Selfish Gene Cafe

I met up with the best friend the weekend after getting back from Bali and we decided to have a lazy Sunday brunch at Selfish Gene Cafe. It is located along Craig Road which is easily accessible from Tanjong Pagar Mrt Station. Take the left exit after going through the gantry, cross the road towards Orchid Hotel, continue walking past Orchid Hotel and Keisuke Ramen, cross the road to the row of shop houses on the other side and continue walking down the road. You will pass The Plain Cafe and eventually reach Selfish Gene Cafe.

I was mighty pleased that the cafe was relatively empty and did not have a queue outside the door. The cafe was cozy with small tables lining both walls and a counter at the back. It felt precisely like the kind of place I would want to laze around for an entire Sunday morning, catch up with a good friend and filling my stomach with yummy breakfast. I got to enjoy the last bit (eating my breakfast), much of the second (catching up with Stef), but none of the lazing around for an entire Sunday morning because I received an sms which beckoned me to settle certain stuff.

The menu was decent. It was not extensive but it was definitely sufficient. I pounced on the breakfast menu like a predator because I was not going to spend my Sunday morning eating sandwiches when I eat that often enough from Monday to Friday.

I was sitting inside and I was lazy so I delegated the wonderful responsibility of getting us food to Stef. She came back with a paper cup with a number on it and a receipt stuck inside the cup. That is how they identify the orders with the tables. We ordered the Breakfast plate and BoB to share (the two items with hearts beside them on the weekend menu). I am of the general proposition that if you are unaware of what is good and you are clueless as to what you are dying to eat, then just order the chef's recommendations. If the cafe is recommending them, you can hardly go wrong. That proposition has usually served me well. 

We have also grown somewhat smarter and realised that we could actually order two different items to share instead of having an internal debate about two chef's recommendations and run the risk of both ordering the same item (which happened at Symmetry). 

The B.o.b. I love the poached egg! A semi-solid egg white with ultra-runny egg yolk. It was heaven. I love really good poached eggs and this was definitely one of the better ones I've tried so far. They were really generous with the smoked salmon and we had many thick juicy slices of smoked salmon beneath the poached eggs. The greens were fresh and crunchy.

The Breakfast Plate. For some reason, I was really in love with the bread. It was so sweet and fluffy. I was impressed with the scrambled egg too as it was soft and delicious. The rest of the Breakfast plate was pretty predictable with the usual sausage, ham, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes.

It was a very relaxed Sunday brunch and I love the laid-back atmosphere at Selfish Gene Cafe. Most importantly, the cafe was not crowded so you could really sit back and enjoy each other's company without worrying about the queue outside or trying to get yourself heard above everyone else. I'm not sure how long this serenity would last since the crowd will be drawn here once it gets more popular and frankly, that would diminish the most attractive factor in this place.

40 Craig Road