Called Swag & Sizzle, the unit is located at an obscure coffeeshop along Cantonment Road, a short walk from Tanjong Pagar Plaza and the nearby MRT station.
It takes over popular nasi lemak stall Mr & Mrs Nasi Lemak, which closed last December after its lease expired and its husband-and-wife owners had declined to take up “new rental terms”.
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“While looking for a suitable location to open our stall, we came across this [coffeeshop] at Cantonment which has a cafe-bar vibe and we felt that it was suitable for our concept,” said Swag & Sizzle’s co-owner Vera Chionh.
And so the plucky duo took a “50 per cent pay cut” to become hawkers, though they had to cut back on lifestyle frills to make up for their current income. “I can’t live like before, eating out all the time,” Vera laughed.
The menu
Their menu offers steak and fries, albeit done in a different style from L’Entrecôte (and we will get to that later). While Swag & Sizzle is a Western food stall at first glance, it serves way fancier all-day breakfast dishes that you’d find at higher-priced cafes and restaurants. Visman averred: “We didn’t want to be a regular hawker stall.”
Other than steak, he and Vera also whip up options like Croque Monsieur ($6.90) as well as Big Breakfast ($7.90) with chicken sausage, sautéed mushrooms, polka bread (a rustic French-style crusty loaf), and your choice of omelette, scrambled or fried eggs.
There is also a more atas pick, Hanger Steak & Eggs ($11.90), which comes with 100g of hanger steak with chimichurri sauce, a sunny side-up egg, polka bread and a salad. Oh, plus a Smash Burger ($14.90) and basic pasta options like Bolognese ($8.90) and Aglio Olio ($7.90).
The mains
From 10am, diners can order main dishes like a 160g piece Pan-Seared Barramundi ($14.90), which comes with your choice of garlic couscous or spiced fries, and a heartier Hanger Steak ($21.90), which gets you 180g of Australian beef served with salad and either fries or couscous.
“We get a more uncommon cut, hanger, for our steak,” Visman shared. Also known as onglet, the French term used in French steak bistros, this dark red cut of beef ‘hangs’ from the diaphragm of the cow, which explains its hanger moniker. It is known for its lean texture with rich flavour, and is usually served with a sauce.
If you, like us, are curious about the price comparison with L’Entrecôte, we have done some legwork for you. Its signature dish, Trimmed Entrecôte Steak, costs $48.80++ a plate. It features around 190g of entrecôte steak, a cut from between the cow’s ribs, and is drizzled with the restaurant’s creamy, herbaceous “secret sauce”. It’s accompanied by a walnut and greens salad, as well as all-you-can-eat fries.
It has a similar serving portion as Swag & Sizzle’s $21.90 plate, but the latter offers less fries and a less fancy, non-air-conditioned dining ambience.
“L’Entrecôte has a lot of appetizers and desserts. My menu here is almost all mains, and no free-flow fries. My focus is all-day breakfast,” said Visman. Vera added: “It’s not common to have Western-style breakfast in a hawker setting. You need to go to a cafe or restaurant for that. This coffeeshop also has wine and beer that goes well with our food.”
Hanger Steak, $21.90 (8 Days Pick!)
At $21.90 nett, we find this fancy plate very value-for-money. The lean, chewy, medium rare hanger steak is incredibly juicy, its richness cut with a drizzle of tangy chimichurri sauce. This is accompanied by a fresh salad and a carb, serviceable crispy spiced fries which is not free-flow. It’s no big loss, though, if you’re hankering for more. We find it worthier to order more dishes from Visman and Vera’s well-priced all-day breakfast menu and fill up on that.
Smash Burger, $14.90
If you like burgers, this pick is also a good deal. Our smashed beef burger is stacked with two patties, a cheddar slice, coral lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber pickles, perked up with spicy tartare and house-made bacon jam. This comes with fries and salad too.
We would have preferred a more crusty sear for the patties, which would invoke the Maillard reaction and make ’em more caramelised and tasty. And less sweet bacon jam, which was distractingly cloying. That said, this is still a refined, superior stack, with easily-fixed shortcomings that the talented young chefs would have no problem handling.
Pan-Seared Barramundi, $14.90 (8 Days Pick!)
For folks who don’t eat beef, there are also chicken and fish options, like this competently cooked pan-seared barramundi. The 160g of fresh fish we get is springy and fork-tender, served with a lemon wedge, garlicky couscous and greens. The chefs’ house-made Spanish-style romesco sauce is the soul of this dish; the spicy roasted tomato-based concoction is a lively perk-me-up for the clean-tasting fish.
Croque Monsieur, $6.90
Chicken ham, emmental cheese and cheesy mornay sauce (a béchamel-style sauce) is tucked between polka bread and grilled to a crispy finish with more cheese. Very satisfying, and reasonably priced, considering you also get a healthy side of salad with this.
Chocolate Lava Cake, $6.90 (8 Days Pick!)
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