Photos By: Val
Wild Oats
Add: At the top of Mt Emily! Upper Wilkie Road
Website: http://www.wildrocket.com.sg
Great for: Chilling out, sunset, finger food, alcohol, ambiance
Was at Old School @ Mt. Emily for the International Social Action Film Festival (http://www.sinema.sg/2009/09/10/sinema-international-social-action-film-festival/) just 2 weekends ago where I caught the film - Earthlings (http://www.earthlings.com/)...
"EARTHLINGS is an award-winning documentary film about the suffering of animals for food, fashion, pets, entertainment and medical research. Considered the most persuasive documentary ever made, EARTHLINGS is nicknamed “the Vegan maker” for its sensitive footage shot at animal shelters, pet stores, puppy mills, factory farms, slaughterhouses, the leather and fur trades, sporting events, circuses and research labs. The film is narrated by Academy Award® nominee Joaquin Phoenix and features music by platinum-selling recording artist Moby. Initially ignored by distributors, today EARTHLINGS is considered the definitive animal rights film by organizations around the world. “Of all the films I have ever made, this is the one that gets people talking the most,” said Phoenix. “For every one person who sees EARTHLINGS, they will tell three.”"
Although I did 'enjoy' the film, the gory footages of cows being skinned alive and wings of chicks being clipped did not achieve its aim of converting me and my 3 fellow film companions into vegans AT ALL. Ok, maybe we did consider it - but I am pretty sure it only managed to last through the duration of the film (and perhaps, 2 minutes after it ended?)
Honestly, I was a little cynical of the contents and the extremist+biased view that the whole film was based on. Most of the slaughterhouse footages were from ~10 yrs ago, and yes, I do not deny that animals featured did go through a fair bit (ok,ALOT) of pain and suffering on their final journey to our markets, but surely, conditions would have improved by now...
Thankfully, I was assured by Jloo (http://logue.sg) that Singapore's pig slaughtering practices are unquestionably humane and that the porkies endured minimal pain before ending up on our table. Do view her article here: (http://logue.sg/v1/50)
Anyways...apologies...I digress.
Wild oats, yes.
So, after enduring 1.5 hours of blood, gory, gut-spillages, rotting carcasses and throbbing cow brains, we got......well....hungry. And since Wild Rocket + Wild Oats was just around the corner, we decided to have an early dinner+drinking session at the top of Mt. Emily.
Now, I have been craving for some spam fries after reading Chubbyhubby's article on it (http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=579) about a month back. I know....spam IS my weak spot. So imagine the excitement when I spotted it (Luncheon Meat Fries) on the menu!
We proceeded to order 1 mini Wild Rocket Burger, 1 seafood Burger, white baits with fries and of course, the SPAM fries! (i am pretty sure most of us felt a little guilty, but oh well). They also had their 1-for-1 house pour and drinks promotion going on (every Sunday).
Firstly, I would give Wild Oats (many) thumbs up for the relaxing ambiance they have created at their outdoor sitting area. Primarily filled with rattan /wooden furniture and surrounded by greenery (think little palm trees and all), it was as if we were transported to a beachside resort in a totally different country. The brilliant pink sunset was also definitely a plus. I would definitely recommend getting an outdoor table (vs. the indoor ones) at this charming place, go sit on their indoor stools and you will know why.
The service was also just right, not too overfriendly/pesky ( i dislike waitresses who pop by the table every microsecond and insist on scooping every drop/morsel of soup/food onto my platter) and definitely not aloof (those where you have to do a Kallang wave in order to get their attention).
The drinks were great, the gin tonic was done surprisingly well with an equal balance of both constituents ( i have had some really awful ones before). The Stellas and white wine were refreshing on a warm humid evening too.
As for the burgers, well, you can't really go wrong with Relish's burgers right? The Wild Rocket burger was juicy+tasty and gobbled down within a couple of minutes by the bf. The seafood burger however, was a littleeeee disappointing as compared to the original one served at Relish (another eatery under the Wild Rocket chain). It did not have the intensive fragrance that I remembered from my first visit to Relish about 2 months ago and was a little too chewy for my liking.
Next up..-drum rolls- ..the SPAM FRIES ( ok la ok la, we Singaporean, we say Luncheon Meat Fries.. eh sai boh?)!!!
Unfortunately, chubbyhubby gave the spam fries such a godly status in his post that I was totally crushed when the fries served that day turned out to be a little charred and thus, dry. The taste also fell short of my expectations for it. It was not till yesterday that I was told that the spam fries on Chubhub was actually homecooked by himself from the Wild Oats' inspired recipe. His version was definitely way more aesthetically appealing than the original one.
A suggestion for those who are still interested to try it would be to request for it to be less burnt - that would definitely make them a little more succulent as opposed to crispy/bland.
The white baits were not entirely fantastic, they were ok..but the curry-mayo that was served along with it totally outshone the main dish itself! Never got down to asking them what went into the mixture but I must must remember to ask for more of it the next time!
In short, Wild Oats would be a great place to unwind for the evening with their nightly drinks promotion and better than average finger food. Just remember to ask for more curry mayo, outdoor sitting and under-fried Luncheon meat fries!
ps. “we distrust camels or anyone who can go for a week without a drink”
Don't you just love their endearing slogan? =)
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