Let's be honest, I am hungry the moment I open my eyes every morning. So as much as I love lunch and dinner, I think brunch is my favourite meal time. First of all it's perfect for the weekend, since it's definitely later than breakfast (I'm not the wake up at 7 am type) but earlier than lunch. Second of all, because it's in between two time periods, you have so many selections for it. Love sweet stuff? Have pancakes and waffles. Love savoury things? From big english breakfast to just a simple scrambled eggs you're basically spoiled for choices.
During my brief stay in Katong (shout out to my friends who let me crash in their house for a couple of weeks!) I was suddenly in food heaven. The street was basically a display of one good food after another. So given the never ending amount of choices, where does one begin in such an important crusade for delicious brunch? Now I love avocado toast as much as the next girl (I heard Rabbit Carrot Gun have quite a great selection), but we decided that we'll go with the OG flavours of Katong for brunch instead.
1. Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House
The primary reason behind why I love brunch so much is that it could so easily slip into lunch. When we decided to head down to have prawn mee for breakfast I was afraid it will be too savoury and heavy. In the end however, I was really surprised as to how it was a perfect food for brunch. We went ahead and order two bowls, one purely prawn mee and the other mixed with pork ribs.
The noodle served were thick and springy, concealing the sauce that is packed with umami bomb at the bottom of the bowl. Mix the two together and you'll see a stream of steam escaping, releasing the mouthwatering aroma. The prawn themselves were fresh and perfectly cooked, easily detached from it's shell. The serving of the prawn and pork ribs were very generous, the flavours complimenting one another. The texture and flavours of the pork ribs were pretty delicious, though not as good as I expected. I think next time I'll go ahead and order just the prawns.
Is it the perfect place for brunch? Well if you're looking for a delicious, filling breakfast for just $5.80 (small bowl, the Jumbo Bowl for you ballers out there is available for $11.80) then you've come to the perfect place. When we arrived at around 11 am the shop which extends to two shop houses were packed, so come early, come hungry!
Beach Road Prawn Mee Eating House
370/ 372 East Coast Road, Singapore, 428981
Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 4.00 pm (Closed on Tuesdays)
2. Fu Sen Eating House
If something a little bit more comforting to your stomach is what you're looking for, then I suggest venturing further down the road (literally a couple of roads away) to a little hawker tucked in Jago street. I must confess, we actually found this place on the way back from the prawn mee restaurant and was immediately drawn to the bowls of porridges everybody seem to be having.
We decided to go for the simple chicken porridge with a little bit of squids thrown it (cus why not #Ammmmiright) and yes, it was heavenly. The porridge itself was creamy, slightly puncy with bits of you tiao scattered liberally in it. The chicken was also very well done (not dry and the portion was generous) and the squids were fresh and chewy, with a slight saltiness to it.
Since we're sharing the porridge (and since I was really really craving carrot cake) we decided to order up a small plate of carrot cake as a side dish. For it's size, I would say that it's slightly on the pricier side (it was around $4) but damn, it was worth it! The ingredients were crunchy and the flavours were perfectly mixed. The rich charred taste from the wok was all up in this dish. Definitely worth ordering, though if you're hungry definitely order a little bit more.
Bonus: If you go around the corner, there's actually a chicken rice store called Kampong Chicken Restaurant, when we were eating our porridge, we actually spotted some people ordered chicken rice dishes. So that's another way to pimp up your brunch.
Fu Sen Eating House
228 East Coast Road, Singapore, 428985
3. Chin Mee Chin
Ah, the old faithful. Chin Mee Chin. Where I've obsessively been going every morning before work for two weeks straight. Honestly at the end of the two weeks the aunties legit knows my order, which is some kind of honour on it's own. It's pretty impossible to be talking about brunch in Katong and not mention Chin Mee Chin at all. The butter and kaya bun, the creamy, strong kopi, the forever tempting range of kueh. This place is a damn legend. If you haven't yet, read my love letter to this place here.
Chin Mee Chin
10 Jalan Serene, #01-05 Serene Centre, 258748
Operating Hours: 8.30 am to 4.00 pm (Closed on Mondays)