They Delivered! @ Warm Up Cafe (Authentic Thai Cuisine), Singapore
Warm Up Cafe’s secluded location along Mackenzie Road opposite a parking lot (hint: ample parking) belies the fact that it is full house even during weekday lunch.
Long a favourite among hipsters as a late night supper spot, the decor reflects so. The decor is dark with neon decorative lights on the wall. Thai pop songs blast quite loudly over speakers. It feels like a gentrified Bangkok street food joint and for that, I give them credit.
Warm Up Cafe has an extensive menu, including Mookata and Boat Noodles. I picked mainly the dishes marked “Hot Favourite’ or ‘Recommended” on the menu.
Stir-fried Squid with Salted Egg $18.50
Thankfully, the silly salted egg craze has passed in Singapore. I mean, most people do it sooooo badly. They even use the salted egg white so that the resulting dish was a flatline, dead saltiness….like the sea.
This dish, however, was clever. They probably only used the yolk, so it was creamy and umami. BUT. They also cleverly added red chilli and a lot of garlic to give it a mild spicy kick and to give it another dimension. Moreover, the squid was fresh and they had deep-fried it to a crisp. The crispiness was quite long-lasting even with the ‘wet” salted egg sauce. It was a great tapas to pair with Hoegaarden beer to start the meal.
This dish was definitely ahead of the pack compared to the other silly salted egg dishes that used to exist.
Pandan Chicken $15.50
I highly recommend you to have this while it is still hot. When it is still hot, you can smell and taste the subtle and harmonious blend of coconut milk and spices. Delish!
Sea Bass with Sour Soup $28.50
The soup was just out of this world. It was limey, sweet, spicy, herby, fresh and light. The chef used a lot of garlic. I usually don’t eat the garlic, chilli and parsley as I usually see them more as garnishing. In this case, I ate them all. I wanted every bite of that delicious soup.
Btw, the fish felt very fresh and clean.
Seafood Pad Thai $10.40
The Pad Thai was great. It was sweet, sour, spicy, all perfectly balanced, you know, very Thai.
I like that the noodles were dry and a bit al dente. I had Pad Thai before which was a bit soggy. What a downer.
Thai Milk Tea $3.10
You can definitely taste the cooling, slightly bitter tea flavour of the tea dust. Also, it was thankfully not too sweet.
Red Ruby $4
A simple dessert that fulfilled the function of having a little sweet something to round off the meal.
So, my strategy of ordering the “recommended” dishes on the menu paid off. The Salted Egg Squid and Seabass with Sour Soup are among the best dishes I have tasted anywhere in the world.
Warm Up Cafe
110 Mackenzie Rd, Singapore 228708
Tel: 8723 2332
