A quietly decadent brunch at Brasserie Wolf
I know I’m not putting up posts for my Kyoto Snaps series fast enough and hope that isn’t disappointing or frustrating anyone too much. Too many things to do too little time running around like a busy White Rabbit with a stopwatch running to and fro back and forth on unending run-on sentences. YIKES. In the meantime, here’s a post I’ve wanted to share for some time too even before I flew off to Kyoto. Talk about taking backward steps.
I was invited to brunch at Brasserie Wolf which had newly opened a weekend brunch menu since a change in their head chef. I’d never been but from the pictures of its interiors, I was going ‘yes yes yes!’ in my head. Almost baroque, decadent with plush interiors and soft lighting, dark woods brought to life with white tablecloths, glistening table setting and pneumatic powdery peach-coloured leather seats – this looked and smelt every bit of Frenchness. A splattering of casualness amidst a canvas of elegance, even the waiting staff were long-limbed and modelesque, serving food with measured steps and gestures and definitely not without an extension of some friendly banter. You were just completely swallowed into their seemingly pretentious interiors but welcomed with warm smiles and attentiveness. I really loved the leather seats, especially these that extended far larger than your body. It makes me feel like royalty. And you sorta do a little in Brasserie Wolf. Even the al fresco seats are quite lush with cushions with an almost Moroccan feel to it, facing the river and such.
On to the food, I was quite impressed. The servings were just right for ladies although if you were hungrier, you might’ve had to order more. These dishes also came after a coffee that was very flavourful. I was very pleased to have sweetened it with a brown sugar cube. You know I have a thing for sugar cubes. They are just so much more quaint!
What came first was the Croque Monsieur. I sometimes have the cheap renditions of this French deliciousness from local bakeries – yellow with heavy fat which can sometimes make me feel just a bit sick to the stomach. Or back in my college days, I never went a week without a grilled cheese sandwich made glorious in a dirty (doubt this was cleaned in years) banged up toastie-maker. So of course, the French know how to make the simplest of things the most royal and give it funky names like Croque Monsiuer oh that’s just precious! This was light, savoury, crispy and almost disappeared on your tongue, disintegrating into a melted mass of ham, emmental cheese and buttery fried bread. It went so quick, I could’ve easily swallowed another. Whole.
A croque monsieur with a fried or poached egg on the top, by the way, is quirkily known as a Croque Madame. I wonder if that had anything to do with the fertility of females. Nonetheless, Brasserie Wolf serves them too and here, they look quite pretty don’t they?
There is not a brunch that goes without Eggs Benedict or some variation, at least for me. I say eggs benedict, we eat benedict. Here, we have Eggs Royale for a change. And I do love the names of these dishes. It just makes me think of similar sounding phrases like Battle Royale and Blood Royale. I mean, that’s just cool. Right? Delicious this was, with a fantastic hollandaise garnished with shaved black truffle. Casual.
On the sweet end of things, we spooned up some Bircher Muesli into our mouths. It never seems quite worth it to order bircher muesli for brunch when you can make this stuff (sometimes tasting even better and fresher) than that you get from bistros and cafés. But something in me just needs to taste the bircher of others, kinda like a self-induced competition I’ve got going on. I quite liked Brasserie Wolf’s bircher muesli although it was a tad too sweet for my liking. Nonetheless, it was impressive and generous with their ingredients!
We also had the Brioche Toast which was lovely, thick and sweet. Although I didn’t get a photograph of the Charcuterie Platter, it is well worth a mention. I was quite addicted to it as there was lamb prosciutto, air-dried beef, chorizo (lovely!), bayonne ham and saucisson on there. Lots of flavour and so moreish and nicely alternated with salad leaves, olives and sundried tomatoes.
This was probably one of the more stylish brunches I’ve had. Although it was still a very casual weekend setting, there was just something about the food, the decor and the service that upped this a tiny bit. Kinda like a touch of gold and that will be yet another story to tell in a few posts to come.
Brasserie Wolf
80 Mohamed Sultan Road
The Pier at Robertson #01-13
Singapore 239013
Tel: 6835 7818
brasserie@esmirada.com
