NOM Bistro & Bakery
400 Paya Lebar Way
Level 1 Macpherson Community Club
https://www.facebook.com/noothermeaning
Hearty, Affordable Food At This Hidden Find
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $27 per person.
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'Nomsters' rejoice! NOM Bistro & Bakery is a social enterprise project from the people behind Yesterdae Cafe, offering simple yet hearty home cooked Western / American classic dishes, in a relaxing, family friendly environment. Their name 'NOM' is an acronym for 'No Other Meaning', but can also mean 'Om Nom Nom Nom', the internet slang for referring to the sound of someone enjoying what they're eating.
Love the chill ambience at NOM Bistro & Bakery. The interior is brightly lit by natural lighting from the floor to ceiling glass panelled wall, with bright lime green colours lending a splash of vibrance. Retro style metal grilles cut through the spacious area, while furniture is modern minimalist style. There is a small children's play area for families, but it can get noisy when there actually are kids running around here.
Staff are NOM Bistro & Bakery are addressed as 'Nomsters', a play on 'Monsters'. I find them friendly and welcoming, proactive in opening doors and seating guests. While they take and fulfill orders relatively quickly, peak periods can see them slightly ovewhelmed, and service tends to slow down as such. But they're rather efficient are clearing dirty tables, as well as knowledgable on the menu.
NOM Bistro & Bakery offers American style food, most of them classic American dishes. I find taste to be rather good for their mains. However, they are more well known for their desserts and appetizers, in particular, their famous Rainbow Cakes and Truffle Parmesan Fries. Portions are generally big for 1 person, and prices are standard cafe pricing, budget about SGD $22 or more per person for a meal.
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The brightly lit, spacious interior with its colourful retro grille partitions and children's area lend an air of playfulness... along with staff dressed in uniforms that label them 'nomsters'.
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| NOM Bistro & Bakery Exterior |
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| NOM Bistro & Bakery Interior |
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| Dragon Head Slide |
The trendy Japanese Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen (SGD $9.90) is so cute and precious in the tiny glass! This golden coloured brew with a crisp, refreshing, smooth full bodied flavour is topped with a unique -5 degrees celsius frozen foam that is smooth, and keeps the beer cool for up to 30 minutes, without the use of ice!
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| Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen Slushie Maker |
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| Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen 01 |
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| Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen 02 |
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| Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen 03 |
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| Beer Kirin Ichiban Frozen 04 |
The light, fragrant Yuzu Pear Blossom Tea (SGD $6.90) has refreshing notes of summer fruits and flowers, from the combination of Shizuoka green tea with yuzu, white orchid, and nashi sand pear. It's known for being high in vitamin C, and pairs well with dishes that are light on sauce.
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| Yuzu Pear Blossom Tea |
The African Red Chocolate (SGD $3.90) differs from the typical hot chocolate you usually get at cafes. While thin in texture, it has an intense taste of chocolate, at once both deep and slightly floral, with hints of fruity notes such as plum or cherry. Overall, this West African hot chocolate is above average, I quite like it!
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| African Red Chocolate 01 |
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| African Red Chocolate 02 |
A rather decent Mocha (SGD $3.90), nice balanced flavour of chocolate and coffee, and not too heaty.
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| Mocha |
While I appreciate the amount of ingredients in the Clam Chowder (SGD $3.90), including a generous portion of de-shelled clams, chunks of carrots, and potatoes, I felt the creamy soup was quite a let down, tasting like it was the canned variety. Not that great.
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| Clam Chowder |
Love the Truffle Parmesan Fries (SGD $5.90), which were served piping hot! Thick cut slices, with good potato taste, sprinkled with finely grated parmesan cheese, and drizzled with just a hint of truffle essence, not too overwhelming. Excellent!
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| Truffle Parmesan Fries 01 |
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| Truffle Parmesan Fries 02 |
Quite liked the fresh, natural tasting Breaded Mushrooms (SGD $7.90), wrapped in a light, crisp batter that isn't too oily. But the accompanying vinaigrette was weird as a dipping sauce.
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| Breaded Mushrooms |
Each ingredient of the Breakfast Rosti (SGD $14.90) was cooked perfectly, with a smooth, crisp bed of rosti potatoes, a perfect happy sunny side up egg, smoky rashers of bacon, a fresh garden salad, and a meaty, chessy, chicken cheese snail sausage. However, the overall dish was very oily, with pools of oil on the plate.
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| Breakfast Rosti 01 |
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| Breakfast Rosti 02 |
A decent Eggs Atlantic (SGD $12.90), which features perfectly poached eggs that are still runny. The combination of classic English muffin is good, as the spongy texture is perfect for soaking up the egg yolk. But the quality of the processed smoked salmon lets down the overall dish.
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| Eggs Atlantic 01 |
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| Eggs Atlantic 02 |
An above average HOG Ribs & Fries (SGD $17.90), with a generous portion of meaty pork ribs that are still moist and juicy in the middle, with very little fat. The barbecue sauce is heavenly, both tangy and sweet at once, and sticks well to the meat. However, the pork ribs tend to dry out at the ends, also, I found it slightly tough to cut away from the bone, definitely not fork tender.
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| HOG Ribs & Fries 01 |
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| HOG Ribs & Fries 02 |
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| HOG Ribs & Fries 03 |
The house speciality are the various flavours of Rainbow Cake. Photographs so well, each Rainbow Cake slice is tall and thickly sliced, perfect for sharing, but light enough for 1 person to finish. The Oreo Rainbow Cake (SGD $7.90) has layers of oreo cream in between, unlike other oreo cakes elsewhere, the cream here is very smooth, and not chunky at all. Overall, this version is quite average, it can get rather cloying because of the thick cream.
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| Oreo Rainbow Cake 01 |
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| Oreo Rainbow Cake 02 |
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| Oreo Rainbow Cake 03 |
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| Oreo Rainbow Cake 04 |
I prefer their Salted Caramel Rainbow Cake (SGD $7.90), which I feel is the best flavour amongst the Rainbow Cakes offered here. The sweet vanilla flavour of the cake is cut through by the salty, sweet, sticky caramel sauce drizzled over the top, lending a nice balance. Go for this instead!
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| Salted Caramel Rainbow Cake 01 |
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| Salted Caramel Rainbow Cake 02 |
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| Salted Caramel Rainbow Cake 03 |
The decadent Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart (SGD $4.90) is so heavenly! Love the rich, thick, dense chocolate fudge, coated with a thin layer of salty and sweet caramel sauce, contained within a chocolate tart pastry shell. Easily among the best desserts here, highly recommended!
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| Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart 01 |
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| Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart 02 |
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| Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart 03 |
They do allow private functions to be held on their premises, although you have to book the entire area. On such occasions, you can cater in your own food, or choose to have them prepare items from their menu for you. Their sambal chili sauce is awesome, do try it!
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| Assorted Private Buffet 01 |
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| Assorted Private Buffet 02 |
For the undecided, they offer a Pizza Half & Half (SGD $16.90), which allows you to combine any 2 pizza flavours. Considering that all the other pizzas are priced at SGD $14.90 each, this is a pretty good deal. The pizzas are large enough for sharing between 2 people, and all are served with a thin crust.
The Pizza Portobello has slices of fresh portobello mushrooms, lending an earthy taste, alongside fresh arugula, making this rather healthy! The Pizza Smoked Duck has slices of tender and smoky duck, with fresh cherry tomatoes that burst in the mouth, and sweet cranberry sauce, just lovely!
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| Pizza Half & Half |
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| Pizza Portobello |
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| Pizza Smoked Duck |
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CONVERSATION