lifestyle of the rich and faymous

so i had decided to take leave the past weekend to head down to hong kong to meet friends and eat a whole load of hong kong delicacies but quickly found that plan to be untenable due to my hectic work schedule in the upcoming weeks (read: i’m travelling overseas tonight.) as such, the HK trip plan was abandoned, but that left me and my friend with one free day on friday to while away. and we chose to do it the atas way, whiling away time at dempsey’s house, barracks and camp for lunch among the tai-tais and other glitterati, i kid you not.

the thing about establishments at dempsey is that their very surroundings conjures a certain relaxed colonial charm and sense of comfortable luxury. indeed, the whimsical contemporary decor (you had an oversized table placed over the actual dining table) amid the lush surroundings made for a really comfortable and enjoyable lunch location. ambience wise, the location, decor and clientele worked together to create a sense of a expensive, rustic retreat.

service-wise, im satisfied with this place. i’ve heard of pretty bad reviews from HGW regarding service, but perhaps that was due to the taxing demands of an oversubscribed brunch crowd. the service to us was sufficiently attentive and polite, and not at all intrusive/overly-enthusiastic to clear your plates type. let’s get to the food.

truffle fries, $11

the aroma of the truffle oil is indeed inviting, and the oil does wonders to enhance the flavor profile of the shoe-string fries. nice stuff. not too oily, with sufficient flavor from the truffle oil to even pass off as an appetizer without the need for any dips.

squid ink crust pizza, $25

interesting selection that turned out good because of the generous amounts of fresh seafood littered on top of the squid ink crust. to be honest, i didn’t really taste much of the squid ink within the crust because the crust was paper thin and crispy but it formed quite a nice carbs base for all the delicious fresh seafood. furthermore, such a pizza felt light and not at all jelak. good stuff.

macadamia crusted pumpkin salad, $16

oh this one’s good. the combination of flavors from the sweet pumpkin and macadamia along with the semi-salty/bitter (tbh, what exactly is the taste of veggies??) taste of the greens paired well to give a balanced and refreshing salad dish. the pumpkin was baked just right, not too flaky and dry but with a certain level of crispiness. this is a good, creative dish.

warm banana salted caramel cake, $7

again, a nice combination of flavors from seemingly simple ingredients. i mean, the cake base is a simple sponge cake with coffee accents then infused with salted caramel in the middle, topped with glazed bananas and sprinkled with popcorns. this worked, because the somewhat similar sweet flavors from the glazed bananas to the salted caramel meshed well with the coffee sponge cake base and there was a sense of an evolution of flavor. i think its a worthwhile idea to try and create at one’s own home!

i think overall, i really enjoyed barracks cafe also because i was in no hurry, and the glorious day just laid out in front of me. furthermore, with good conversation and such relaxed surroundings, one can hardly find fault with this place. might venture here for brunch one day. 8/10

house, barracks and camp |  8D Dempsey Road, #01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village  | contemporary, western, desserts