Situated along Jalan Pinang and taking over the space of the now-defunct Artistry Café is Earlybird Café, a gorgeous bird-themed café which whips up unpretentious dishes as well as a variety of beverages.

Although the area around Jalan Pinang already has plenty of cafés and coffee shops, this brand new addition to Singapore’s local café scene is one you have to add to your bucket list. Here’s what we loved about the place.

Earlybird Café is just a stone’s throw away from Bugis MRT station and it is difficult to miss the brightly-lit ‘earlybird’ signage.

The café is currently still in its soft-launch phase so their food menu is quite limited, although they have a wide range of beverages to offer including coffee by Allpress Espresso, cold-pressed juices, smoothies and milkshakes.

Forget about chicken and waffles, Chicken and Pancakes (S$19) is the way to go when you are at Earlybird Café. It was extremely well-executed and it is a must to order.

The tender and juicy fried chicken was well-coated with a light and crispy batter and we loved how the fried chicken was not overly greasy. What truly impressed us was the stack of house-made buttermilk pancakes that sat beneath the fried chicken; they came with a pleasant melt-on-your-tongue texture. The magic happens when you have the chicken and the pancakes together with the chilli maple sauce.

Featuring 3 huge pieces of fried chicken atop 2 fluffy pancakes, it can be pretty filling if you are a small eater. One thing is for sure—this is one ineffable serving of Chicken and Pancakes we would come back for.

One of the two options that Earlybird Café currently offers for pasta is the Tom Yum Prawn Pasta (S$20), which is essentially linguine tossed in Thai-style tom yum gravy topped with prawns.

We felt that the tomato sauce overpowered the tom yum flavour of the dish.

Earlybird Café also has a range of desserts to love. We opted for the Flower Pot Tiramisu (S$8.50) and it is definitely one dessert that will charm you not just with the looks of it. The smooth cream went well with the sponge fingers and the hint of alcohol gave it a luxurious touch.

Other options for desserts would be Earlybird Café’s rendition of hotcakes, including Hotcake Bling (S$18), Coco Espresso (S$18) and Going Bananas (S$17).

Earlybird Café
17 Jalan Pinang
Singapore 199149
Daily: 9am – 10pm
Tel: 9788 6858
Nearest Station: Bugis

Be My Guest Cafe at Tai Seng serves up a wide array of western-fusion cuisine, cakes and pastries as well as weekend brunch. Some of the dishes on the menu include their Green Curry Seafood Pasta, Lion Prawn Mala Mee Kia, and the Wolfberry & Osmanthus Cheesecake.

Dishing out innovative fusion dishes at affordable prices, Be My Guest Cafe truly is a cafe worth stopping by at if you happen to be in the area.

Their menu is straightforward and features a selection of fusion dishes with strong influences from East and West. If you add on S$4 during lunchtime, you get a meal which entitles you to a soft drink as well as either a cake or tart.

After hearing so much about their Lion Prawn Mala Mee Kia (S$13.80), we just had to try it for ourselves. The dish comprises angel hair pasta and six decently sized prawns tossed in a mixture of chilli padi, Szechuan pepper and prawn roe.

The prawns were sweet and immensely flavourful and the pasta was seasoned well. We liked the tiny chunks of mala peppers that provided a nice crunch and a hint of spice as well as the prawn roe that acted like little nuggets of salt.

One of the highlights of this humble establishment is their Green Curry Seafood Pasta (S$13.80). Beautifully tossed in a Thai green curry sauce, this pasta dish is so fragrant that it just fills up the entire room.

Linguine pasta is served with a generous portion of clams, mussels, squid and prawns, all nicely coated in the luscious, flavourful sauce made up of what seemed like coconut, kaffir lime leaf and chillis.

To balance out the spicy and the savoury flavours, we got a slice of their Wolfberry & Osmanthus Cheesecake (S$4.80) which is essentially a floral jelly inspired by the Chinese gwai fa jelly, atop a decadent cheesecake.

You have a luxurious cheesecake that is rich and creamy, and a refreshing floral jelly that seems to balance it out well enough without overlapping in terms of flavour.

Overall, we were utterly impressed by the food here and coupled with the absence of GST and service charges as well as the great service rendered to us, there is no doubt that we will return. Perhaps next time, to try their other dishes like their chilli crab pasta and crispy pork belly that we noticed other tables ordering.

Be My Guest Cafe
1 Irving Place
#01-20 The Commerze @ Irving
Singapore 369546
Tel: +65 9221 4405
Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 8.30pm
Sat: 11am – 8.30pm
Sun: 11am – 8pm
Nearest Station: Tai Seng

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Gone are the days where you can indulge in a mouthwatering western meal without burning a hole in the pocket. Fortunately, 49 Seats exists and has made it a point to keep its fusion gourmet very affordable and accessible amidst the rising costs in this competitive industry. Most of the dishes are priced below S$16.90 and there is no GST and service charge.

