Eatsy-ing Into Your lunch

Having lunch on a weekday, especially with your BFFs at work usually entails one of two (sometimes both) scenarios. One is the never-ending crowds as office gophers like myself simultaneously come out to forage for food. Even after you (finally) get your food after a long wait and finish your meal, someone will kena “arrow”  (read: involuntarily assigned) to be on accountant duty and figure out exactly how much each person pays (top tip: the magic no. is 1.177 for including service and GST in Singapore).

via GIPHY

One pretty good solution to that however, is using Eatsy, a collaborative mobile app that allows diners to not only order ahead, but also pay for their orders all in-app at their favourite local eateries and coffee shops.

You can just order the items you want through in-app e-menus, hit order and pay through the app, all at once! The venue will then prepare your food ahead of time, and you can simply arrive to piping hot delights without the wait (and you get to cut everyone’s queue with swag). Works for BOTH takeaway and dine-in services!

Emphasizing on the “collaborative” part of the app, Eatsy also allows your friends to ‘join’ your table if you are dining in. No more worry about splitting bill as you can set the payment mode to be “Let’s go dutch” and vola! No more headache about Linda arguing to round up to the nearest $0.10, or Clarence insisting on splitting the sides 4 ways because he only had 1 piece out of 10. Did I also say you can enjoy cashback from paying through this app?

More about Eatsy

Eatsy Technologies, the firm behind the dining app made up of a group of youthful and talented foodies, was founded in September 2017 by CEO Shaun Heng, who formerly worked in Corporate Development at RedMart. The collaborative order-ahead app aims to partner with the best and busiest quick service restaurants and cafes in Singapore to give them a competitive and technological edge to drive up profitability, and also provide a more personalized way to connect with their customers. Notable names in Eatsy’s current list of the merchants include crowd favourites – Tanuki Raw and Park Bench Deli. To date, Eatsy has also seen an impressive gross transaction value growth of 80% month-on-month!

“Imagine it is lunch time and you are helping to order take-away for your colleagues. With the app, you don’t have to jot down everyone’s orders and queue anymore. Just add your friends in the app – they “piggyback” onto your existing order and send it through. The restaurant will start preparing your orders, so just head downstairs for collection once it’s ready. This ‘collaborative ordering’ saves a lot of time for customers and drives incremental orders for merchants. Our mission is to make mobile ordering and payment the new way of life when dining out.”

Mr Shaun Heng, Founder and CEO of Eatsy Technologies. 

Trying It Out @ Park Bench Deli

To try out the app first hand, we were hosted at Park Bench Deli (PBD), a hole in the wall in its own right along Telok Ayer Street. Inspired by the culture of no-frills sandwiches and subs from delis in North American cities and neighbourhoods, where white collars in fancy suits enjoying their deli-bought subs on a park bench are common sight.

Although the menu has slightly changed over the few years it has been in business, their focus is on bold sanwiches, made with swagger and lots of spunk. From sous-vide Fried Chicken dipped in buttermilk to Philly Cheesesteaks on hoagies, with hand-melted gruyere cheese whiz (my favourite), you can find something for yourself to chomp down while questioning life’s meaning. It certainly helped that Eatsy was so fuss free to use, so less playing footsy with the bill, and more eating!

I’ll be back with a bigger review soon

More Information

Eatsy

For holeinthewall.sg readers, enjoy $5 off your first Eatsy order with the code “HITW5“. Valid till 31st July 2018! Not valid with other promo codes. Other Terms & Conditions in-app may apply.

Check out their website for a full list of restaurants: https://eatsyapp.co
Download the app here (Apple App Store | Google Play)

Park Bench Deli

179 Telok Ayer Street
Singapore 068627
Reservations: chope.co
Phone: 6815 4600
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This post is brought to you by Eatsy. Download it now on Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The post Cutting The Queue with Eatsy – feat. Park Bench Deli appeared first on You Otter Go There.

Right at the middle of downtown is Freehouse, a bar opened in 2016 that “was birthed from a thirst that could only be quenched by good beer and cider”. With up to 16 rotating taps of craft beer (they’re usually almost at full capacity), you can be sure that you’ll only be thirsty for that guy/girl down the bar Situated in a shophouse in the Telok Ayer area, its intimate settings ensures you that there’s definitely “no strangers here”.

Week of the Dog at Freehouse

Yo Dawg, so I heard it’s the Year of the Dog, so Freehouse’s got some (hot)dogs at the week of the dog, so you can dog while you dawg!

Just over the last week, while basically half of the bars you frequent were closed over the Chinese New Year week, Freehouse started the year of the dog with a week long event starring their very own bar manager, Christian!

The Week of the Dog featured a special event-only menu made of gourmet sausages, corn dogs and more importantly (to me), TATER TOTS “smothered in homemade meat/beach chilli! With Christian in the kitchen (no sandwiches today), we devoured most of the brutally-named menu, such as the Brat-tallica, a Bratwurst topped with home-made braised red cabbage, Sauerkraut, Bacon, Hefeweizen Cheese Sauce, Spicy Mustard and Devil’s Ketchup; or if you’re in camp Dave Mustaine, there’s The Megadeth Corn Dog, that’s dipped in a special honey-infused buttermilk batter and deep fried to golden glory!

