The Botanist at 74 Neil Road has said its silent “Goodbye”, and has rebranded into a new café called Cheeky.
Also gone are most of the plants which added more character to the space. In comes a casual dining space – café in the morning, craft beer joint by night.
Perhaps it was still in a soft-launch phase, the interior was still looking kind of bare, and I did go in expecting to see some “cheeky” elements or some splashes of colour somewhere.
Cheeky purports to serve up hearty meals made with good ingredients, and signature items include Cheeky Burger ($16), Salmon Pasta ($14), Sambal Crab Scramble ($10), Avo Smoothie Bowl ($8), Smashing Avo ($14), and Coffee Lemon ($6).
I was also looking for something “cheeky” in the menu, which I reckon is still considered safe and similar to what brunch cafes around in the CBD would serve.
The Cheeky Burger ($16) contained beef patties with pickled cabbage slaw, added with their house special sauce, with a side of curly fries.
Having double patties was a nice-surprise, with the meat semi-juicy and above the average burger, but seemed to be on the blander side, perhaps the “special sauce” could have been more obvious.
The tangy slaw was to me the highlight of the burger.
My friend who wanted to have something more nutritious had “That Healthy Bowl” ($14) of Mediterranean Spiced Chicken with cauliflower rice, crumbled feta and burnt capsicum hummus.
Portion was good and considered generous, but I think they could afford to up those Mediterranean flavours.
The café also serves up house-made kombucha, filtered to allow its clean fresh notes to stand out, before being lightly-flavored with natural ingredients.
Perhaps because “The Botanist” was easier to brand, had prettier dishes and a more inviting space, people would inevitably compare the two.
My humble suggestion is that Cheeky can go in-line with its name and afford to be more “playful” in its menu and choice of ingredients.
Cheeky
74 Neil Road Singapore 088839 (Outram Park MRT)
Tel: +65 62200491
Opening Hours: 10:30am – 6:30pm (Tues – Fri), 9:30am – 6:30pm (Sat), 9:30am – 4:30pm (Sun)
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