If you often head to Bugis especially the Haji Lane area, then you definitely would have come across this busy corner cafe off Haji Lane. I had wanted to try this on previous occasions when I was in the vicinity but I always came at the wrong time and had to give it a miss as I was just too hungry to join the queue. This time round, the husband and I made sure we dropped by earlier before noon. Glad we did cos’ getting a table was no problem in the half-packed cafe.
Do not be fooled by its seemingly self-designed logo and signboard. The name itself is quite a character. The atmosphere is relaxed and the feel is casual and friendly. Though I Am establishes itself as a Halal European-Inspired Cafe, we really thought it was more like a bistro or casual eatery. By 12.30pm, there was already a long queue of customers.
Hotstuff Messy Jumbo $10.90
Charcoal-Grilled Chicken Satay Burger $12.90
The chicken didn’t come in a whole patty like most other burgers but was made up of several big chunks of chicken that were generously coated with a flavoursome satay sauce. Holding this up to eat was quite a messy affair as something would bound to drop every now and then but the sauce was such a knockout for me, I really didn’t mind dirtying my fingers. I liked that chicken leg or thigh meat was used so the meat was incredibly juicy and succulent. The burger bun had the same texture as the hot dog bun which again was a little dry but it was made better by the generous drench of sauce that gave it much moisture. Overall, I thought the satay sauce was finger-licking good just like eating the real thing which I had been craving for quite some time.
Rainbow Mille Crepe Cake $8.90
And to end our meal, we had this Rainbow Mille Crepe Cake that was made up of layers of crepes on top of one another in different shades of colours, dusted with icing sugar and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Meant to look like a rainbow cake except that the colours in this were much denser.
Though there were icing sugar and chocolate sauce, the cake didn’t taste that sweet at all because the crepes were quite mild in flavour and everything just balanced up. The texture was firm and dense just like eating a kueh lapis. The bottom 2 colours had white cream between the layers whereas the rest of the colours had chocolate cream. The cream was also thinly spread so it didn’t get too cloying at the end. This wasn’t exactly spectacular but it was a refreshing change from the usual rainbow sponge cake.
Our orders were immediately taken once we were seated and service was quite fast. If you’d like dessert to be served after your mains, do highlight to the service staff as we had ours served up almost immediately and by the time our mains came, our table was really crammed. Food was good. Prices were reasonable. Portions were generous. We will definitely be back.
I Am Cafe
674 North Bridge Road (off Haji Lane)
#01-01
Singapore 188804
Tel: 6295 5509
Website: http://www.iam.com.sg/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Iamathajilane
Opening hours:
11.30am to 11.00pm (Mon-Thu)
11.30am to 1.00am (Fri-Sat)
11.30am to 10.00pm (Sun)
Closed on every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month
Always notice a huge crowd whenever I walk passed the place. Am not a person to queue for my food. I didnt know it is a halal cafe. I should try to check it out next time.
I went just after they opened shop before noon and the queue built up very quickly so it’s best to be there early 🙂