We also checked out good ol’ Trogdor the Burninator, our favourite strong-armed winged beast represented with Tater Tots smothered in molten Cheddar Cheese (that’s enough to make Torbjorn breathe heavily), Home Made Stout Bean/Meat Chilli, Srircha, Sour Cream and Devil’s Ketchup. Beware of the fire-breathing dragon!

No Strangers Here

Beyond the special menu for the week, Freehouse also offers a pretty wide range of bar snacks and dinner items (they’re usually not open for lunch). Favourites include the Cereal Frog Legs, Grilled Eggplant and Japanese Curry Fries just to name a few. Food menu may also change time to time, so find out the latest while you’re there!

Of course being one of the increasingly popular craft beer bar in Singapore, Freehouse offers a rotating selection of delicious craft beer from around the world, as mentioned previously having a capacity of 16 taps in full view of their white tiled display wall. New and seasoned craft beer enthusiasts are more than welcome, as your friendly neighbourhood bar guy Christian will surely put the right beer in front of you. Events and tap takeovers from particular breweries (such as the recent Battle Royale of Vietnamese breweries Pasteur Street and Heart of Darkness) also happen regularly, so be sure to like their Facebook page to keep yourself updated. For a good deal, head down to their Pint & Grub Mondays, where any pint with a side from a selected list go for only $20++!

Verdict

hole-in-the-wall-ness: [star rating=”5″]
Price: [star rating=”3.5″]
Quality: [star rating=”4″]
Overall: [star rating=”4″]

More Information

Freehouse
21A Boon Tat Street
Singapore 069620
Email: info@freehouse.com.sg
Opening Hours: 5:00pm to 12:00am (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 3:00pm to 12:00am (Fridays only). CLOSED MONDAYS.
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The post Freehouse – Yo Dawg (Week of The Dog feat. Chef Christian) appeared first on You Otter Go There.

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.” -Napoleon Bonaparte

Burgers. Originally just served as a meat patty in Germany (Hamburg, hence the name to hamburger and then burger), the modern burger was debatably developed by a few different sources in early USA history, but one thing in common was the mobility and ease of mass production it brought. Especially to a fast-paced metropolis like the big apple: New York City (cue nasal voice), the land of opportunity.

Jolie Hwee

When not learning how to scalp (literally, guys) people on surgical tables, Dr. Jolie turns to looking for new places to dine at. Check out her Instagram!

So when told of a burger joint that’s so obscure it literally doesn’t even have a front display and entrance, she had to come take a look.

Burger Joint Singapore

Of Le Parker Meridien down 56th St, NYC fame, Burger Joint opened their first outlet in Southeast Asia down in the Telok Ayer/Amoy Street area. Why am I being so vague? That’s because instead of a prominent front display, it is actually situated in what could have been a kitchen/pantry/worker’s quarters in the early 20th century. To access it, you would have to go round the back, along Gemill Lane before you spot the ubiquitous neon burger sign plastered next to a inconspicuous door… only to go in and be greeted by a dark corridor lined with curtains, and yet another neon burger sign.

Once you (finally) reach the restaurant, you’ll be greeted with a familiar sight (if you’ve ever been to the one in NYC; I haven’t though): the worn-looking wooden furniture and walls in a dimly lit room. If you come in a group you can try your luck at one of the booth seats, but most are happy at the standing tables or even to chill at the bar, where they serve a decent spread of cold beer and good ol’ American whiskies.

Ordering a burger here isn’t… too many layers of work. You are free to choose whether you want a plain hamburger or load it up with cheese, bacon, jalapeno peppers, or all of the above! For best results, go for ‘the works’ when asked for your vegetables. But of course in a capitalist free world, more will cost you.

The burgers come wrapped in paper bags and perfectly grilled to your liking (medium rare’s great), and piping hot. Now chomp on to that freedom and opportunity all the way from the East coast!

Yes, the burgers are quite expensive. Yes, the servings are not exactly very big. But does it matter? Not really, when you have the freedom of choice. If you like what you’re getting, feel free to scribble your words of praise or greetings on literally any surface you can find (most people choose the walls though) too! Verdict

hole-in-the-wall-ness: [star rating=”5″]
The only giveaway of any semblance of a restaurant is the neon sign in the door so yes, hole in the wall.

Price: [star rating=”3″]
For prices starting at $17 excluding taxes, it is definitely on the steep side when it comes to burgers. You do get quality meat that is grilled to your liking though. BUT I only found out after that they actually are on the entertainer app, so you can bring a friend along, or simply take two burgers!

Quality: [star rating=”4″]
I give credit that they make it up in quality, that their meat, vegetables and even buns are freshly made (buns are made in-house).

Overall: [star rating=”3.5″]
A good concept with no-nonsense and no-frills food, but I probably will only come here once in a while if I were on a budget. I mean, we’re free to choose right?

Wishing all readers from the USofA a happy 4th July!

More Information

Burger Joint Singapore
115 Amoy Street
#01-03
Singapore 069935
(Entrance at back on Gemmill Lane)
Tel: +65 6221 8648
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The post Let Freedom Ring! Burger Joint Singapore with Jolie (@joliehwee) appeared first on You Otter Go There.