Just off Telok Ayer Street, FYR Cycene Ond Drinc is a fairly new establishment run by a first-time F&B owner. Despite so, they have been almost always fully booked since their opening. Never mind the slightly mind-boggling hard-to-read name (pronounced Fire, Kitchen and Drink in Medieval English). .The menu surprises as it is different from the usual with its Josper oven-grilled meats being the specialty.

Drinks Menu

Food Menu

The restaurant's atmosphere has a medieval. almost back-to-primitive-age vibe, with a bar counter in place for those who just want to wind down with drinks only. The 'grill' theme even has a presence in their drinks menu. They have a Grilled Fresh Fruit Juice - choice between orange or pineapple. The Grilled Orange Juice is so very evident and brought the drink one level up. It was really interesting to have it. The pineapple juice was also refreshing, but it didn't have much of the smokiness of the Orange.

Lime Mint ($4.50) and Hibiscus Mint ($4.50)

Homemade Rice Crispies

As a starter before the starters, we were served their homemade rice crispies with a sauce that had a tom yum zing to it. These can totally replace the bag of nachos for a movie because it is so addictively good. Would be even better if they could have held back a little on the salt on each crisp. Still, we are off to a good start.

Appetisers

Baked Freshly Shucked Oysters ($15)

The star of the starters was the baked, freshly shucked oysters. Instead of serving it with the classic lemon juice and salt, this version is served in a lightly seasoned juice that included paprika and garlic. Really fresh, and the seasoned juice didn't mask the natural seafood taste of the oyster.

Baked Aubergine & Chickpea Ragout ($10)

Baked Half Bone Marrow ($15)

We also sampled the aubergine and grilled Half Bone Marrow. If you aren't squeamish about bone marrows, this version is worth a try. The marrow is blobby in texture and tasteless on its own, though there was a faint hint of beefiness to it. Good to smear on the bread.

Half Marrow spread on bread

Mains

Spiced Deboned Red Snapper ($25)

For the mains, go for the Spiced Deboned Red Snapper. I love that you can easily eat up the whole fish - it really is completely deboned and served whole. That aside, the grilling technique was spot on. Moist fish meat, with a smoky exterior and just the right sprinkling of salt for taste. The housemade sambal belacan also delivers a good kick, if you feel that the natural sweetness retained in the grilled fish meat isnt' enough. This was the best main for the night.

U.S Holstein Cow Ribeye ($32)

But, their grilled meats do not pale much in comparison. The U.S Holstein Cow Ribeye 365 Days with java curry dressing was juicy, tender, and again, chockful of smoky flavour. Of course you can choose the done-ness of the meat you prefer, but here you can leave it to the chef to grill it to the best cooked-ness to have it.

Five-spice Half Chicken, Striploin, Asian-spiced Tiger Prawn

If you feel like having everything, the sharing plate of Five-spice Half Chicken, Striploin & Asian-spiced Tiger Prawns will more than do to satisfy. Everything is grilled of course. The striploin was as good as the ribeye, but a less fatty and a slightly thinner cut. The prawns were baked to a just-right level of suppleness. Chicken was a tad dry at some parts though.

Whole Maine Lobster ($35)

We also had the Whole Maine Lobster, Seafood Linguine and Seafood Risotto (for 2 to share), The Lobster was overcooked, resulting in tough and rubbery meat. The linguine and risotto shared the same base flavour, perhaps from the same lobster broth used. These were just alright. making the other mains are more worth it.

Saffron Seafood Risotto - made with lobster broth ($48)

Seafood Linguine ($18) made with lobster bisque

The sides here are no afterthought too. Apart from the choices like baked cassava, mashed potato, baked potato, the salad dressed in a 'jawa' spices blend dressing was delicious and exquisite. I can just have it as a main and still enjoy it very much.

Desserts

Baked Pistachio Melt & Pandan Ice cream

Baked Pistachio Melt & Pandan Ice Cream ($10)

It is rare that I have a really satisfying dessert where the lava cake and ice cream are both done right and the entire dish together isn't too sweet. First it was watching the pandan lava flow. Then it was tasting the pandan ice cream that was every bit full of pandan fragrance and flavour, which is unprecedented for me. Plus the warm lava cake and the molten sauce that flowed. This is a must-try over here. Too good.

The menu only offers three desserts, and we managed to sample the Banana Parfait. It consisted of a chocolate-crusted vanilla ice cream atop grilled bananas and gula melaka. However, the ice cream seemed more like a mousse-like in texture and totally unlike ice cream. We also detected a hint of ginger in this. The combination sounded tantalising, but the experience itself was lacking, perhaps because of the weird ice cream.

Banana Parfait ($10)

The sincerity of the staff showed through, even if it was a media tasting and it made the dining experience all the more enjoyable. The diners that went that night got to leave with a box of housemade chocolate truffle, courtesy of FYR.

If you are one for smoky-flavoured dishes or want something that is unconventional yet still reliably good, FYR would fit right in. Most of the dishes tasted as good as they sounded and surprised. Prices for mains may be a tad pricey, but the quality more than makes up for it. There do have a lunch promo starting from $25 for two courses and $29 onwards for 3 courses, which is good value-for-money if you want to try.

FYR Cycene Ond Drinc
19 Boon Tat St, S069619
Opens Mon-Fri 11am-11pm; Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 9am-4pm
Contact: 6221 3703

Crossings Cafe is a recently set-up cafe along Waterloo Street (nearest MRT station Bras Basah). It prides itself in being a social enterprise- giving disadvantaged youths an opportunity to start their career in F&B here. The cause which this cafe rallies behind is meaningful and with the simple yet comforting decor of the place, it certainly is a good choice when looking to spend a lazy afternoon.

Prices for mains range about $12 onwards to $18. This is the price point for most cafes, but I was hoping that it would be slightly cheaper, given that it's so near school and non-profit. I chose to have  the Chicken and Aubergine Parmigiana, but upon realising the big portion and the cutlet being fried, I swop it with my friend for the Baked Black Pepper Chicken Rice.

Baked Black Pepper Chicken Rice

The black pepper sauce came off just right, nothing too spicy or overwhelming. The cheese sadly, did not cover over the entire surface of rice and the dish actually looked a little dry. It was. Some parts of the chicken were tough and lacking in moisture, making it a little hard to swallow. Overall this dish was not impressionable; mediocre at best.