Uluwatu Temple - The Sea Temple on the Cliff @ Bali [Indonesia]: Crossings Cafe - Where All Profits Go to Charity @ Waterloo Street (Near Bras Basah MRT Station) [Singapore]

It's family custom to have a birthday treat for the birthday boy / girl on his / her birthday and it's no exception for Louise's bird day late last month.

As the birthday gal didn't have any preference, Joyce suggested Crossings Cafe - a social enterprise that helps not only to provide employment for the disadvantage but also donates all profits to charity!

That's extremely commendable given the high cost of rental and food ingredients in land-scarce Singapore and for my superstitious young sister; it's beneficial to do some good on her birthday.

Spotted at the main entrance; i usually don't have the habit to check out the menu beforehand as i have the higher tendency to order dishes with chef-recommendations. To put it bluntly, the operator has to be confident of that dish if he/she dares to put the tag on it.

Interior of the cafe - pretty empty on a Sunday afternoon although customers started streaming in from about 1pm onwards.

Absolutely love the full length glass windows which allowed people and vehicle-watching within the comfort of very much needed air conditioning!

Jovyn with the birthday girl's vanilla latte; service wasn't speed fast even though it wasn't an issue as we had expected and understood the reasons behind it. Hence, go visit a MacDonald's if patience is not your virtue.

Black Mussels in White Wine Sauce - understanding aside, i am way more critical when it comes to food. Even if it is for charitable causes, the reality of life cannot be brushed aside that easily. So my one-word review for this appetizer is "unexceptional".

Slightly salty with a dash of pepper, the mussels were nothing to scream about and i am in fact more taken in by the white wine sauce, especially when i dipped my garlic-spiced toast into it! That said, the bread could be toasted slightly longer for a crispier bite.

Onion Rings - Batter was thick although it didn't weaken the taste of mashed up onions buried within. Personally, however, nothing beats raw onion rings that were deep fried; like the drippy-oily kind at Buckaroo!

Chicken and Grilled Mushroom Parmigiana - the word Parmigiana means a dish "cooked or served with Parmesan cheese". I am hesitant to try it and when i did, i could only describe it as chicken cutlet mixed with cheese and mushroom that tasted interestingly like lasagna! Indeed worthy of its chef-recommended tag on the menu.

BBQ Ribs - tough and tasted like a rough piece of char siew; this couldn't hold a candle to the nicer ones at Tony Roma's! Go for the sweet potatoes fries; they were utter addictive!

Chilli Crab Pasta - i am seldom impressed with local delights spin-off and after that chilli crab pasta at Tenderfresh, i must say i was literally rolling my eyes when a family member decided to give this a go.

Less expectation, more satisfaction; the balance of tomato and chilli sauce infused with the flavour of crab was well played in this pasta and i thought having the fettuccine was prefect as you get a generous coverage of sauce for this wide-style pasta. If i want to insist on improving this dish, remove the okay-tasting soft shell crab! Increase the price and give me a piece of real crab!

Pan-Fried Miso Pork Belly - why would i want to eat Asian in a cafe? Simply because Joyce had this the last time she came and liked it, and i adore pork belly!

p.s. this contains pork belly and is of course not for the health conscious as the slices of pork belly were as fatty as they should. Should you prefer to try this yet couldn't stand ingesting the pork belly, invite me and i would share the dish with you; you take the cabbage while i would glady have the pork belly.

In usual circumstances, my taste buds would reject porky-tasting meat and while this had the much dreaded porky taste, i was drawn to the miso which resulted in a savoury sweetness that's actually quite good. For a better experience, eat the meat and cabbage with the white rice!

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