Old Habits Cafe @ SAFRA Mount Faber

Found a super swaggy cafe at the most unlikely of places: within a SAFRA clubhouse lol. Old Habits Cafe has the whole package; good food, cozy atmosphere, and super cool vintage displays. Although it's situated within SAFRA Mount Faber, it's open to the public and you won't have to worry about any membership or admissions.

The vintage paraphernalia themed cafe is almost like a cafe-cum-museum, with impressive displays of old-school toys and trinkets from the yesteryears. 

Besides the wow factor of being surrounded by such a sizeable collection, it's also great fun to slowly peruse the exhibits while you're waiting for your meal to be served, and see what treasures you stumble upon.

Speaking of meals, I initially thought the food would be subpar at best since the USP would obviously lie in the vintage displays aspect. We've all had our fair share of crummy food experiences at places which are designed solely to be IG-worthy, but Old Habits Cafe isn't one of those places.

First of all, how unique and innovative does the Seasalt Caramel Roast Chicken ($17.90 for half chicken, suitable for 1 pax) sound? My boyfriend loves to eat pieces of chicken e.g. halves, quarters, etc. Which is the polar opposite of me 'cause I absolutely detest eating things with bones...But anyway, this was a pretty no-brainer choice for him to order, which is just as well since it's one of the top Chef's Recommendations.

Obviously I stole some (more like my boyfriend lovingly tore out some juicy pieces for me to savour sans bones) and holy moly...The taste was unlike any roast chicken (or grilled chicken, for that matter) I've had before. First off, the aroma alone was heavenly. But the flavour? Super duper smokey and heavy on rich, heady caramelisation.

I don't even know how the chef thought to use SEASALT CARAMEL in a savoury dish like roast chicken, but it's a genius move, I tell ya. How have other restaurants not copied this? Or maybe it's a common thing and I'm just a sua gu lol whoopsy.

Sides: Garden greens (which is just a salad, but Idk if it changes seasonally) and butter rice. The rice was bomb dot com, super fragrant and flavour-packed. You just smell then you know liao, it's good shiet.

My main was the Salmon Fillet ($17.50). A lil backstory about me...I freaking LOVE salmon to absolute bits. I order it at restaurants super duper frequently, which is kinda sad for my bank account since it'll always have a more premium price tag than things like chicken or even steak, but what to do. Besides loving the taste, I'd like to think that all those omega 3 fatty acids are doing good for my eczema, even if it's just a 5% difference.

Anywho, as a certified salmon lover, I find it super hard to get salmon that's not overcooked to the point where it's dry as all hell. Imagine taking a beautiful piece of juicy, fatty oily fish and rendering it bone dry and unchewable. JAIL!!

Old Habits Cafe actually lets you select medium rare or well done when you order via the mobile menu, and the option alone let me know that they mean srs bizniz when it comes to salmon.

True enough, my salmon was ever so slightly undercooked in the centre for that soft, pink texture. Super good. And the exterior was still crispy and charred. UGH. LOVE!!

The dish is served with 2 sunny side up eggs. This style of cooking eggs is probably my least fave, so I was kind of bummed that I couldn't change it to something else. But it turned out to be a blessing 'cause the egg was nice and lightly flavoured, with yolks that were not too runny but just the right amount of jammy and liquidy. 

Sides: Garden greens again (at this point I regretted ordering this instead of one of their other options, like coleslaw, 'cause I hate when lettuce gets hot and wilts. and it has a nasty smell and taste too. but i gobbled up all the fresh lettuce so yeah, say no to food wastage), and french fries. Their fries were crispy and tossed in a delightful cajun seasoning. 

Don't let this seemingly plain and boring bowl of Mushroom Soup ($6.50) fool you. Real white button mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms are blended up for a harmonious east meets west flavour, and it's finished with a dash of truffle oil to make you INTOXICATED with taste and smell. And it's the good stuff, proper type of truffle oil - not the cheap imitations that smell like petroleum.

For our drinks, my boyfriend got the Coco Melaka Float ($7.90) which is highly recommended by the owners. It's made with refreshing fresh coconut juice and a drizzle of gula melaka for that sweet caramelly flavour, topped with a dollop of coconut ice cream.

I'm not a fan of coconut at all (so no long Mr Coconut queues for me, thanks. a bubble tea hoe is what I am!) so the coconuttiness of this drink had me looking like 🥴🥴. Likewise, if you love coconut, you will go coco-NUTS for this drink lmaooo sorry I had to :P

Instead, I went for Home Brewed Kiwi And Strawberry Tea ($4). If y'all don't know, Sjora also has a kiwi strawberry drink, as does Snapple. And both of them taste suuuper duper sweet, like candy. Fearing the same case for this, my tastebuds were greeted by the floral fragrance and flavour of proper home brewed tea, followed by the tart sweetness of the kiwi strawberry notes.

Definitely a refreshing treat that'll have you gulping down at breakneck speeds.

For dessert, we shared a 4-inch Burnt Cheesecake ($14.90, good for 2 pax). And thank god we shared it, 'cause it's so rich and decadent that it gets a bit jelak towards the end. The soft creamy sweet cheese was wonderful though, and the liquidy centre is a mark of a good chef who knows what he/she is doing, just like the medium rare salmon.

I love natural sunlight and well-lit cafes, so the general dimness of the cafe wasn't totally up my alley. Low light makes me feel sleepy lol. But I love the window seating options where you get to soak up a liiitle bit of sun and also people-watch swimmers in the adjoining pool. Or, as my boyfriend put it, creep on buff swimmer guys...Idk guys...he say one *shrugs*

It was also nice to see people being able to work on their laptops, I can imagine the vibe here with your laptop and a cup of coffee would be ~immaculate~. Can't wait to return again to experience that myself.

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Address: 2 Telok Blangah Way, #01-04 SAFRA Mount Faber (next to the swimming pool), Singapore 098803
Opening hours: Tue - Sun 11AM-9PM | Closed on Mondays
Telephone: 9127 7147

Old Habits Cafe website

Old Habits Cafe menu