Singapore Old Time Cafe in Dublin, CA
February 1, 2008 at 5:44 am (addictive food shrine, brilliant, dublin, east bay, food type, singaporean)
4288 Dublin Blvd., Dublin, CA | 925.833.8300| | website |Open Daily 11am-3pm; 5pm-9:30pm
This is located in the Ulferts Center, a newish mini mall that is bustling with hungry shoppers taking a break from the nearby bigbox shopping malls in suburban Dublin. I have been dying to check this place out as I’ve never had Singaporean cuisine and was very intrigued after reading about Chubbypanda’s epiphanic lunch at Layang Layang in San Jose. His experience was as follows:
With a blinding burst of hot, sour, sweet, salty, savory, and pungent, I finally understood. The universe was still. Perfect harmony filled my soul.
Ok, so I need to try that dish… that place is next on my list, does that not sound awesome? Anyways back to Dublin, Old Time Cafe… we stopped by for a quick lunch before a movie and were one of the first tables seated.
They have a festive display in the front with brightly colored firecrackers dangling from the ceiling with baskets of fruit with new years envelopes and sparkling holiday lights that grabs your attention as you walk in. The room is small with high ceilings and filled with marble tables and sleek modern furniture with Asian simplicity and styling.
It’s elegant but informal, I esecially like that the glassware is plastic and the plates resemble tropical leaves, which adds bright colors and a bit of frivolity to the tableau.
The one dish I kept reading about was the Roti Canai, which is a billowy and cloudlike flatbread that is griddled crispy on the outside and has a steaming, fragrantly soft spongy interior that pulls apart in flaky layers. This is a steal at $3.95 and very filling, I think I could get by with this and cup of soup.
It is fantastic dunked and slathered with the rich spicy curry sauce. Mmmm, crispy, chewy, spongey fluffy with that indescribably addictive smell of warm toast along with aromatic coconut and spicy curry. I was having a very good time.
I had one of their specialties, the Seafood Yam Basket, which is piled with wok fried scallop, seafood with mixed vegetables served in a fried taro basket. It was topped with a generous handful of cashew nuts and cilantro. Everything was very fresh tasting and the chunks of bell pepper were crisp and tender.
The purple yam basket was a beautiful golden frothy crisped nest with a lush creamy lavendar colored interior. I could only manage a few bites of the basket as it was very dense and filling.
Mr K. ordered from the Fried Noodle section, which was truly role reversal for us. He got the Hokkien Mee for $9.50 which were a combination of chewy thick yellow noodles and thin vermicelli stir fried with prawns, calamari, pork, vegetables, bean sprouts and eggs in rich stock.
It was funny cuz it was a noodle soup, and he had specifically said he didn’t want noodle soup when we were looking over the menu… He was thinking more of a panfried thing, but I loved the unusual combination of two different noodles with the light broth topped with shrimp paste and fried shallots. There were two quarters of golden Meyer lemon on top that added their delicious perfume to the dish.
Awww, how cute is that? It must be baby octopus season or something because these were in both dishes and I had them at another place last week. The flesh is very tender and sweet, not to mention that it looks adorable and adds a squiggle of character to the dish.
The total was $46, which was kind of expensive for lunch, but we ordered ala carte, and my dish alone was $16. They do have reasonably priced lunch plates that are probably a better size for lunch, although only on weekdays. We really enjoyed the fresh flavors of our lunch although it seems like it might have been toned down for the western palate. I feel that we didn’t order exactly right either, so I we need to come back and try it again and see if they have that dish that sent Chubbypanda into synesthesia…
This was our first visit to the amazing Ulfert’s Center and now that I’ve seen all of the tantalizing dining options, I have plans to get to know this little mini-mall very well. I really want to check out Koi Garden (related to the famous Koi Palace in Daly City) which had a line of people milling around and a woman calling numbers over a loudseaker.
dea said,
February 1, 2008 at 1:18 pm
hi, i hopped over from the comment you left at the food pornographer
Single Guy Chef said,
February 1, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Hmmm, I never heard of Singaporean food. Looks delicious. And I agree, that roti canai did look pillowy and good! Is it close to BART?
foodhoe said,
February 2, 2008 at 2:00 am
Dea, thanks for visiting
Singleguy, It didn’t seem like it was walking distance from BART, but they must have a shuttle or something… It was delicious and there are so many other interesting cafes in that complex!
celluloidrealitys said,
February 2, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Now I know where I could grab a dose of home if I’m in Dublin.
Chubbypanda said,
February 12, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Oh yes. You need a good strong assam laksa to achieve synaesthesia. Strong! The smell of fermented shrimp past should precede it by a couple of yards. =D
mary-anne (shanti) said,
February 28, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Ah Flying Bread is a speciality of Indians in Malaysia and Singapore love it! Useour fingers next time. the fork alters the taste I am sure.
Have you eaten Pav Bhaji? another treat
http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/pav_bhaji
foodhoe said,
February 29, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Chubbypanda, I will look for that on the menu next time fer sure!
Mary-Anne, eating with fingers sounds much better. I have never heard of Pav Bhaji and after seeing that video, I want to know where I can get some! I could almost smell the spices…. Thanks for the awesome link!
Sol said,
April 2, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Roti canai or in Singapore we call it Roti prata is a cheap breakfast sometimes eaten with sugar.And it wouldnt cost more then $1 for the plain roti and $1.20 for that with an egg.They also have the vesion with stuffed meat they call em murtabak which is best freshly made and eaten with delicious curries
For that price,I think you’ve been ripoff..
foodhoe said,
April 2, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Sol, I wish we could find delicious food like this for a buck… maybe we have to pay premium prices for singaporean street food like you do for mcD’s over there? I dunno, but that murtabak sounds absolutely delicious!