Cuisine: Western / cafe style
Address: 6 Upper East Coast Rd, Singapore 455200
Nearest MRT: Bedok MRT (East-West line)

This is a chill, industrial-style coffeehouse serving up brunch, pasta & meat plates, plus beer & wine. Recently, we have been checking out more cafes around the east side because of its proximity to our house. Siglap/ East Coast area is definitely one of the more buzzing areas in the east side, although not so convenient by public transport, but it is served by many regular bus services. It is a bonus if you drive because it would make it more convenient to visit the cafes along Katong or Siglap.

As the story goes, a group of friends were raving about the simple satisfaction that great coffee brings and Five Oars Coffee Roasters was born. They sought to discover flavours and aromas of life hidden in bean varietals all over the world, and make them known to the world back home. Delicious food and coffee, coupled with unforgettable service to allow people to enjoy a relaxing experience at this cafe.

I went to Five Oars twice this year, so it is evident that the food and ambience at this place is awesome and worth coming back for repeat visits.

Flat white iced ($6) comes in an 8 oz glass and iced mocha ($7). Prices are pretty standard for drinks at cafe, but quality is there because I could taste the strong flavours of the coffee.

One of my favourite dishes, this is the Mushroom Scramble ($17). It comes with housemade sourdough, scrambled eggs, cauliflower, feta and crispy kale. I like the kale so much, it seems to be airfried such that it becomes crispy. The scrambled eggs had enough flavour and the sourdough bread feels wholesome. Some people may not like cauliflower but I like it and it was chargrilled without being too burnt.

Avocado toast ($18) has two lovely poached eggs that ooze out with its yolk goodness when cut. It is also served on sourdough toast, comes with cherry tomatoes, ricotta, almonds and dukkah (Middle eastern sauce of herbs and nuts). Avocado is expensive in Singapore, so it is a premium ingredient but we wished there was more. Perhaps instead of plating it on the sourdough bread, the avocado could have been placed by the side so that the bread is still crispy.

Pork benedict ($20) is similar to the Avo toast, just that the avocado is replaced with shredded iberian pork instead. For the sauce, there is apple slaw, caramelised onions and hollandaise. It was also a yummy dish with the pulled pork flavours permeating through the bread and the creamy sauce.

Curious to try their main course, I ordered the Granchio Rigatoni ($24) which comes with homemade rigatoni, crab meat and tomato cream. I am a fan of crab meat and I must say the freshly shredded pieces of crab meat on the top was delicious. They did not mix it with the pasta, perhaps to show the portion of crab meat given. I didn’t find the pasta very outstanding, or perhaps I am not a fan of thick pasta such as rigatoni. Would linguine and crab meat make this dish more palatable for me? I wonder. Rigatoni are a form of tube-shaped pasta of varying lengths and diameters originating in Italy. They are larger than penne and ziti, and sometimes slightly curved.

Last but not least, it is dessert time. In continuation with the sourdough concept, Five Oars also has sourdough waffles. We couldn’t taste much of the sourness in the bread or waffles though, unlike at Tiong Bahru Bakery which is stronger. This is the Five Oars Waffles ($18), which is their specialty. It has homemade sourdough waffles, espresso sauce, pecan, mascarpone, oats, coffee powder, ground almond, vanilla ice cream. They mixed up our order at first so the correct order came much later. Other than the sourdough waffles, I did not find anything special with this dessert. Despite the 1.5 hour dining limit, we stayed close to 2.5 hours cos we kept ordering food and they could not chase us away.

On the second occasion, I ordered the Salted caramel banana waffles ($18) to try. With housemade sourdough waffles, banana, cookie crumbs, salted caramel sauce, salted caramel ice cream and whipped cream. I loved the banana slices with the caramelised sugar coating. The ice cream and sauce had a tinge of sweet and salty, but it was not cloyingly sweet. The three of us finished this dessert within seconds, scooping up every single drop of sauce on the plate (except for the whipped cream).

With a nice ambience and delicious food that reminds us of the cafe culture in Melbourne, we would definitely be back here again to try out their other dishes. They do not take reservations, so dining in is on a first come first serve basis. Do go down early on weekends as it can get really crowded. There is also indoor and outdoor dining, of which the latter is suitable for pet owners who can bring along their dogs to dine at the cafe together with them.