boomarang bistro & bar, robertson quay

decentish brunch in the expatriate enclave that is robertson quay. venturing forth on a sunday morning for brunch makes you feel like you’re in europe on a sweltering day, rather than singapore. I have to say that I do sort of enjoy this aspect though – it brings back vaunted memories of being in london on a summer’s day, and expatriates do know how to have a good time on our tiny island (probably more than most of us do). they lug about their strollers, with toddlers in tow scootering about and creating a ruckus – all of which, for me, create a relaxing sort of atmosphere.

boomarang is a huge restaurant, and its size even more impressive in light of the fact that it is a brunch joint, which locally generally means a tiny squashed place with few tables, and though its size meant that service was intermittent, and the food was by no means groundbreaking, it is decent enough to warrant it remaining on my places-to-brunch-list.

it’s a relatively large menu, but brunch options revolve around egg options and swappable meat products, so it’s diversity in a sort of narrow field. you see from the menu that prices revolve around the tens, but I put that picture there so that you see a glass of fruit juice costs ten dollars! that’s.. preposterous. I could buy an entire basket of fruit for that money. it probably does serve their targeted audience though.

I had the pancakes – no surprise there – and my partner had the eggs benedict. the benedict was a very basic rendition, topped with lots of black pepper (optional) and capers – and serviceable. nothing mindblowing here. my pancakes were a different story – thick buttermilk pancakes to a height of nearly two centimentres, and suspiciously tall and uniformly cooked, I warrant these have been cooked in a sort of large pancake-shaped waffle-type machine. they also had a curved circumference, which is impossible to cook on a pan. sort of like cheater’s pancakes, really, since all you need then are leavening agents. they were obviously risen and had a slight tang from the buttermilk, and cut more like dense english muffins than true pancakes.

it came with syrup and yogurt, and the yogurt helped cut through the stodginess. this was serviceable, but it won’t satisfy your pancake cravings so much as make you too full to think about more food.

to cap this off: serviceable food, with rather negligent service in a huge airy place. I think it’s probably good for large crowds since it’s an accessible area to meet, but for more food-conscious eaters, I’d still recommend graze or barracks.