Pince & Pints
32-33 Duxton Road
Singapore 089496 Opening Hours
Mon – Fri : 5pm – 11pm (Dinner Only)
Saturdays : 12pm – 11pm (All Day)
Open on Public Holidays
Last Order for Kitchen 10pm
My partner recently found out about the new truffle lobster roll at Pince & Pints, so we made a date to try it stat. If you guys recall, I’ve tried both the steamed lobster and lobster roll at Pince & Pints. The verdict was “good, but not as good as Market Grill’s”. You guys can look at my lobster roll-off comparison here.
Anyway we went last Friday and were rewarded with a “the next table will be available in 1 hour” comment from the guys up front 😦 My partner had the temerity to suggest heading over to Latteria Mozzarella Bar instead, but I’d been looking forward to the truffle roll all week and by God I was going to leave with some in my tummy. So we accepted the 1-hour wait with equanimity and headed over next door to this Japanese restaurant for appetizers (or, as Tom Haverford calls ’em, “apps”).
Our apps turned into a full-blown dinner set, but that’s another story for another time. We got the call that our table was ready just as I was finishing my set, so off we went!
The first thing I noticed was how they had raised the prices from S$48++ to S$58++! The second thing was that the truffle roll was to cost an additional S$10++. I mean, come on guys, you’re really killing me here. But no matter, we press on.
Here’s the set:
It comes with the regular fries (happy to say they’re still good), a side of salad (average), some black truffle shavings atop the lobster meat, and a sauce boat – saucière, if you will – of truffle butter sauce. YUM.
It was really delicious. I mean, I love truffle in most things, and the fact that the truffle sauce was on the side meant you could control how much sauce you want on your roll (rhyming purely accidental). Also the truffle butter made for a perfect dip for the fries! YUMMM. I still think the bread roll itself is just not as good as Market Grill’s in terms of texture (doesn’t hold up as well) and flavour (not as buttery, but tastes oilier), but the truffle sauce saved the meal. The lobster tasted just a little bit watery, but there was a generous serving of it so I didn’t mind so much.
Do I think it’s worth S$68? Not really but it was delicious AND the only truffle roll out there at the moment (to my knowledge anyway!) so I don’t regret trying it. Definitely go for it if you love truffle, and are feeling a little bit splurgy.
I give this visit a 75%; we spent S$80 per person.
Edit: Guys I just found out this place closed down permanently a couple of months ago! Sad face. Fortunately their flagship Arbite restaurant at 66A Serangoon Garden Way is still going strong!
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A few years ago, a friend of mine invited some of the group for the soft launch of a restaurant called Arbite at Serangoon Gardens. One of the chefs of the restaurant was his army friend, he told us. The deal was, we would go and try out the menu, and pay whatever we liked or thought was commensurate with the value of the food. I think I had the seafood lasagna, which was decent but not spectacular. Cut to fully about 5 years later, when I found out there was this hip offshoot called A For Arbite at Aliwal St! Naturally I had to check it out.
Located on Aliwal Street, A For Arbite boasts one of the hippest addresses in Singapore. It’s within the Arab Street/Kampong Glam area, just a stone’s throw away from the Sultan Mosque. The restaurant itself is surprisingly big, compared to the other squeezy cafes in its vicinity (looking at you, The Lab SG).
Live well, laugh often, love much. Words to live by!Lots of natural light, high ceilings, and concrete floor. It gave off a bit of a school cafeteria vibe.
I liked the casual ambience of the restaurant; it was really quite appropriate for lunch on a Saturday after my Arabic class. Service was attentive and friendly; they even provided me with a bag hook! Observe:
Unsolicited, and useful!
Adding to the school cafeteria vibes was the specials board, which made me feel like I was in a classroom:
Much more appealing than the math equations we used to see in class
I was ravenous after class and decided on two starters – the Lobster Bisque (S$6) and the Salted Egg Fries (S$12).
The lobster bisque was good, but not the best. I know I’m being weird about this, but I don’t really like croutons in my soup. Like I don’t think the herbed cubes do it for me; if anything, they distract from the main event. I think it was just a little too salty without being rich enough. Does that make any sense? That’s the best way I can think of describing it. For $6 though, I’ll take it. 7/10
The salted egg fries came next:
These were absolutely delicious!! The first few fries were gasmic, and I love salted egg anything, yum. The curry leaves were also divine. HOWEVER, I have to say my favourite has to be salted egg squid, since I think the sort-of-tasteless squid somehow makes for a better combination. With the fries, I found the whole thing way too salty after a while; plus, there was so much of it!! I think they should just sell it in smaller servings for maybe $5 – this ensures we won’t get jelak of it. (n.b. Jelak is this brilliant Malay word that we use in Singapore a lot – it is used to express the feeling you get when you’ve had too much of a rich food, that you simply can’t have another bite of it. For instance: “I can’t eat too much of those potatoes cooked in duck fat, it’s too jelak for me”.) Back to the fries though – a wonderful idea, but the actual experience could not live up to it. 6.5/10
For my main I got the Tuna Loin With Gen Mai Cha Broth (S$22), which came with japanese rice, a lone scallop, and other garnishings including pickles. Genmaicha refers to green tea combined with roasted brown rice.
As you can see from the picture above, the serving portion is very generous. I wanted so badly for this to be amazing, but alas, it was not great. The tuna was really dry and dense, making it not very pleasant. I wish it had really only been lightly-seared. To borrow from steak lexicon, I was expecting medium rare and what came instead was practically well done. Luckily, there was the genmaicha broth to moisten the whole thing; otherwise the dish would have been exceptionally dry. The rice was good (hard to screw up Japanese rice), but the scallop, ironically, could stand to have been seared a little bit more. Overall a little disappointing. 5/10
So pretty though!
My partner got the Eggs In A Box (S$16), a busy dish consisting of poached eggs, smoked chilli chicken sausage, sautéed mushrooms, Serrano ham, hollandaise sauce and toasted focaccia, with a side of greens. Phew! Speaking of things in a box, have you guys watched SNL’s classic Dick in a Box music video from The Lonely Island, starring Justin Timberlake? It’s the best. Please go watch it now! Here:
OK now that we’re all up to speed, back to the Eggs in a Box. Knowing I don’t eat ham, my partner asked to have it substituted with smoked salmon so we could share it. It came looking like this:
Mount Vesuvius on a plate
So you can see the portions are really rather American. I was struggling to finish my tuna so I only tried a small bite of this – whatever I tasted was quite yummy. The sautéed mushrooms were to die for. Everything else was mm ok, but I think I was just too full to properly enjoy it. Moreover, I did think the whole lunch turned out to be way saltier than I would have wanted. I’ll be sure next time to try and balance out the entrées and the mains so we won’t be too jelak (Boom. Learn, and apply).
We couldn’t do dessert by the end of the meal, although we had ordered a pot of tea each to help with the salty food. They have a very good tea selection, which I was very impressed with. I went for the Sakura Tea (S$6 for a pot) while my partner got the unusual Apple Strudel With Pistachio Tea. Both were delicious; I love tea!!! So much more than coffee.
All in all, I think the place has potential, but somehow, the quality of the food just does not live up to expectations. With a few tweaks I think it could be way better. I hope to come back and try something else; maybe things will have improved by then! Service is great so at least they have that going for them.
I give this place a 65%; we spent about S$40 each.
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No address details because A for Arbite is permanently closed 😦
but it was delicious AND the only truffle roll out there at the moment (to my knowledge anyway!) so I don’t regret trying it. Definitely go for it if you love truffle, and are feeling a little bit splurgy.
Alina Eats All Day 