The Reading Room

Finally, a space where bookworms and boozehounds can co-exist in harmony. It’s The Reading Room, an atmospheric café by day and bar by night, located along Bukit Pasoh Road.

Floor-to-ceiling shelves of books — mostly of the Dean Koontz and Stephen King variety, but we digress — impress upon entering. The space is dotted with round mahogany tables, calling to mind sitting rooms of staid Victorian gentlemen. Venture out the back door, and you emerge into another room where a (usable) pool table takes pride of place, surrounded by shelves of chinaware and old typewriters. Copies of fantasy classic Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, imprinted with the silhouette of a flying crow, sit in birdcages hung from the ceiling — it’s a cute visual metaphor. The best part: all the books on display are for sale at $15 a pop.

Suitably charmed by the setting, we sat down to order from menus secreted in between the covers of children’s books — I was handed Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes while my dining partner picked up The Snow Queen.

But that’s where disappointment reared its middling head. We were presented with a selection of conveniently labelled ‘International Tapas’. (Rampant tapas-ification of food these days, essentially normal fare shrunk to tiny portions, has made us rather wary of the term.) The grilled Portobello mushrooms were over-salted and over-oiled, while the fried mozzarella was as unidentifiable as the fruit jam spread bewilderingly on top. The only recognisable aspect, unfortunately, was the smell of re-used grease. Not all was lost. Sliced, lightly charred German bratwursts fulfilled their role of meaty bar-side sustenance, as did the oriental fried chicken wings dipped in a fragrant ginger-tinged batter.

We had a passable smoked salmon Panini, though we’ve seen less tired rocket leaves adorning the back rows of supermarket chillers. The bruschetta, crowned by a tangy dollop of chopped tomatoes, onions, herbs and shaved Parmesan, was the appetite-whetting winner of the meal.

It being lunch, we stuck to the caffeine-heavy libations though evenings see the emergence of alcoholic staples like wines (red, white and organic), draft beers, whiskies, ciders and Champagne.

The verdict was unanimous: The Reading Room scores full points for atmosphere and thoughtful kitsch, and is an ideal locale to linger over coffee and some intellectual natter. But we advise against stepping in with a raring appetite.

19 Bukit Pasoh Road. Tel: 6220 9019