Curbside Café & Wine Bar

Service — 4 stars
The waitresses agreed to substitute yogurt for the ice cream and kindly warmed up my brownie after I requested it.
Ambience — 4.5 stars
Clean, quiet (on a Wednesday afternoon), brightly lit, large tables, and wifi available. No power outlets.
Red velvet cheesecake brownie — 2.5 stars
It was kind of gummy and dry. Probably would’ve been better with the ice cream but I’m not an ice cream person to begin with and had way too much soft serve in Japan.
The rest of the menu sounded good and I’d come back to try the sandwiches.

Another pricey hipster café where you can’t get full on $ 15. Why? Because their sandwiches and burgers don’t include any fries! Honestly, when you pay that much money, you want to be full, and not have to add on an extra $ 6-​$ 10 for some sides to fill you up.
Water was free, and food was tasty. They have an all-​day breakfast menu (I think it ends at 4 pm), truffle mac n’ cheese, sandwiches, etc. But it wasn’t so mind-​blowing that I’d go out of my way to come here (especially with it being a 15 minute walk from Buona Vista MRT).

I am not too famliar with the café culture but the overall experience once again convinced me of the extremely slim hopes of finding good food in café.
One can spare Spam Chips ($ 9) the accusation of being too salty since it’s churned from the can (blame the manufacturer) but not for the Corn Beef Hash ($ 12), a brunch item that consists of salt-​cured minced beef with two poached eggs. Even the accompanying sourdough were unable to divert the attention away from the sodium. The half-​hearted Cheesy Fried Chicken ($ 18) which resembled the standard chicken cutlet set from the western stall at hawker centers, failed to impress with an awkward cheese blanket. The chilli powder did not impart any spice to lift up the fried fries in any way. The Cheeseburger ($ 18), an 180g beef patty on bun, remained dry and lifeless even though there was some melted cheese concealed within the meat. The homemade buffalo sauce for the Buffalo Wings ($ 12) had a lingering aftertaste of spice but made the wings too cloying to encourage a second piece.

Not too bad actually because I stopped by here when I was riding the MRT, it gets super quiet here when business is slow. Which is a good thing because for many coffee shop and wine joints with too much noise does not give me time to read or study or do any activities. Most American foods familiar to Europeans and US people are here. All of it goes well with the wine. Love the setting feels good and really reduces stress.

While it’s off-​the-​beaten-​track location may deter would-​be customers, don’t fret.
Initially, I was reluctant to walk 15 minutes in the hot sun from Buona Vista MRT station to Nucleos (where the café is located). However, I realized that most of the way was sheltered which is pretty good in my book. Even better if you’re coming from the Circle Line, as you can just exit at the Metropolis exit and followed the sheltered walkway and signs to Biopolis, walk for 10 minutes and you’re almost there!
Well, the name says it all. The café is indeed situated at the curbside corner of one of the Biopolis roads (don’t ask me for the name as I cannot remember!).
We were there at around 3.30pm on a Sunday afternoon and the place was amazingly empty/​quiet save for a group of 6. We had the luxury of choosing a table for four even though there was two of us! However, by 4.30pm the place was brimming with people and we were so glad we were able to enjoy the tranquility of the place before it got real packed.
Verdict:
— The RVCB — I was wondering what does RVCB mean and it finally hit me! RVCB aka Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownie, which I’ve heard so much about on online food blogs. The portion of the brownie is largely then average and topped with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream. If you’re looking for a sinful, indulgent dessert, try this! The vanilla ice cream complements the brownie well, except that I wish that the brownie was warmed up before it was served.
— Orange juice — Ordered this as it was too late for me to down a cup for coffee lest I become an insomniac. The words «Orange Juice, freshest of orange» caught my eye and it did live up to its description, very fresh indeed. My only tiny gripe is that the glass was too small; I slurped it all up in no time!
My partner ordered the Flat White but since I didn’t try it, I can’t comment on it. The only comment he made was that it is bitter-​rish.
Note: Go earlier in the afternoon if you want a quiet spot of book-​reading or coffee-​sipping to avoid the hipster café crowds. Also, the washroom is some distance from the café and you are required to borrow a key from the staff to visit the washroom.