Love at first sight shift.
October 15, 2015
May 28, 2015
review | the tuck shop café
This blog may have gotten a rather belated beginning, but that doesn't mean I'd be skipping out on my food adventures this past year! And boy, I've had so many of them.
Let's kick this off with my first-ever visit to the famed Tuck Shop Café.
In early April, my work colleagues (Viv & YL) and I all had a free afternoon to celebrate Viv's further descent into adulthood with a nice brunch. I thought it'd be lovely for all of us to be served instead of having to serve for a change, haha. Quite honestly, when we all arrived to the city, we still hadn't decided where to eat yet. It was a tough dispute between the Tuck Shop Café and its' competitor, the Old Crow, which is directly on its left, one shop-lot down. Ultimately, we decided on the latter - although we are definitely heading to the Old Crow on our next visit! Only took us half an hour to decide though, no biggie.
Upon arrival, we immediately noticed a crowd gathering outside the entrance, all clearly waiting to be seated (mostly Asians, hahaha). The sight definitely brought us unwanted, anxiety-inducing flashbacks to our own workplace, which was so unprecedentedly popular to the extent of having its own constant stream of people queueing outside to be seated (even during off-peak hours).
We waited for a good fifteen minutes, but we were seated promptly the moment a table was prepared for us. To pass the time, we did what all young people do in their free time - take approximately 23,000 selfies.
(While we were there, an acquaintance(?) of the hostess came along too, and she appeared to have difficulties standing/walking, seeing as she had a walking aid with her. It was lovely to see the hostess go out of her way, despite being busy, to rush back inside to find a chair for the lady to sit on.)
As we walked in, we were slightly bedazzled by the organised chaos.The layout of the tables was complicating, but they did work - not obstructing the flow of the waitstaff at all. We oddly appreciated the fact that every table within the establishment had wheels attached to their legs. We agreed that if we had those at work, it would certainly make things a lot easier, particularly in the high demand, high-pressure environment of our own restaurant.
The café was filled with lovely little intricacies and vivid colours, with the daily specials written on a chalkboard wall right at the back. The dark shade of the ceiling provided a sophisticated contrast to the rest of the furnishings of the café and its occupants. I always appreciate a hipster vibe, no matter what form it takes.
In early April, my work colleagues (Viv & YL) and I all had a free afternoon to celebrate Viv's further descent into adulthood with a nice brunch. I thought it'd be lovely for all of us to be served instead of having to serve for a change, haha. Quite honestly, when we all arrived to the city, we still hadn't decided where to eat yet. It was a tough dispute between the Tuck Shop Café and its' competitor, the Old Crow, which is directly on its left, one shop-lot down. Ultimately, we decided on the latter - although we are definitely heading to the Old Crow on our next visit! Only took us half an hour to decide though, no biggie.
Upon arrival, we immediately noticed a crowd gathering outside the entrance, all clearly waiting to be seated (mostly Asians, hahaha). The sight definitely brought us unwanted, anxiety-inducing flashbacks to our own workplace, which was so unprecedentedly popular to the extent of having its own constant stream of people queueing outside to be seated (even during off-peak hours).
We waited for a good fifteen minutes, but we were seated promptly the moment a table was prepared for us. To pass the time, we did what all young people do in their free time - take approximately 23,000 selfies.
(While we were there, an acquaintance(?) of the hostess came along too, and she appeared to have difficulties standing/walking, seeing as she had a walking aid with her. It was lovely to see the hostess go out of her way, despite being busy, to rush back inside to find a chair for the lady to sit on.)
As we walked in, we were slightly bedazzled by the organised chaos.The layout of the tables was complicating, but they did work - not obstructing the flow of the waitstaff at all. We oddly appreciated the fact that every table within the establishment had wheels attached to their legs. We agreed that if we had those at work, it would certainly make things a lot easier, particularly in the high demand, high-pressure environment of our own restaurant.
The café was filled with lovely little intricacies and vivid colours, with the daily specials written on a chalkboard wall right at the back. The dark shade of the ceiling provided a sophisticated contrast to the rest of the furnishings of the café and its occupants. I always appreciate a hipster vibe, no matter what form it takes.
It was so, so so difficult for all of us to decide on what to eat. I have always had a weakness for meatballs of any nature, so after great deliberation, I chose the Moroccan meatballs that came with flatbread, tomato, hummus and a za'atar fried egg. The birthday girl settled the chorizo with paprika'd potatoes, peppers, Spanish onions and mmmm crispy pork belly (my personal weakness). YL decided to get the chilli con carne with a perfectly poached egg, a side salad of greens, avo and cherry tomatoes, and a couple slices of bread. Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is, just from typing this up.
Gosh. Anyway.
Gosh. Anyway.
A close-up of my Moroccan meatballs.
The moment I dug into my meal, I was delightfully surprised by how well all the flavours came together, despite my initial misgivings. My favourite part of the dish was the burst of flavour I got from the meatballs, having been very well herbed-up and marinated. I'm happy I chose it - since I'm not a huge fan of bread, the flatbread was nice and light, and provided a nice base for all the flavours to come together. I did find the sheer volume of the hummus slightly off-putting, since it left a starchy, pasty aftertaste. Regardless, it was still delicious, and very filling on top of that.
My indulgence of a meal was complimented with a lovely rose-flavoured lemonade pop by Fentimans.
