Right after checking out from our stay at Ascott Raffles Place Serviced Apartments (read about that experience here!), my husband and I searched for a place to grab some food before our Chinatown Walking Tour with Monster Day Tours (find out what we thought about the tour here!).
We chanced upon CARNE Burgers after walking past very crowded and noisy options like Plain Vanilla and Sarnies. After peering inside and realizing the potential of having sufficient personal space, we decided to lunch here. A tall, friendly waiter came out to greet us and promptly showed us to our seats.
- Our order:
- Crispy chicken burger ($18++)
- Grilled halloumi cheese skewers with hot sauce ($12.90++)
- Vanilla milkshake ($7.40 nett)
- Spent: SGD$43.76
The first thing I noticed when I stepped inside was how much headroom there was (a stark contrast to the shophouse cafes we’d been squeezing past), which was liberating. In line with the industrial interior theme, there were grey concrete walls and display racks that mimic construction scaffolding. Even with the bare walls and sparse furnishing, we surprisingly couldn’t hear the buzzing chatter that typifies a weekend cafe experience. It was as calm and serene as it could get. Also, it seems that this restaurant prides itself on using organic, natural and anti-cruelty ingredients and biodegradable ware, good on them (:
On to the food! Unfortunately, there were more misses than hits with this ): The crispy chicken burger was probably the best item out of all that we ordered. Its batter was crispy and nicely seasoned, the chicken was moist and juicy, the bun was soft and buttered. However, at this price point, I thought the portion was rather small and it didn’t come with any sides.
Halloumi is always yummy and these halloumi cheese skewers were no exception, just that I wasn’t quite expecting only two very thin slices of them. They were terribly greasy as well, but I guess it’s because I’m comparing it to Corbett & Claude‘s halloumi fries (a hard-to-go-wrong staple on most Australian menus when we were there).
My husband added a vanilla milkshake to our order since the cashier told him that there was a discount for select milkshakes that day. Regrettably, it was a tad too runny and sweet as it came with an overly generous dose of caramel.
My overall rating of the experience: 3 out of 5 stars. I liked the crisp, clean, open feel of the restaurant space, along with the relative peace and quiet we got as we ate. Service was also not too bad, the staff were generally quite pleasant. Alas, the food was unimpressive and didn’t really live up to its price tag. It could possibly be due to the costs that come with using organic and sustainable ingredients, which I can get behind, but even with these ingredients, the food and the milkshake tasted pretty mediocre. Hence, in terms of value, this rating took a beating. Nevertheless, kudos to their efforts in trying to go green, hopefully more restaurants start moving in this direction too (:
Dania Experiences 