Refuel with NTU’s newest eats

By Kezia Tan

O’Briens Irish Sandwich Cafe
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 8am — 6pm
Closed on Weekends and PH

Hidden on the third level of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine is O’Briens Irish Sandwich Cafe, newly opened at the start of the semester. And perfect for anyone who likes their healthy food.

The first thing you will realise as you exit the elevator is the warm, aromatic smell of coffee wafting through the air.

Follow your nose to a wide, spacious café with a view — O’Briens is situated indoors, where floor-to-ceiling windows offer a backdrop of lush greenery beyond the school compounds, creating an atmosphere of tranquility amid the hustle and bustle of school life.

The panoramic view is a tough competitor for attention, but the food holds its own.

The menu consists of mains, sandwiches and salads, and beverages like coffee and fruit juice. Prices of mains range from $7.90 to $8.70, and drinks start from $3.20.

Following the recommendations of the manager, Marlon Arroyo, we ordered a Triple Deck Irish Sandwich ($7.90).

Even without sides, the Triple Deck Irish Sandwich ($7.90) is filling enough to satisfy two. PHOTO: ZHENG JUN CEN

The portion was generous, with three toasty brown slices of wholemeal bread, each spread with a layer of sweet pickle relish. Sandwiched between the slices is the one ingredient that makes it a clear winner — the black peppered sliced sausage. Bite into it and the spice-filled, juicy goodness explodes all over your tastebuds.

For the vegetarians, the café offers non-meat options, too. There are six such dishes on the menu, but more combinations can be created if you take up the DIY option for your salad, sandwich or wrap at the salad bar for $7.90.

One option is the Organic Black Rice Salad ($7.90). The crunchy vegetables balance well with the soft black rice covered in O’Brien’s homemade house sauce. As an innovative touch, the salad comes tucked inside a wrap, with lightly salted potato chips on the side.

The secret to the flavour in the Organic Black Rice Salad ($7.90) is O’Briens special homemade sauce —made of honey, olive oil and red wine vinaigrette.
PHOTO: ZHENG JUN CHEN

For some serious carb-cutting, spring for the Greek Salad ($7.90) — a bed of lettuce, onions and olives topped with a generous serving of feta cheese, and served with olive oil vinaigrette dressing on the side. Its light flavours make it a go-to dish for a hot day, though those who love a good flavour kick might find the taste a little bland.

For drinks, we ordered a large Cappuccino ($4.80). Using beans sourced from Timor Leste, Flores, and South America, the coffee here is Italian-styled and served in an eye-catching neon orange paper cup. The cappuccino itself was fragrant with a strong taste of the roasted beans.

Overall, the one drawback at O’Briens is the price, which can be a little above the budget of an everyday meal (especially when cheaper food court grub is a stone’s throw away).

Currently, they’re offering a wallet-saving set meal of a plain cheese sandwich, pastry and coffee or tea at $4.90.

That said, it’s a refreshing new addition to the NTU food scene, and worth a visit for those who love their greens.

Top Pot Mookata & Steamboat
Tanjong Hall (Hall 20)
Opening Hours
Monday to Sunday: 11am — 11pm

With the opening of the new North Hill halls comes a new dining spot. Sitting atop level three of Hall 20, Top Pot Steamboat and Mookata is an affordable option if you are looking for a meal long after the sun sets.

The grill on the mookata pot at Top Pot Mookata & Steamboat is wider and flatter than most other stores, reducing the frustration of having to repeatedly fish your barbecued meat out of the soup.
PHOTO: ZHENG JUN CHEN

Inside, the restaurant is spacious, with about 20 tables of indoor and outdoor seating. The sheltered alfresco area is windy and pleasant — perfect for casual dining on a hot evening or feasting on a hot pot on a cold night.

There’s an interesting fusion of Western and Thai in the decor. Mini Buddha statues sit alongside rustic boards declaring “Made in America” and “Homemade Apple Pie”.

Typically emptier at lunchtime, the restaurant’s peak hours are during dinner, so do make a reservation if you plan on coming then.

Instead of the typical buffet spread, Top Pot offers an a la carte menu, which those with smaller appetites may be glad to hear.

Just pick your items from two display refrigerators and pay for them at the counter. Prices for meat start from $2.00 a plate and vegetables from $1.00.

There are also varying pot sizes: Large with a sharing soup base ($5.00) to split with your meal companions, and Small with an individual soup base ($2.00).

According to manager Daniel, you can get a satisfactory meal from as low as $10. His recommendation combines two meat dishes, one vegetable, rice ($0.50) and refillable water ($0.30).

For a heartier meal, we chose to add more dishes of meat, mushrooms and instant noodles — bringing the total to $15 for each person.

For either the steamboat or mookata, there are four different types of soup available: Mala, Vegetarian, Tom Yum and Pork Bone — the latter two being the customer favourites. We got the mookata, the more popular choice here, with the pork bone soup.

The spread available had meat choices like black pepper chicken and chicken breast, seafood including squid and prawn, and processed food comprising the likes of bacon, fish cake and luncheon meat.

Vegetable choices are lacking — there was only cabbage available the day we popped by — though a few types of mushroom add some variety. For the necessary carbs, you can choose either rice, vermicelli or instant noodles.

In our books, the black pepper chicken came out on top, and is definitely worth grabbing. It was marinated to perfection — juicy and tender. When you bite into it, it delivers a punch of savoury umami flavours.

In contrast, the chicken breast dish was disappointingly dry, and the bacon too salty.

The pork bone soup started off tasty but turned too salty as well because of the marinades that drizzled down into the soup from the grill. A trick would be to add some water to the soup for a quick fix.

More flavours will be arriving at the tables of Top Pot soon, among which are beef dishes and new soup options, including a seafood broth. All of them are still pending approval from the school.

For now, diners can expect a tranquil open alfresco dining experience, complete with the smoky scent of grilled meat. That, and the affordable prices, make Top Pot worth dropping by with your friends soon.