Update Sep 2015
This cafe has relocated to:
80 Bencoolen Street
NAFA Campus 1 Wing A #01-15
Singapore 189655
Finally finally…there’s a new cafe in Ang Mo Kio! Probably the only one here as well. And the best part is, it’s just located within a 5-min walk from my home! Woohoo! The Hang Out Cafe (formerly known as Burpz Cafe & Bakery) is located on the same block as the coffee shop where the popular Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak is.
The husband and I were here on Sunday afternoon and the cafe wasn’t fully packed yet so we could easily get a table.
We happened to have come during the Tea Time Happy Hour (3pm – 5pm) and they were having this promotional deal (till 30 September 2014):
Option 1) One complimentary pot of Gryphon tea or long black with purchase of any dessert
OR
Option 2) Two complimentary slices of garlic toasts with purchase of any tea or coffee
We settled for the first option as we wanted to try their dessert. Spotted a lovely chocolatey-looking tart in the chiller, lol.
The cafe wasn’t exactly spacious, probably had about 20 seats inside and 12 more outdoor. I did like its homely vibes and cosy ambience.
We picked a high table next to the window and this was the view when we looked out – a car park in a really quiet neighbourhood. Not sure if it was because we were sitting by the window so it was quite hot (like greenhouse effect) and stuffy but the husband liked that our table was in the corner so we didn’t move elsewhere. If you don’t like being in a sauna on a hot afternoon, try to pick one of the tables in front of the air-con!
Right below the air-con was this little corner where we could get sugar syrup, serving plates, serviettes, tissue paper. chilli sauce, tomato ketchup and iced water.
And here’s the entire menu for reference: (click to enlarge)
If you purchase any one of these 5 desserts, you can get a free pot of Gyphon tea or long black during their happy hour!
We only planned to come here for tea and dessert but couldn’t resist ordering 2 starters after seeing some patrons digging into what I thought was comfort food, lol. So our tea time became an early dinner affair!
Nacho Cheese Fries $12
Shoestring fries with skin on are so freaking addictive! I always love my potatoes with skin. Somehow these didn’t taste like they were straight from a packet. We suspected they were freshly cut potatoes. The outside wasn’t exactly crispy or crunchy, in fact the fries were a little soggy but I liked that they weren’t oily or greasy to the touch and tasted like home-made oven baked fries. It was the powdered seasoning (tasted like cajun) that really gave the fries that ooomph. The fries were all evenly coated in the seasoning and were full of flavour. As for the cheese sauce, it just tasted like the nacho cheese sauce we could get from the cinema. Nothing dynamite about it but the husband mixed in some chilli sauce and gave it a different dimension. Not too bad. At $12, we thought this was really expensive for just potatoes. Cheese fries from 49 Seats is only $7.90 and they come drenched in cheese till you can’t see the fries! So comparing with this, it’s a little disappointing indeed.
Bangers and Mash $8
Surprisingly, their Bangers and Mash was cheaper than the fries, lol. Even though this was in the starters menu, I thought it was good enough to be a main – just needed extra mash and probably another side of greens. The sausages were plump and juicy with crunchy skin that gave a snapping sound when we sank our teeth into them. The mash had a creamy consistency but could do with a little more seasoning. Good thing was the provision of the garlic brown sauce that could moisten and flavour the mash. There were traces of caramelized onions in the sauce and it wasn’t overly salty. Best way to eat this dish is to combine every element in each mouthful i.e. a piece of sausage with a scoop of mash and a drizzle of gravy so the textures and flavours could just marry. Yum.
Belgium Dark Chocolate Tart with Topping Salted Caramel $6.50
We actually ordered the Banana Chocolate Tart but was told afterwards that they had run out of bananas so we switched our order to this instead. We expected the tart to be served as it was but was pleasantly surprised by its presentation with extra chocolate sauce and berries.
The tart crust was crumbly though a bit on the dry side. The dark chocolate ganache filling was rich, intense but also very sweet. What didn’t work for us was the salted caramel mousse-like cream on top that didn’t taste anything like salted caramel. It actually had a coffee flavour instead. Overall, this was a decent tart but it wasn’t the most impressive we had.
With the dessert, we also enjoyed a complimentary pot of Gryphon’s Earl Grey Lavender tea which was an excellent choice that tasted light and a little fruity. It took away some of the sweetness from the dessert and left our palates totally renewed.
Given that this cafe had only opened for a few weeks, I felt it had a lot of potential especially when it had opened in an area where such cafes were non-existent and who knows, maybe more will come our way and make Ang Mo Kio the next hipster cafe-hopping enclave! Service wise, the staff were warm and friendly though the girl forgot to pass us the wifi password which wasn’t a big deal. We requested for a refill of hot water for our tea pot and they gladly did for us too. Overall, we had a great dining experience here and wouldn’t mind to come back to try the other items on the menu. Crispy wings looked delish! And there’s no GST or service charge too 🙂
Hang Out Cafe
Blk 603, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5
#01-2661
Tel: 6456 3376
Facebook page
Opening hours:
11.00am to 10.30pm (Tue-Fri)
10.00am to 10.30pm (Sat-Sun)
Closed on Mon