Saturday, July 4, 2009

Nook

The hungry greedy hippo has been a real busy hippo for the past few days, hence the lack of posts - although there hasn't been a lack of eating and trying new places though : )

On Tuesday night, I was with a bunch of friends at a relatively new cafe at Hillview off Jalan Remaja. Called Nook, it's part of a small row of shophouses, and serves sandwiches, main courses, dessrts, sandwiches and drinks. The entire precinct is fairly laid-back, with random (free) parking lots available just in front of the shops.

The cafe is fairly small but cozy, with space for probably around 6 to 7 groups. They have outdoor seating as well. The menu seems to have something for everyone, from light bites (chicken wings, calamari, quiche and various baked pastries) to main courses (fish, chicken and beef stew) to drinks (alcoholoc and non-alcholic). They also have a coffee machine and comfy seats if you just want to chill out and read a book.


We started with tapas ($3.90 per serve). First up was croquetas, or croquettes. The outside was crispy, while the inside was creamy and wonderfully rich.

We also had Pimientos, or Marinated Bell Peppers with olive oil and ciabatta. I'm not usually a capscicum fan, but the green, yellow and red peppers (at this point I'm thinking traffic lights) had been beautifully roasted until the sugars had caramelized, making the peppers wonderfully sweet and juicy.

Moving on to the mains. We had 3 main dishes to share, and first up was the Paella. It's a fairly big serve for two ($24.90), and comes with prawns, mussels, squid, fish and bell peppers. Personally I'm not a big baked rice fan, but my eating companions liked it.

The Fish en Papillote ($13.50), or parchment-baked fish in white wine, which was served with herb potatoes and tomatos, was a beautiful sight. The leek on top of the dory brought out the flavour beautifully.
Being a beef fan, the beef stew ($14.90) was my personal favourite - no surprises that it's listed as Favourite Beef Stew on the menu. It was rich, flavourful and hearty, and wonderful when eaten with hot crusty bread.

We were too stuffed to order dessert. Apart from the usual coffees and teas, Nook also serves cocktails and a good variety of Spanish wines that you can either order by the bottle or by the glass.

We had a tempranillo from Ribera del Duero...nice, light, and so versatile it even went with the fish.

We also got to meet the person responsible for all the yummy food, pictured below. Maria is from Spain, and it's amazing how she manages to whip up all those dishes in a relatively small kitchen.

With most of the items in the menu priced below $10 (except the mains), Nook is pretty good value for money. I would also rate the mains as restaurant-style food, but served at cafe prices. Am already planning my next visit on a lazy weekend morning to try out the brunch items.

NOOK cafe wine bar
15 Chu Lin Road
off Jalan Remaja along Hillview Avenue
Tel: 6762 9901
Opening Hours: Tues to Fri: 11am-11pm; Sat & Sun: 10am-11pm

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