Beyond Pancakes Tasting Session
6 Raffles Boulevard
#03-131A Marina Square
Opening Hours:
Daily: 11am - 10pm
http://beyondpancakes.com/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session.
Attended with representatives from HungryGoWhere, Purple Taste, and Epicurious Caniggia.
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| Cocoa Pannenkoek Rolls (SGD $8.90) |
Fresh & Tasty Pancakes
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Budget about SGD $23 per person.
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Established in December 2016, Beyond Pancakes is a Halal-certified casual eatery, offering Modern European dishes. As their name suggests, the speciality at Beyond Pancakes is naturally, their home made pancakes, including flapjacks (an American pancake), galettes (a French buckwheat pancake), and pannenkoek (a large Dutch pancake), with both savoury and sweet versions. What surprised me; the quality of food was better than expected, thanks to the chef having experience from working in several high-end restaurants in Marina Bay Sands.
Ambience at Beyond Pancakes is rather weak. Overall, the place is casual and comfortable, but it's dimly lit, and appears unattractive. Minimal decor, with the sturdy furniture in shades of black and vibrant blue. At least it's open concept, which lends itself to people watching, and the signage is large and clear. They occupy a good, central position on the 3rd floor of the Marina Square mall, so the place is accessible. The kitchen is partially visible, with several glass panels allowing guests seated nearby to see the chefs at work.
Service at Beyond Pancakes is passable to a decent standard. The senior staff are friendly and engaging, welcoming guests and getting them seated quickly. They have good product knowledge, able to describe dishes in detail, including how it's made. They also offer advice on how to eat the various pancakes. While the junior staff are efficient at clearing away empty / dirty tables when guests leave, they're not as engaging or proactive. Also, there is a slight waiting time of about 15 minutes, as food is prepared to order.
Food at Beyond Pancakes is Modern European, with a focus on different styles of pancakes. All their pancakes are freshly made in-house, which also enables some creative flavours and ingredient combinations. Quality of food and taste is slightly above average. Dishes resemble all-day dining options, most closely associated with breakfast / brunch. Portions are medium to large, designed for sharing. Prices are affordable, comparable to most cafes, and good value for money. Budget about SGD $23 per person for a meal here.
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| Beyond Pancakes Exterior |
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| Beyond Pancakes Interior |
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| Halal Certified |
The unique thing about the Nachos Set (SGD $10.90) is the tortilla chips - made in-house from crepe! These are light and crisp in texture, crunching softly when bit. Covered in toppings of tomato, onions, black olives, and avocado, finished with gooey mozzarella cheese and a sunny side up egg. Love the bright, juicy, crunch the toppings lend, as well as the vegetal sweet flavours, however, this has to be eaten quickly, before it cools and goes soggy. A race against time sort of appetizer.
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| Nachos Set (SGD $10.90) |
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| Nachos Set |
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| Nachos Set |
The Saumon Fumé Galette (SGD $14.90) is a type of French savoury pancake, and is delicious. The pancake is thin with a fluffy sticky texture, made in-house from organic buckwheat flour. This gives it a light wheaty sour sweet flavour. Topped with smoked salmon, zucchini strips, avocado, crème fraîche, pesto sauce, sunny side up egg, and mozzarella cheese. The galette should be rolled, before being sliced and eaten. Flavour is a combination of savoury salty sour sweet herbal vegetal in taste, yet it's appealing and delicious. Good!
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| Saumon Fumé Galette (SGD $14.90) |
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| Saumon Fumé Galette |
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| Saumon Fumé Galette |
The Le Poulet Pancakes (SGD $12.90) feature made in-house American flapjacks, studded with button mushrooms and spring onions, and served with a slab of butter. The flapjacks are delicious, with a soft fluffy texture, and a light sweet savoury flavour from the ingredients within. The dish is accompanied by grilled chicken strips, onions, bell peppers / capsicum, cherry tomatoes, with mesclun salad and home made honey mustard sauce on the side. Good combination of flavours, savoury sweet salty vegetal. Love it, easily our favourite dish of the session. Highly recommended!
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| Le Poulet Pancakes (SGD $12.90) |
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| Le Poulet Pancakes |
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| Le Poulet Pancakes |
The De Kip Pannenkoek (SGD $13.90) has a Dutch style pannenkoek, which is a thin but large (up to a foot in diameter) pancake. It has a thin but soft texture, and the batter incorporates spring onions, giving it a light vegetal herbal flavour. Garnished with chicken strips, zucchini strips, turkey bacon, onions, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers / capsicum, jalapeno, and mozzarella cheese, with a zesty tangy tomato salsa on the side. Personally, I felt the vegetal flavours were a little too strong in the pannenkoek, I didn't quite like it. Heard it's a best-seller here, so it likely appeals to most Singaporeans.
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| De Kip Pannenkoek (SGD $13.90) |
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| De Kip Pannenkoek |
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| De Kip Pannenkoek |
The Dessert Pancakes (SGD $12.90) were served in a stack of 4 pancakes, as a sampler of the variety available. All freshly made in-house, and served with butter and maple syrup.
The Original Pancake has a soft, fluffy texture, with a light sweet wheaty flavour. I like it.
With the Chocolate Chip Pancake, chocolate chips are incorporated into the batter, creating a sort of molten lava chocolate pancake. Each bite releases some of the semi-melted chocolate. Good!
However, I didn't like the Blueberry Pancake, which is uninspired, having blueberries stuck to the sides of the pancake. Furthermore, they were sour in taste.
Finally, I felt the Strawberry Cream Cheese Pancake was delicious, the strawberry jam, strawberries, and rich cream cheese, complemented the pancake, lending a fruity sweet cheesy flavour. Good!
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| Dessert Pancakes (SGD $12.90) |
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| Original Pancake |
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| Chocolate Chip Pancake |
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| Blueberry Pancake |
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| Strawberry Cream Cheese Pancake |
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| Dessert Pancakes |
The signature dessert here is the Cocoa Pannenkoek Rolls (SGD $8.90). Here, the Dutch style pannenkoek is infused with cocoa powder, then rolled with chocolate cookie crumble, dusted with icing sugar, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Served with peach slices and creamy vanilla ice cream. Love the alternating textures of soft and crunchy in the dessert pannenkoek, with its rich sweet chocolate flavour. Good!
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| Cocoa Pannenkoek Rolls (SGD $8.90) |
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| Cocoa Pannenkoek Rolls |
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| Cocoa Pannenkoek Rolls |
Overall, I was surprised by the quality and variety of pancakes at Beyond Pancakes. And as a halal-certified, all-day breakfast casual eatery, they've created a good niche for themselves amongst the competition. Beyond Pancakes could improve in both ambience and service, but as long as they can maintain a consistent standard for the food, and keep prices affordable, they should be able to do well.
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CONVERSATION