Possibly the most exciting place for lunch right now, the new Pasarbella is officially up and running at the more centrally located Suntec City. The 90s street culture theme is a bit heavy-handed, but who cares when there are a total of 13 stalls serving up gourmet grub like grilled meats, burgers, Cajun-style seafood and pressed juices. There are the stalls worth your time.
1. An An
An An
This off shoot of Vietnamese restaurant Madam Saigon dishes out a mean bowl of pho and the menu’s highlight has to be its special beef noodles ($9.90), which comes with beef balls and slices in a bowl of savory clear soup. There are also other renditions of pho, like spicy beef and flower crab, and more options ranging from a barbecued lemongrass porkchop with salad, to bites such as vermicelli spring rolls and green mango salad.
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 3/5. Fresh ingredients and large servings of beef. Enough said.
2. Choo Choo Chicken
Choo Choo Chicken
Having a stressy day at the office? A decent lunch or dinner option here is the ChooChoo set ($12.90), comprising two wings and two drumlets with a choice of seven flavors (honey soy, crispy, soy, sweet, spicy, garlic and sweet and sour) and sides like seaweed rice or potato wedges, and salad.
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 3/5. Eating your feelings with delicious fried chicken is cheaper than therapy.
3. Mad Dogs Bar & Grill
Meat lovers should head straight down here for their tender pork ribs (price to be advised), Angus ribeye ($25 for 200g), grain-fed sirloin ($18 for 200g) and pork chop ($18), and sides like creamy spinach, barbecued corn and truffle mash. If you’re planning a group meal, there’s the meat platter ($50), which comes with a variety of sausages and chicken.
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 3.5/5. A hell yes to reasonably-priced, hearty meats in generous portions.
4. Porsena Deli
Porsena Deli
No typical run-of-the-mill sandwiches here—making sad desk lunches a happier affair are hearty choices like house-made smoked beef pastrami ($14), slow-cooked pork belly banh mi ($9.50), roasted lamb shoulder ($12.50) and grilled portobello topped with jalapeno salsa and provolone cheese. An additional $3 will get you a full set, complete with soup or vegetables and a cookie. If that’s not enough, sliders are available too, with mouthwatering options like pastrami, pork belly and bacon-egg.
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 4/5. It’s a level-up from your typical sub, and anything below $15 for pastrami is thumbs-up for us.
5. Wolf Burgers
Forget pricey ‘gourmet’ burgers that are less bang and more buck. The team of Carvers & Co. are offering dude food enthusiasts genuinely delicious options without masquerading as a hipster joint. Celebrating the good ol’ American burger, the menu features The Wolf ($9.90), a classic cheese burger, with fancier varieties like the pork gochujang burger ($9.90), The Alpha ($14.90), a double patty rendition. Not to be left behind, the fried chicken burger ($9.90) features buttermilk fried chicken fillets sandwiched with purple slaw, salted egg yolk mayo and two fluffy buns. Fries-wise, you can’t miss the ‘smores sweet potato fries and kimchi cheese fries (both $8).
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 4/5. Again, burgers under $15 get no complaints from us.
6. Cajun On Wheels
It’s the priciest stall at Pasarbella, but this Creole-inspired seafood stop is still worth getting down and dirty for. This faux food truck is mostly a group affair, so come with your posse and order buckets like Just Be Shellfish ($68), with prawns (550g), mussels (500g); Poseidon ($108), with Sri Lankan crab (600g), prawns (300g), white clams (300g), mussels (300g) or the Olympian ($158), with Scottish Dungeon crab (700g), Sri Lankan crab (600g), prawns (300g), white clams (300g) and mussels (300g), which are all served with sides like chicken spam, potatoes and corn. For party-of-ones, you can choose the Ocean Box sets ($10.90), with shrimp, fish, mussels and mixed seafood options.
Wallet-Friendly Meter: 2.5/5. It’s good, but only worth your while if you bring lots of friends to share.
