dishes were good but can use a little more perfecting. But I’ll be back for some truffle fries and pork!!!

Thanks Michelle and Lucius for organizing this event: D I had so much fun!
They have a pretty decent sized dining room. There’s ample space between tables and can easily accomodate huge groups of patrons. The walls are lined with white glossy tiles with very rustic looking lamps mounted on the wall to provide lighting throughout the dining room.
One glance at the menu and you spot things like Gnocchi with basil cream, wagyu bolognese, nacho cheese fries, truffle fries, smoked uni carbonara, 65 degree grilled ribeye. First 25 café definitely sets itself up as an Asian Fusion and Italian café.
1. Warm Mushroom Salad $ 9+
Warm Mushroom SaladWhen this dish was served, you could easily smell the truffle oil in the salad! I loved that they choose to use pine nuts as it added a crunchy aspect of the salad. The Baby spinach, shimeji mushroom together with their high grade butter made a very light but refreshing salad. The shimeji mushrooms were small in size, but every time I dug my fork into the salad, I was guaranteed a mushroom! First 25 café is pretty generous in ingredients!
2. La Rustichella Truffle Fries $ 12+
What’s a café without their rendition of truffle fries? The truffle fries were served on a wodden platter, sprawled out with cheese flakes over the top!
Okay, so the truffle smell for the fries for some reason wasn’t as strong as the Warm Mushroom salad. The essence of the truffle oil was very evident in the fries either. But together with the white truffle pumpkin sauce, it did bring out the «truffle-​ness» of the fries.
La Rustichella Truffle Fries — White truffle pumpkin sauceThe fries also didn’t turn soggy either. So hurray! For non-​soggy fry lovers.
3. Charlie’s son Wings $ 13+
These wings were crispy but yet also slightly on the dry side.
Charlie’s son Wings $ 13+The wings were decent in size and for this price, instead of a salad, maybe some celery sticks and carrots? The crispiness is spot on, and that’s where the wow factor ends for this dish.
4. Smoked Uni Carbonara $ 27+
This dish was a very interesting one, seeing the roe perched ontop of the poached egg, sounded by carbonara. It made a very picturesque dish. But unlike typical carbonara dishes that make you gerlat, this was slightly more of a lighter dish with a lighter taste too. The flavour of the egg wasn’t able to bring out any flavour of the pasta.
Smoked Uni CarbonaraI was able to easily spot chunks of crayfish meat that tasted fresh and tender. The meat itself was able to absorb the carbonara sauce, hence giving the meat some flavour.
5. Eggplant Parmigiano $ 16+
The browness of the bread crumbs was on-​point! It made the parigiano look fuller in size and definitely made me excited to try this!
Despite their simplistic presentation, the eggplant parmigiano was pretty sizeable and I felt decently full after consuming it. This is probably one of the main courses that I wouldn’t mind ordering again the next time I’m here. You can also pick this out as a side to share.
6. 65 Degree Grilled Ribeye 2006 $ 26+ *Highly Recommended*
Grassfed auzi ribeye, baby carrots, mashed potato and mushroom sauce. On first look, this dish wasn’t just simply thrown together, it was decorated with care. Just like the care it took to nurture this grassfed ribeye. The mashed potato was so smooth and creamy, it was like no other mashed potato I had ever tasted! It also gave me a lingering truffle after taste!
7. Yuzukosho Pork Rack (Signature) $ 27+ *Highly Recommended*
Yuzukosho Pork Rack (Signature)Having visited a few fusion cafes recently, I know it’s not easy to come up with a unique fusion dish that has both Asian and Western flavours. This Yuzukosho Pork Rack scores ¹⁰⁄₁₀ on both east and west ends!