Tuck Shop

The name Tuck Shop rings a bell in your mind doesn’t it? To many of us it is the carefree times during our primary school time, where we run to the tuckshop for our recess break.

Located at the alley of Tanjong Pagar Road (5min walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT), Tuckshop is actually a combination of a cafe and bar, i’ll say more of a place to chill out, but serving food that’s more than just finger food, they whipped out something more for a bar. The indoor decor is quite cool, blue-painted walls, with simple black furnitures, and the draw of the place will be its live music by the Singapore band “The Bandits” every Wed & Thu, and tuckshop residents Dean & J’Manuka every Fri.

My first encounter with Tuckshop didn’t go smoothly, it was during a sat evening with a group of 10, we set off happily to Tuckshop, but to our dismay, the place was fully booked. I didn’t make any prior reservations, so in the end we ended up at New Harbour Cafe.

So this time, i went there during lunch time with my lunch mates. When we arrived at 12, it was still empty, but the crowd starts to come in and i must say the crowd was not too bad considering a weekday lunch period.

Having heard plenty of good things and the hype about Tuckshop given several magazines and ieatishoot have written good comments about the place, i had high expectations about the place, but after the visit, i was disappointed.

Steak Sandwich ($12.50) Caramelised onions and a portobello mushroom mayo on a toasted focaccia. Much rave comments have been said about Tuckshop’s Steak sandwich, such as “tasty steak sandwich starring juicy beef & portobello mushroom”, “a juicy steak sandwich (the meat & mushroom nicely charred)”, “the steak sandwich - a big cut of juicy grilled beef, caramelised onions, and a portobello mushroom on crusty focaccia was highly succulent..”

Unfortunately, the steak sandwich did not give me any of those. I find the beef to be rather on the fat side, nothing special about the steak sandwich really. So much for hypes! I’m sorry if you are a fan of Tuckshop’s steak sandwich, but this is just my personal opinion, no offence taken.

Fish & Chips ($8.50) White fish in a tasty batter, served with rich tata sauce. The portion of the pacific dory was definitely generous, cripsy on the outside, and soft on the inside. I guess given the price and the serving size, there’s nothing much to complain about.

Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish ($15) Fillet of pan seared cod fish served with lemon butter sauce, mash and a side of green salad. My friend commented that the Lemon Butter Pan Fried Fish was quite average, not really sufficient to warrent another visit. N’uff said already!

Ice Cream Chef single scoop ($3.50) You must be wondering, what’s Ice Cream Chef doing in Tuckshop? Well, Tuckshop thinks that Ice Cream Chef does their ice cream with the same passion as them, so explained the presence of Ice Cream Chef.

Personally i won’t order ice cream chef’s ice cream from tuckshop, i’ll go down to Ice Cream Chef shop to try them. But my friend is craving for some desserts, so here goes, Nutella ice cream single scoop. I had a taste, and i think it isn’t comparable to the nutella flavour that i had at Island Creamery, Daily Scoop, or Haato. (i am a huge fan of nutella just for the record). Tried any of the three and you can get better ice cream. but then again i can be wrong since i never try the ice cream from Ice Cream Chef’s shop.

Total bill was $43.10 for 3 person. Not expensive i’ll say, but mayb not enough to make me do a Tuckshop II review. More needs to be done to the menu, hype alone will only get you that far. Again, no offence, like i always say: Whatever written herein are my geniune feelings about my food adventure, expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias.

But to be fair, it’s a good place for friends to chillout i guess, given the relatively affordably-priced food, and the live music environment, and another plus point will be its just a stone throw away from the Central District Business area, so people working in the area can go for a drink after a work day of stress.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )

” Hype will only get you that far “