From their signature spicy Tom Yum Seafood Pasta (S$14.90) to Cheesy Chicken Chop (S$16.90), 49 Seats may not be any gourmet fine dining establishment but its menu will leave you salivating. Your grandparents will find them comfortingly nostalgic whilst your kids will have no qualms gobbling them up. It is surely a place for everyone, without breaking the bank!

Here’s sharing our favourite dishes at 49 Seats. It is hard to just decide on one, or two.

49 Seats is renowned for their industrial chic ambience, where old-school metallic plates and tin mugs are used. We love that fuss-free, retro-ish touch to the food.

As its name suggests, the founding store at Outram Park sits exactly 49 diners. Due to its increasing popularity, 49 Seats has proceeded to open two bigger outlets at Bugis Plus and Orchard Central to accommodate more patrons. The casual dining establishment takes pride in serving East-meets-West delicacies similar to those served during Singapore’s British colonial era.

Being one of the leading pioneers in Singapore to create fusion dishes with spicy tom yum broth, we have to applaud 49 Seats for their brilliant concept of integrating Asian flavours into classic Italian dishes.

Who would have known that these seemingly contrasting ingredients would actually complement each other so well? We were completely hooked to the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta (S$14.90).

Active foodies on the prowl might have already heard about this highly raved dish that features an exotic cream-based seafood pasta. It packs a punch of sweetness, sourness and spiciness with every bite and is indeed illustrative of Singapore’s diverse ethnicity.

Topped with generous amounts of mussels and prawns, the semi-spicy pasta is the bestseller at 49 Seats and you will not get this unique pasta rendition elsewhere.

The Creamy Smoked Duck Pasta (S$14.90) and Smoked Duck Aglio Olio (S$14.90) also got to us with its simplicity. The smoked duck breasts are so tender and juicy, and either way, we liked both pastas. The former takes on the classic carbonara, while the latter is a traditional aglio olio – the end results are delightful fusion dishes with a notable local twist.

Do note that the Smoked Duck Aglio Olio is not on the menu so one would have to make a special request for it.

Fish options to look out for are the Old Fashioned Fish & Chips (S$16.90) and Pan-fried Fish (S$16.90). The former is a battered seasonal fish, while the latter is a tender dory cooked simply with salt and pepper and lemon juice.

Both fishy mains are generously portioned and served with either an Al Scampi or Tom Yum sauce on the side for dipping. For the uninitiated, the Al Scampi is a seafood dish prepared with sautéed clams, mussels and prawns.

If your briny cravings are still not met, order the deep-fried Fish Bites (S$9.90) that comes in a basket of 10. Damn, these snacks got us hooked and we couldn’t stop munching on them while waiting for our mains! By the way, you would have guessed that the Tom Yum sauce is addictive, right?

49 Seats also offer a few poultry and red meat dishes, such as the chef’s recommendations of Cheesy Chicken Chop (S$16.90) and Sirloin Steak (S$19.90).

Complete your main and make it a set with an additional S$4.90, and you get a portion of soup of the day, and a soft drink of your choice. And the drink choices include their pretty house fizz beverages (S$2.50 for a la carte); we’d say go for these instead of the normal soft drinks!

Should you be a light eater, there is a variety of light bites for you to snack on. Our favourite appetisers is the glorious Cheese Fries (S$7.90).

Need another reason to love 49 Seats? They are open at ungodly hours if you need supper! Ain’t this good news?! There is an ongoing supper promotion for all main courses where 49 Seats’ customers get to enjoy 10% off after 10pm, 20% off after 11pm and 30% off after 12am. Like it cannot get cheaper, nocturnal creatures actually get to enjoy an unbelievable 50% off all pastas after 3am! Partygoers now know where to go after all that dancing.

If you haven’t realised, 49 Seats’ favourite number is evidently number 49. Alcoholic drinks are very affordable, where you can enjoy a bucket of 5 beer bottles for just S$49! Choose your poison from Corona, Heineken, Hoegaarden, Stella Artois and Tiger. And if you fancy some wines, a bottle of red or white wine is reasonably priced at S$60 and S$70 respectively.

This Christmas, customers also get to enjoy a scrumptious festive feast at 49 Seats at just S$49 nett for two. The value-for-money set meal is inclusive of two soups, two mains and a dessert for sharing.

We will definitely head back when those midnight hunger pangs strike, for both their lip-smacking dishes and awesome discounts!

For the latest updates, head over to www.49seats.com and like them on Facebook.

49 Seats Main Outlet
49 Kreta Ayer Road
Singapore 089007
Mon to Thu: 6pm – 2am
Fri to Sat: 6pm – 5.30am
Tel: +65 6225 4332
Nearest Station: Outram Park

Orchard Central #08-08
181 Orchard Road
Singapore 238896
Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 2.30pm 5.30pm – 10pm
Sat to Sun: 11am – 10pm
Tel: +65 6509 5895
Nearest Station: Somerset

Bugis Plus #07-04
201 Victoria Street
Singapore 188067
Mon to Fri: 11.30am – 2.30pm, 5.30pm – 10pm
Sat to Sun: 11am – 10pm
Tel: +65 6884 4633
Nearest Station: Bugis

This post is brought to you by 49 Seats.