I’ve always like dining in a museum café. The pristine white walls and high ceilings enhance the overall experience of dining in a spacious environment. And in Singapore, Food for Thought is a café that embodies such a design concept and it sits nicely at the National Museum of Singapore.

The strength of Food for Thought is that they have a rather comprehensive menu. For those who love bacon and eggs, there is all-day breakfast section. The light eaters would be delighted with the Màn Tóu (steamed Chinese buns) selection. Of course, there are the international standards such as pasta and steak.

All-day breakfast is gaining popularity in Singapore and most trendy cafés have included this in their menus. The all-day breakfast menu at Food for Thought is extensive and it’s hard to find fault with it. The Classic Works – House special includes bacon, butter toast, hash browns, a tomato salad and a substantial portion of scrambled eggs. It is a filling meal at any time of the day.

The Thai Basil Pesto Chicken Linguine is served with poached chicken breast, grilled tomatoes, eggplant and a Thai basil-basil-parmesan pesto. For those who enjoy herbs, they can find solace in this pasta dish. The al-dente pasta is coated evenly with a generous amount of the herb sauce. And the chicken breast is tender and soft. However, I felt that the linguine would taste better if the chef controls the amount of the herb sauce that goes into the pasta.  The strong herb flavour can be rather overpowering.

The Màn Tóu mains are pretty interesting. Màn Tóu is a traditional steamed Chinese bun and it’s usually paired with a braised pork belly filling.  But Food for Thought has given its Màn Tóus a slight twist to introduce traditional south-east asian flavours such as satay chicken and beef rendang, to the international museum visitors. The Salted Egg & Curry Leaf Prawn Màn Tóu manages to bring drastically different ingredients together. The saltiness from the Chinese salted egg yolk and slightly spicy Indian curry leaf sauce is an interesting pairing. The steam bun is pillow soft and given a very slight toast on the inside. Unfortunately, the prawns are a tad too small. I wish they had used a bigger prawn to give the steam buns more bite.

Having tasted the best steaks overseas, I often advise my friends not to order steak in Singapore restaurants, unless it’s a reputable steak house. And again, I was proved right. My colleague, who is pregnant, cannot consume uncooked meat. So when she ordered the 70-Day Grain Fed Striploin Steak with Charred Scallion Sesame Sauce, she requested for her steak to be done medium well. The steak lacks flavour and the meat is too chewy. The only consolation is sautéed sambal (prawn chilli paste) potatoes.

Food for Thought is one of the better museum cafés that I’ve ever dined be it in Singapore or overseas. Although the food requires some improvement, I must give them credit in introducing south-east asian flavours to the museum visitors.

Food for Thought @ National Museum of Singapore
93 Stamford Road #01-04/05,
Singapore 178897
T: 6338 9887
www.foodforthought.com.sg