Dining out: PS Cafe

I'm very fond of the Dempsey Road area, its wine cafes and colonial-esque charm.

But sometimes, you just want something a little more substantial for dinner, instead of cheese and sausage platters and frozen pizza.

And tadah! There's PS Cafe just down the road, and nearer than I thought.

Wanting to save money on a cab, I grabbed a bus down from Orchard Road where I'd been doing a bit of window shopping with my sister, and walked up Dempsey Road, only to be confounded as to which direction Harding Road was. I remember the review in Chubby Hubby saying that it's accessible via Minden Road as well, so decided to veer to the left. But still puzzled, I stopped by one of those furniture stores where a woman was seated outside on a swing, reading a newspaper.

She pointed me on my way, although I waited a couple of minutes for the rain to slow down a little. And there it was. Just a couple of minutes walk from Dempsey.

The building - which according to a waitstaff was knocked down and rebuilt - had floor to ceiling picture windows looking out onto what looked like a field. (The windows were fogged up, I couldn't really see) The restaurant retained its projectshop essence of dark wood floors and white walls. Yet it's a little more classy than the original Paragon cafe - with its less haphazard furniture and a cleaner look.

We shared a starter of a sticky prawn salad with a citrus chilli dressing. Had a good spicy kick, with a great assortment of greens.

I went for the lamb curry, which had a most tantalising aroma, tender chunks of lamb, pieces of okra and papadums!

The moussaka wasn't as large as the waitstaff promised, but was tasty and had just the right amount of cheese.

The prawn pasta, also recommended, was pretty good although it came with huge penne, which I'm that fond of.

We enjoyed the food with a lovely bottle of 2003 Brown Brothers Shiraz (limited release).

As the portions weren't overwhelming, there was room for more.

After scrutinising the puds of the day, which were listed on a chalkboard, we made up our minds to get..
an order of fries.

But man were they good fries!

These were huge chunks, deftly salted. And accompanied by a kaffir aioli, which was heaven! Slightly sour, and spicy and oh very creamy. The waitstaff had kindly warned us how unhealthy it was. But we still made him get us a second round of dip - the other dip that came with it was bbq sauce. I don't eat bbq sauce, and according to those two who did, it wasn't as good as the sinful sauce.

And to round the dinner off, we shared the ginger pudding. Now that was a generous portion, surrounded by brandy sauce and topped with vanilla ice-cream. It wouldn't win prizes based on its looks - a grey mound, with a moat of yellow-beige and a crown of white - but it was a hearty, warming, heartwarming dish. Perfect for a rainy night in December, seated by fogged-up windows, imaging it were the middle of winter.

So to sum it up:

Good service - maybe cos j is a regular so she knew some of the staff there, who had moved from the Paragon branch.
Good food
Good atmosphere

Make sure you make reservations though. The place was full on a Tuesday night. And some walk-ins ended up sitting outside - it looks lovely but it was a rainy night and mozzies could've been on the attack!

Also here's another tip: In case you went to the original cafe at Paragon and picked up their location map of a postcard, which J did, they're only open for dinner at the moment, although the card states lunch and tea. So if your traipsing up there for a nice cup of coffee in the afternoon, dont say I didn't warn you.

However, I am looking forward to when they open up in the avro. It would be a nice place for a cup of coffee and a good book. Or a bottle of wine and good company.

PS Cafe (somebody change the name!)
28B Harding Road,
Tel: 6479-3343