the rain in spain falls mainly in the plain.

ok those who didn’t watch my fair lady, don’t bother with the above comment. that show is a sentimental favourite of my mom and our family has probably watched it enough times to well remember most of the phrases of most songs. =)

so the plain is an australian all-day brunch place at tanjong pagar that was recommended by stephanie’s friends and so we decided to head there for brunch after church/golf. mind you, i love the chinatown/tanjong pagar area because it just gives off this youthful, bohemian, artistic vibe. the plain is situated in a row of shophouses, right next to an antique store filled with curios (that seem mightily overpriced imo). the interior of the plain is stylishly modern, with ikea-looking furniture mixed with some retro furniture like a black and white fridge filled with san pellegrinos. nice, quiet ambience and though the kitchen is super open-concept, you don’t get the smells/sounds of the bustling of the kitchen disturbing your quiet reverie. i spot locals and foreigners sipping their coffees, reading newspapers and just enjoying the cool aircon amidst a lazy sunday morning.

one thing to note is that the plain has a large table for communal dining, which for the uninitiated, means that there are large tables where different groups of people just sit around, tuckshop style and enjoy their food together. it’s a concept i’ve seen overseas quite often, but not so much in singapore so far. methinks its a pretty good concept to save space, so there… (the flowers in the above shot was the centerpiece of the communal table) ok to the food.

darling’s eggs – poached eggs with tomato and ham served on a sourdough, $11.50 (for two)

i had the darling’s eggs which was pretty good. the poached eggs were well made, with the egg yolk oozing out to drench the tomato/ham/sourdough and making a delicious combination. it’s pleasant, and with the nice ambience, this is a pretty nice place to have brunch. that being said, i somewhat.. felt like there was something missing — the breakfast looked a little too easy to make – it was literally slapping on some ham, tomatoes and egg onto toasted bread. there wasn’t much nuance or creativity in flavors or ingredients. just a very simple breakfast that somewhat.. doesn’t justify the cost of $11.50. (i am starting to think this is a common trend with brunch places..)

we also ordered a humpty dumpty to share, which was two soft boiled eggs (for dippers) along with vegemite-coated toasted bread pieces. now, i never really knew what vegemite was, though i suspected it to be somewhat similar to marmite. after a rough debate with cheryl on whether vegemite was healthy, we googled it and found out that vegemite is made from yeast extract and is the Australian version of the British marmite (ah-ha). well, whatever vegemite actually is, methinks its a little bit of an acquired taste, this slightly salty and off-sour paste that is spread on bread. that being said, the vegemite-coated breaded pieces actually went pretty well with egg yolk, and was an interesting flavor. don’t really know whether i’ll be convinced to order more though.

a note of the drinks – the hot chocolate i had was also pretty good – pleasant, and at $3.00, it’s ok for its price.

so overall, a feel good brunch place, with really nice ambience and passable, pleasant food but without much creativity. the price is about alright, perhaps slightly on the expensive side (i mean expensive when u consider that u are paying $11.50 for essentially bread, tomatoes, ham and eggs). dunno whether i would come back here honestly, but it was a good try. 6/10

The Plain | 50 craig road, #01-01, s089688 | brunch, contemporary, stylish