Argentinian Beef Brunch at Bochinche (Martin Road)

Brunch is big in Singapore. At a wild guess there's probably hundreds of cafes all over the island serving up coffee, sausages, eggs, waffles and all the other 'usual suspects.' A lot of these cafes can tend to be a bit generic in the grub they serve up, though, which is why we're always excited to try something different - like the Argentinian-inspired fare served up at Bochinche!


The premises on Martin Road are huge (for Singaporean standards) with the larger indoor floor complemented by a small al fresco (cool, breezy) area. Bochinche also has a grilled Argentinian beef-focused Dinner menu. As we mentioned, we're here for the Brunch, though - starting with a Flat White and a Cappuccino ($6 each). The coffee is really similar to the java from the downstairs sister outlet Common Man Coffee Roasters - we wouldn't be surprised if it was the same beans, or even the same barista.


For mains we try the Chimichurri Burger v2.0 (Provologne cheese, bacon, tomoto, onions and egg, $29). Your mileage may vary, of course, but for me a burger needs to be eatable with two hands. The burger here is certainly not eatable with hands and so I end up using a fork and knife. Not cool.

Nevertheless, taste-wise the burger was uber delicious! Chopped up bone marrow is added into the mince, which gives the patty a wonderful depth of flavour that really is two thumbs up. Texturally it was disappointing, though. By the time I was halfway through the burger the juices had soaked the bottom patty into a papier-mâché-like paste, and the minced meat kept spilling out everywhere.


The 'mixed bag' theme continues to the Poached Eggs with braised ossobuco on toast ($25). We thought the eggs were gorgeous - perfectly poached with a lovely runny yolk, and the toast was sturdy and substantial enough to handle the juices. However the beef on it's own was rather lacking in the taste department, being very unevenly seasoned. Ossobuco is slow-cooked braised beef/veal shanks, by the way.


Since the mains come without any accompaniments, we order a side of Chips Provenzal (thick-cut chips with garlic and parsley, $10) - these had very nice flavour, with most of the chips having a good crisp on the crust. Would order again.


If you had been keeping track, you might have an inkling of what the final bill amount would be - $89.45 (after taxes and service charge) in total. For us this is very pricey, especially for a Brunch meal with really not that much food.

To conclude, the food and coffee here was pretty decent but very expensive, so we really don't see ourselves coming back - we'd much rather just save the elevator trip and eat at the cafe downstairs.

Bochinche is open from 11am-11pm on Tuesdays to Sundays (Brunch on weekends only). Reservations accepted but probably not required. Non-halal.