Hatched!: nice and cozy...and full of memories

with family

Located right at the former Eusoff College residential hostel of the National University of Singapore, and just a short walk from Raffles Hall where I stayed during my undergraduate days...Eusoff was then an all girls hostel, and hearts of Rafflesians of RH as we called ourselves...and especially so for those who hot blooded male RH residents, would throb at the mention of "going to Eusoff". In those days, men were only allowed into the receiving foyer, and no further. Eusoff College has moved to its new grounds within the Kent Ridge campus, and for a while, it remained a residential college, but opened to both sexes. But it has since been commercially redeveloped. The old buildings still retain their old world charm, thank goodness the new tenants did not totally modernize it. And where the dining hall of Eusoff used to be, now housed Hatched!, The Wine Company and a prata shop. The Wine Company is worth a visit, so more of that in another blog entry, but the prata shop...despite its popularity, is not worth the calories.

The subject of my entry today is Hatched!

The menu was certainly interesting...as was the cheerful gentleman who served us...



As implied by the menu and the catchy name Hatched, every item on the menu features eggs...All day breakfasts were offered. A quick perusal of the rather large number of options indicate that this was going to be interesting...the folks who wrote the menu have a sense of humour.

The restaurant was laid out and decorated more like a canteen, or a cafe...with a huge blackboard with specials etc scrawled on it.



I ordered the pancakes, of course...regular readers of this blog will know of this soft spot for big, hot, fluffy, pancakes with rich butter (or whipped butter) and maple syrup.



And indeed they were as promised. Hot, rather large (about 7 inches in diameter and about 1cm thick), fluffy. The batter was well done...with just a right tinge of sugar and salt. A small cup of maple syrup and another small cup of whipped butter was presented with the pancakes and a few blueberries. The blueberries were a bit stingy, I thought...I expected more blueberries...but no matter...the pancakes were quite delicious, and the maple syrup was also excellent (wish there were more generous with the the maple syrup and butter).

Kin had the Bacon Rap



Three slices (lumps really) of mozzarella cheese, wrapped in streaky bacon, baked and served with some fig jam. The dish tasted fine...the mozzarella tasted fine...and cooked nicely...sometimes mozzerella can be tough and have a tannic bite when overcooked...but this was done right, and very pleasant. The bacon was lightly fried, and wrapped around the cheese. A simple dish, but quite effective in busting the hunger pangs.

Edward had the Burly Benedict:



Our server recommended the young man to go for the double...double poached eggs, each topped with mornay sauce (Mornay sauce is a bechamel sauce with cheese...usually gruyere or and parmesan) sitting on a slice of wagyu beef and half an English muffin. Eggs benedict is not the easiest dish to prepare...though the idea of poaching an egg is easy enough, getting it perfect is rather difficult. The best I have eaten is at the breakfast table at The Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. I found the eggs to be nicely done...just right, when cut open, the outer had just begun to solidify, and the insides were still runny. Edward didn't like the eggs as much. The wagyu was a bit tough. On the whole, decent dish, though not spectacular like it can be given the way it was presented.



Interesting restaurant...one which brings back some memories, but mainly one which serves solid, traditional breakfast items...done well, if not not exceptionally well...but good enough for repeat visits.


Hatched
26 Evans Road #01-06 Evans Lodge
Singapore, 259367
Tel: 67350012/13
Sun-Thu: 8am - 10pm
Fri-Sat: 8am - 12am
(Closed on Mon)
Website: http://www.hatched.sg/