I’m not the sort to cafe hop or have brunch on the regular, simply because most of the time, food is usually mediocre and people are just there for the vibes. Just like how coffee people can hang out at coffee places everyday for hours (it is true, I am 100% not exaggerating) because they just like being there. Personally, I cannot resonate to that, hence I seldom ever step into cafes. I don’t even drink coffee (nope, I do not need a daily dose of caffeine to function. I just need food). Among the many black sheep around which serves sub par food, there are of course a few hidden gems which fare better. By that, I mean they put in effort into conceptualizing a proper dish and not just whip up something they copied from others. For that, I will visit cafes and again I will mention, I have no interest in cafe vibes of any sort. Just give me good food and I will go!

So I happen to have a weekend intensive yoga workshop this weekend at Yoga Inc, which is located at the old badminton hall on Guillemard Road. Despite being not too far from my abode, it is not where I practice yoga at normally and hence I hardly go there. And then I noticed that Brawn & Brains are at this location as well and it became my obvious choice for lunch (or brunch) before/ after classes! It helps that I did hear legit good reviews about their food as well.

The cafe menu is kept pretty simple – a few hot dishes made to order, a bread and pastries on display, and drinks (mainly coffee).

Oven Baked Molten Eggs – $16.80

The price tag is pretty high for this one, especially since it used to be $9.80 judging from previous reviews with $3.50 additional for smoked salmon. Now smoked salmon is added in by default. This is basically 2 sous vide/ onsen eggs placed on a tortilla, topped with cheese and baked. The result was something like pizza but better (I suspect that the chef loves pizza and eggs too much to want to make a hybrid of them). I liked how some cheese got spilled to the side and was nicely crisped up. The eggs was runny to a perfect texture for dipping. The combination with cherry tomatoes, avocado and smoked salmon was a good one in my opinion, making it look like a mindful and well balanced meal with essential vitamins and fatty acids of omega 3 and 6. Even though it’s overpriced for 2 eggs, I would have it again.

Open Face Toast with Slow Cooked Egg and Grilled Bacon – $15.90

For those not so much a fan of vitamins and fatty acids, an option for you to have pure fats is this one – an open faced toast grilled with tomato slices and cheese (with cheese oozing out and becoming crispy), topped with a ridiculous amount of grilled bacon. The bacon wasn’t entirely crispy, but more like a texture in between meaty and crispy. The peas and green apple together with the salad made the whole thing look really green and it was aesthetically pleasing while it balances out this meal. The egg was done perfectly and I am glad, because I’ve seen pictures online where the egg they got was more like soft boiled from yakun than sous vide style at 62 – 64 deg C.

Earl Grey Croissant – $4.20

I couldn’t resist getting this even though I was going to have one plate of brunch and then head for inversion workshop (thankfully I did not puke upside down!). It was a regular croissant topped with earl grey flavoured sugar glaze and hazelnuts. It would be better if the croissant was warm and crispy, but I liked the earl grey fragrance from it.

As I do not like and do not drink coffee, I can’t comment on the drinks even though the word “coffee” is in their name. Food wise though, it is worth trying if this location works for you!

Food: 7/10
Ambiance: 6.5/10
Value: 6.5/10
Overall: Creative brunch options which looks good and tastes good.

Brawn & Brains Coffee 
100 Guillemard Road
#01-02
Singapore 399718

Tel: 63480501

Tues – Fri: 8:30am – 6pm
Sat & Sun: 9:30am – 6pm

(Closed on Monday)