The Commerz had recently seen a few changes in their F&B tenants of the late, with 23Jumpin‘s rebranding as One Bar Cafe and with The Oven Cafe & Bistro moving out of its premises.
Taking over the former premises of now-defunct Photosynthesis Cafe, Whale Lala Cafe is a new cafe within the building that had recently opened its doors. Retaining much of the decor left behind by the previous tenant, the most obvious features would be the brick tiling on the walls of the cafe. The cafe also bears a facade with dark tinted glass windows; pretty much the same ones installed for all F&B tenants within this building which obscures the fact that the shops actually exist here. The menu at Whale Lala Cafe is pretty much reminiscent to that of most other cafes elsewhere; serving a number of sides and mains, the menu here comprises of mainly crowd-pleasers such as pasta, rice bowls, burgers, and fries, while patrons can also choose from various beverage options, including specialty coffee.
(Whale Lala Chicken Wings)
Going for a side to share around the table, we opted for the Whale Lala Chicken Wings; essentially chicken wings deep-fried and drenched with honey drizzle and paprika. A pretty decent side to have at the table, we were impressed by how the fried chicken wing still remains crispy on the exterior despite being drenched with honey, while the flesh within was juicy and tender. The paprika helps to add a slight hint of spiciness; probably pretty manageable for those who have a low tolerance to spiciness.
(Italian Carbonara)
Our choice of main was the Italian Carbonara. Coming with usual spaghetti, the pasta was al-dente, though we were not too fond of the rather heavy aroma of the cheese when it was first served to our table. Whilst being cheesy, the sauce felt it was sitting on the fence and a tad confused; puddling at the bottom of the plate unlike how classic Carbonara should have been served with much of the sauce reduced, it also lacked creaminess like how modern iterations are. Bacon helped to add a hint of saltishness to the pasta, whilst providing a bit of bite. A dish which we felt could have done better, especially if it could pick a side on which sort of Carbonara it wants to be.
(Truffle Mushroom Burger)
We also tried the Truffle Mushroom Burger, which featured elements such as tempura onion ring, cheese, sunny-side-up, and greens all sandwiched between two brioche buns. Whilst the mushrooms were pretty flavourful, we felt the burger missing the point considering how it lacked truffle aroma. Otherwise, the burger was fairly decent; the brioche buns were buttered and toasted, while the mushrooms were sautéed and was pretty punchy with its earthy flavour; other elements such as the cheese helped to provide a savoury note, while the tempura onion ring provided a crisp texture though much of the tempura batter does come off from the onion ring fairly easily, separating the fried batter away from the onion itself. The sunny-side-up was no doubt the crowd-pleaser; featuring a golden yolk that bursts eagerly with the poke of from the knife, it is seemingly added for the visual impact to appeal to instagrammers going after the #eggporn trend. A fairly decent burger overall, if one were to ignore the “truffle” in its name.
(Flat White)
Going for our usual cuppa, the Flat White was decent here; smooth and creamy, it came with roasty aroma and an earthy flavour profile; a medium-bodied cuppa that works well for the mid-day perk-me-up.
Overall, Whale Lala Cafe reminds us of the days where cafes were opening up within HDB estates; the quality of the food was decent, but not great. It seems to us that Whale Lala Cafe has a lot of room for improvement where food execution is of concern; much of the items that we have had tried were either confused or just missing of something. Perhaps Whale Lala Cafe can look into their recipes in order to fine-tune the recipes further to a higher level. Otherwise, Whale Lala Cafe would most probably appeal to the office crowds and workers in the Tai Seng neighbourhood, considering how it provides them with yet another dining option if they were to choose to splurge a little more than having the usual coffeeshop fare with a decent environment, especially with the lower-than-usual prices that Whale Lala Cafe is offering cafe grub for.
Whale Lala Cafe 1 Irving Place #01-30 The Commerz Singapore 369546
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