I seldom venture into the "Purple line" area because it is way out of my way from where I stay (north side). The best that I can remember was going to Hougang for Lola's cafe which is pocket friendly and yummy, but the queue sometimes kills. Recently, I started seeing Instagram posts about this new kid in the block -- SOD cafe. (It probably keeps appearing because this is opened by someone I know, and hence all the mutual friends are visiting haha) Of course, to show some support I have to make a trip down to taste the food for myself!!!



Located at the newly opened Ci Yuan Community Centre at Hougang Ave 9, it's a place you might just easily walk past the first time, no thanks to the full length tinted windows. I visited the cafe on a Tuesday afternoon around 3pm, and was glad that the place wasn't too packed which means I can take my time to eat and enjoy the food!

PS: I am totally not paid to review, and our meal wasn't sponsored too. Writing this simply to share and to support a friend's business :)

A quick glance at the menu and I was certainly pleased with what was presented. Most of the dishes are under $10!!! Not to mention, they boast quite an extensive menu for a cafe, with dishes that are Western and Asian alike.

Here's what we ordered:

Homemade Mushroom Soup $5.50



Thank goodness this didn't come in the Campbell soup version HAHAHA It was nice but it tasted a little... mainstream? Haha tasted similar to Soup Spoon's mushroom soup! There were chunks of mushrooms in it though, so plus point for that!

Truffle Fries $6.50



Now, you didn't see the price wrongly. The truffle fries is INDEED $6.50! This must have been the most affordable truffle fries I've eaten to date. The serving wasn't huge, but it was enough for 2 to share and it might make you crave for more :P

The fries were not too oily, nor soggy. While the truffle taste was not particularly strong, this is one of my favourites. At $6.50 with an above average taste, there's nothing I can complain!

Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Prawns $13.50



Reasonable cafe price for a pasta, and probably a price that students like me are still able to afford. Taste wise, I would have preferred a slightly spicier taste (I LOVE SPICY FOOD TO DEATH) with a little more garlic, but I'm glad that this wasn't too oily! The serving portion wasn't huge, probably enough for a girl but definitely not for a guy I guess HAHA The prawns were also fresh and crunchy!

We compared this to the prawn linguine-ish dish (sorry forgot the name) at Paddy Hills which costs $20. While both are nice, SOD cafe is definitely a more pocket friendly version!

PS: For NUS Students, please go try the Prawn & Mushroom aglio olio at The Royals Bistro at Utown. It's also $13.50 (with 10% discount for NUS students!!) and it's so yummy!!! Just thought I should share 'cause I just had that for dinner and I'm still thinking about it now.

Smoked Duck & Eggs on Toast $9.50



Decided to try something from their All-Day Breakfast section, and thought I should try something less mainstream so I ordered this. I really loved the scrambled eggs that came in this, it has ham and onions in it which gives it flavour (although I don't like onions). There were only 3 slices of smoked duck though :(

However, I thought that it might be a better idea to serve the toasted brioche at the side because by placing the scrambled egg on top of the toasted brioche, the brioche absorbed all the moisture and turned all soggy! :( Would have been a lovely dish if the brioche was nicely toasted and not soggy! Might give this dish a second chance if I feel adventurous again hahaha

Chilli Crab Mini Pizza ($9.50)



Served in a personal pan size (4 slices), this is my personal favourite out of everything we ordered that day!!! Reason being it was spicy, and it had real crab meat!!! And it's not a small chunk of crab meat, the entire pizza was filled with crab meat! Was already so full by the time we ordered the pizza but I still stuffed a second piece down. Please try this but if you can't take spicy food, then please make sure you have water with you!

PS: Iced water is self service and free of charge at SOD cafe :)

SOD Milk Tea $4.50



Well, SOD cafe originally started out as a bubble tea shop, in case you didn't know! If you stay in Yew Tee, I'm sure you'll know the existence of SOD bubble tea :) I loved the presentation of this, and how sugar syrup is served in a syringe bottle for us to manually add to our taste and liking, although honestly it was really hard to drip the sugar syrup inside la HAHAHA. It's priced higher than the SOD milk tea you get at SOD bubble tea, but I suppose it's still worth a try :)


BONUS:
- Free Wifi
- Plugs available



The inner geek in me screams "I CAN STUDY HERE!!!!" LOL Yes, you may but only at off peak hours when the shop isn't busy!:) There were 2 other tables of students studying, and I already have my eyes set on the high chair area facing the windows :)



There is also the SOD Cafe VIP Membership card which entitles you to 10% off! What the, so cheap already still got 10% off?! HAHAHA Not sure if the 10% applies to the bubble tea shop too!

I would definitely be back here to try the other dishes (I heard the Chicken supreme and Japanese curry rice are good too!) Being a new cafe and offering food at such affordable pricing, I definitely do hope SOD cafe is here to stay! I'll probably plan my next visit during peak hours to see how the peak hour crowd is like! :D