christmas weekend’s usually all about eating, catching up with friends and sharing a few laughs over coffee/tea. i did just that and caught up with an old pal of mine, Angeline. she was raving about this new joint WILD HONEY at the brand new Mandarin Gallery. okay, gonna trust this girl. having done her time as a senior writer with singapore’s premier entertainment/lifestyle magazine 8Days and currently holding court as a features writer at singapore’s leading women’s magazine Her World, she surely would know whats cool and good.
the minute i laid eyes on the exterior facade of Wild Honey, my heart melted. it was such a quaint beauty/gem of a find! and the joint serves ALL DAY BREAKFASTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD! from japanese to mexican, belgium to new york.. there were over 16 types of breakies to choose from! OMG. FOOD PORN WET DREAM COME TRUE!!! screw those up-to-5pm-only “all-day” breakfast joints, Wild Honey is the real deal.
the excited foodie thats me whipped out the camera excitedly (naturally) and frantically started snapping away…. until i got stopped in the rudest way by man unknown to me.
man: no photos! no photos! please! thank you! (far from polite)
me: why not?
man: because i am the owner and i dont know who you are, you might be trying to copy me! (something along those lines)
me: …………… (stunned and superbly embarrassed, people started to stare.)
i was about to up and go. my mood was dampened by this rude rude man. but my poor girlfriend, who’s waited so long to check out this joint, gave me this look that strongly indicated her reluctance to leave. FINE. i’ll stay. the food had better be good. (at this point i was already on a rant… bitching abt that horrid man, surely there had to be a kinder way to tell a person that photos are prohibited?)
i ordered a Canadian (pancakes with syrup and berry compote with perfectly crisped back bacon) and she ordered a wicked combo of SOMETHING (cant remember the name but it was made up of french toast with mangoes and a side order of sauteed mushrooms). the food was like a sweet caress to my soul and at that moment i felt the angst slipping away. i observed that man/owner of the joint… waiting on tables, serving food, clearing the plates… and i saw a man who’s dedicated and passionate… hmm, he cant be all that bad, maybe i rubbed him off the wrong way, maybe he’s had a bad day or maybe he got cheated time and again when people ripped his ideas and made them their own… i dunno la. but i was determined to make contact, im not the sort who would take a brush-off lying down and especially not when im ALSO the customer.
so i tried to make peace. i really wanted to take more photos of this lovely place. so i tried to speak to him again. this time, i introduced my name. (i’d be lying if i said i wasnt still afraid of him. i hate being told off.) he explained to me that while i thought it was rude of him to tell me off, HE thought it was even ruder that i walked into HIS restaurant and started taking pictures without asking for permission first… and blah blah blah.. what i see here is a classic case of culture shock. i guess we both had to agree to disagree. as a trigger happy singaporean, i tend to take things for granted that i can snap away at anything without regard for anyone’s private space/rules. but i see his point here. plus its such a cheery lil joint and the food was AWESOME, it was near impossible to harbour a grudge. so we shook hands and i guess we’re cool now. his name is Guy. turns out, he’s a pretty darn cool chap! 
WILD HONEY @ Mandarin Gallery #03-02
Angie at the entrance and order counter
Angie and her kickass breakie selection
cant recall the name of this breakie but that's french toast (yummerz) with chunks of mango served with clotted cream and berry compote on the side.
french toast so good she gobbled it down.. in CHUNKS. also ordered an extra side of sauteed mushrooms. good call girlie. shrooms is goooood lah!
my considerably less photogenic breakie BUT one that gave me the kicks nonetheless: the very simple yet stunning (according to my tastebuds) CANADIAN. simple fail-proof FLUFFY pancakes with perfectly crisped back bacon served with berry compote and maple syrup on the side. (ask for cream if you order this cuz i feel it completes the spectrum of flavours)
gorgeous quaint interior.. very much like the coffee joints in NYC but slightly more retro.
i love this joint so much i returned the very next day with two new friends in tow. i dont think i can stop raving abt this all-day-breakfast-gem-of-a-find yet so bear with me… cuz before you head on down, here’s some useful tips:
- prices of breakies ranger from $18 – $24 (a tad pricey for breakfast but hey, its worth it)
- menu’s on the chalkboard at the countre. alternatively you may wanna consult the two slick iPods at the order counter for pictures of the food on the menu.
- order and pay at the counter.
- they DO NOT take reservations so you just gotta rock up and try your luck. i was there on a saturday at brunch, wait time was abt 10min. pretty decent and food’s totally worth the wait)
- bring along your laptop if you wish, there’s FREE WIRELESS INTERNET (thanks to free wireless service at the Mandarin Gallery, otherwise Guy will be more than glad to provide you with the password to his wireless network.)
- MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL: before you get trigger happy, ASK GUY (THE BOSS) FOR PERMISSION to take photos.
here’s what he looks like
Guy (the owner) and me
so the next time you need a break from shopping, rest your weary self at Wild Honey and order yourself a breakfast treat *anytime any day! (they open at 730am on SATURDAYS ONLY and at 930am on all other days) overall, out of my biased love for breakies and all things nice and quaint, i’d give Wild Honey a 5 out of 5 stars! DIE DIE MUST TRY!
RYAN LEE