I'd stolen bites from both my friend's plates as well. I'd been eyeing Viv's chorizo & pork belly and after trying it, unffffffff, most certainly getting that the next time I'm here. YL's chilli con carne was pretty on point, but you can't really go wrong with chilli. She couldn't finish it though, so Viv and I obligingly vacuumed it up for her, heheh.
I'm quickly ending this review with a gratuitous snapchat selfie of the three of us in the café, post-meal. Hehe. We left the café very satisfied, with a food baby in each of our bellies. And on the verge of a food coma which wasn't a great idea in retrospect, because I had work at 5pm later that day, oops. No regrets though!
Birthday girl on the left! Happy birthday Vivian!
- - - - - - - - - -
The moment I dug into my meal, I was delightfully surprised by how well all the flavours came together, despite my initial misgivings. My favourite part of the dish was the burst of flavour I got from the meatballs, having been very well herbed-up and marinated. I'm happy I chose it - since I'm not a huge fan of bread, the flatbread was nice and light, and provided a nice base for all the flavours to come together. I did find the sheer volume of the hummus slightly off-putting, since it left a starchy, pasty aftertaste. Regardless, it was still delicious, and very filling on top of that.
My indulgence of a meal was complimented with a lovely rose-flavoured lemonade pop by Fentimans.
I'd stolen bites from both my friend's plates as well. I'd been eyeing Viv's chorizo & pork belly and after trying it, unffffffff, most certainly getting that the next time I'm here. YL's chilli con carne was pretty on point, but you can't really go wrong with chilli. She couldn't finish it though, so Viv and I obligingly vacuumed it up for her, heheh.
I'm quickly ending this review with a gratuitous snapchat selfie of the three of us in the café, post-meal. Hehe. We left the café very satisfied, with a food baby in each of our bellies. And on the verge of a food coma which wasn't a great idea in retrospect, because I had work at 5pm later that day, oops. No regrets though!
Birthday girl on the left! Happy birthday Vivian!
- - - - - - - - - -
Tuck Shop Cafe's Facebook | Urbanspoon
Opening hours: Tuesday-Sunday 7am-4pm
178 Newcastle St., Northbridge
178 Newcastle St., Northbridge
May 26, 2015
the first of many
Hello, welcome to my new blog. I use the term "new" very, very loosely, because jujuseed.blogspot has been my online domain for the past 6-7 years. It has seen many facelifts the past few years, while spending quite a long time not seeing a new post at all.
Shortly after the conception of this blog in late 2007, I surprised myself by posting regularly, no matter how mundane the subject matter. I talked about friendship dramallama and having a short-lived (borderline-stalkerish) interest on the boy who lived two floors above me. I wrote about my experiences dating and breaking up with my neighbor out of sympathy. I talked about the one boy I liked for three years but believed I never stood a chance with. I talked about my best friend having feelings for me, and me not knowing what to do with those feelings way back then.
(I talked about boys a lot. Typical of a fifteen year old. Not gonna lie.)
This is what my blog used to look like, circa 2009 :)
To this day, I still deeply regret deleting my old posts. Even if all they consisted of were whiny juvenile complaints about an outdated British school system and inpenetrable social hiearchies and prepubescent bodily concerns. Even if they were all morbidly embarrassing in retrospect. Those posts were still a major part of my life, and I carelessly threw it all away in a moment of impulse. All I have to remember the years 2007-2010 by are badly taken photos from a shaky compact Canon, and my ever-deteriorating memory, I guess.
This year, I've resolved to change. I want to take blogging seriously again.
It's a difficult decision, and who knows how long this flash of inspiration will last? In two weeks, I may very well leave this blog for dead again. But I want to make a genuine effort this time. I'm a forgetful person. There aren't many things that make a lasting impression on me. I need this blog, so I can keep remembering and reflecting. I need to have a tangible record of my twenties, and reflection of my teens, so I don't forget. As a result, I've decided to revive my blog again - to have an avenue to talk about the goings and happenings of my life, what's running through my mind, old memories, future hopes, future dreams...
A journal of sorts!
Whoever is reading this, you're welcome to join me for the ride. I have a fear of commitment to new plans, but I do hope I commit to this one.
January 16, 2011
january.
I'm cutting my hair soon - at least ten inches off. Short hair will do me good - it's easier to wash, easier to maintain. Not to mention the amount of hair I've been dropping lately. This morning, before church, I managed to comb out (with great difficulty) a hairball the size of my first that was tangled with the hair still attached to my roots. I kid you not.
Another reason why I'm getting a haircut is because I've stopped pursuing love, for now anyway. I'm not actively seeking for any prospective boyfriends - it's not as if any boys here will look at me, really. Somewhat a melancholy thought, considering that I'm smack in the middle of high school - isn't high school meant to be some of the best years of your life? Not for me, apparently.
When school begins, I'm thinking of slipping the most ridiculously cheesy warm-and-fuzzyesque letter into C's locker. I don't have any romantic feelings for him or anything, but I do admire him as a person - he's an overachiever, smart, athletic, just really refreshing all around. He's someone I'd aspire to me. He's a convenient target too, because his locker number is no. 365 and mine's no. 368. If all goes well, I'll be able to catch him in the act of reading it, look at the reaction on his face and snigger to myself privately. Haha, I'm such a creep. It's a harmless prank, I swear. I hope it lifts his spirits.
Anyway, I digress.
I haven't mentioned the happenings of the previous couple of months. It's depressing to write about, but I'll try my best to get everything out.
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