Favourite Brekkie Joint

I have a new favourite place for Breakfast/Brunch in Singapore (I’m not talking about a Sunday champagne brunch, that’s a different topic altogether). Until recently my favourite weekend brekkie hangout was probably Graze at Rochester Park, but following a few recent visits to Privé at the Marina at Keppel Bay, my allegiances have firmly swung to the latter.

Privé is divided into three areas – a rather fancy indoor fine-dining restaurant, a rather fabulous outdoor bar, and a more casual bakery/café that also shares the bar’s outdoor decking. It is here in the bakery/café that they dish up a fine breakfast.

So what’s so good about it? Well, first there is the location – sitting out on the decking in the sunshine with the sea breeze on your face, and surrounded by expensive-looking yachts, you could be forgiven for thinking you had just landed in lottery-winner heaven. Chill-out tunes, bubbling water features and an abundance of leafy green plants complete the picture.

Then of course there is the food – hand on heart, I can tell you that they serve up the best Eggs Benedict and Pancakes I have yet had in Singapore. The Eggs Benedict are served on proper English muffins with good quality ham, the hollandaise sauce’s flavour, consistency and seasoning are all just right.

The pancakes are served in a generous portion, with slices of banana and strawberries nestling in the layers, and topped with maple syrup, honeycomb and cream.

The fresh orange juice is really freshly squeezed orange juice (unlike recently when we asked at P.S Café at Palais Renaissance if there ‘fresh’ orange juice was freshly squeezed, we received the reply “Freshly squeezed out of the bottle”) and is a generous serving, chilled over ice. They also have a range of coffees, teas and milkshakes, including a thick creamy coffee milkshake.

I’ll be honest, there is one small downside to this place and that is that the service can be somewhat erratic. They are normally pretty good, until you try to settle the bill. For some reason printing up the bill and dealing with payments seems to have been skipped from their customer service training regime…. My advice is to order the bill at least fifteen minutes before you are ready to leave… twenty-five if you plan on paying by credit card…

Privé, Marina at Keppel Bay - http://www.prive.com.sg/