Prive CHIJMES

Prive Cafe stands out in the central lawn of the refreshed Chijmes. The distinctive round structure where the cafe is located has a clever design. It has a glass curtain which can be drawn away to transform the small air-conditioned dining hall into an alfresco space in a garden. Air-conditioning is a sensible option during the day in Singapore. We went to Prive Chijmes for lunch and were most glad to have a table in the cool interior.

The cafe located in the beautifully grounds of the recently refreshed Chijmes offers a great choice of casual American cuisine including all day breakfast, pastas, pizzas, fish, steaks and pies. The Prive Group’s signature items such as gourmet burgers, milkshakes, decadent desserts and fresh fruit martinis are all available in the Chijmes outlet.

We ordered the Seared Sesame-Crusted Tuna Salad ($18) and Forest Mushroom Soup ($13) for starters. The salad had a generous portion of wild rocket and beans. Nicely done chunky tuna and crispy brown rice sat on top of the greens. The lemon-anchovy-chimichurri dressing was interesting and made the salad a delightful starter. The soup came well presented with strips of ham on top of a piece of garlic bread sitting on the soup. The mushroom soup with drizzle of truffle oil was rich and had a wonderful sweet earthy flavour.

We had the Miso Cod Burger ($26), from the Asia section of the menu, and Braised Beef Pie ($24) for our mains. The burger was excellent. The bun was well toasted and crispy. The cod fish was succulent and had a nice buttery taste. The salty-sweet miso was an excellent match for the tender plump fish. We also enjoyed very much the seaweed fries that came with the burger. They were light and crispy and just the right thickness for us.

The beef pie looked great with the puff pastry. Cut through the pastry and there were caramelized onions, leeks, carrots, parsnip with nicely braised chunks of beef. The pie was satisfying and what you would expect of well made beef pies.

We ordered the Ice Cream Sandwich ($14) and Blackforest Tart ($13) for desserts. The ice cream sandwich was two scoops of vanilla ice cream in between toasted caramelized brioche drizzled generously with rich chocolate sauce. It was a substantial portion and could be a meal by itself. It was so enjoyable and we were a bit sad as we were finishing it off – we wished we could have more though our tummies clearly had no more room of any more. It was a good thing that the Blackforest tart was really small. It looked pretty. The tart with maraschino cherries, chocolate ganache and vanilla Chantilly was simple, petite and delicious.

The staff was friendly and service was efficient and fuss-free. Free iced water was served and replenished frequently without prompting.

We had an enjoyable lunch at Prive Chijmes. The food was good and the setting was quaint and charming. We would definitely like to visit Prive Chijmes again – for brunch on weekends or for dinner or drinks in the evenings when the garden setting would look magnificent.

Rating
Food : 4
Service : 4
Value : 3
Atmosphere : 4
Overall Rating : 4 TOPs