SNITCH by The Thieves is the sister restaurant of brunch-popular Breakfast Thieves with added mass appeal.
The latest casual dining eatery boasts an extensive menu that satisfies folks who love their Asian flavours, on top of, playful western interpretations with European and Australian inspirations.
And the Thieves wants you to Snitch on them, where good food is concerned.
Here you can have typical brunch feed like the Mary Read – a colourful plated dish with beetroot cured salmon, cheddar potato rosti, meaty Eryngii mushroom, poached eggs, and cherry tomato & basil tapenade – and local favourites like Curry Laksa, Nasi Lemak Kampung, and Chicken and Prawn Hor Fun Soup.
Located on the third floor of The Gardens Mall, the team is run by the same people behind Breakfast Thieves, co-partners Brandon Chin, Joel Teh, and Edwin Koh.
Chin is also one of the head chefs at Snitch, together with Anthony Seah.
The ambience at Snitch deserve props, especially the impressive alfresco dining space which offers a wonderful respite from the air-conditioning.
There’s even a relaxing speakeasy, the After Dark Social Club, that opens at 4pm till late – perfect for extending a dinner date or night out with friends with beer pong or karaoke.
Besides looking for another venture posing slightly more of a challenge than a regular cafe (by setting up shop in a mall), the partners wanted “more like a family-oriented place,” where families of all ages and groups of friends could gather, according to Chin.
“Youngsters [and] hipsters will go in but without their old folks [to] a lot of cafes now,” he said, adding an example of his parents on occasions ordering in the cafe in Bangsar.
“They don’t know what to eat. That’s always the case. For them, it’s always safe to eat scrambled eggs and avocado, that’s it.”
This prompted Chin’s mother, who used to sell noodles from a cart, to hand recipes for mee rebus and curry laksa to the chef with European and Australian cooking background before her passing this year.
“She said, if you can do this well, you should be on track.”
Chin took almost eight months to figure out the menu at Snitch to cater to a new market where more variables are involved, compared to “a destined place that you go to,” like Breakfast Thieves.
Originally a staff meal, the yummy dish of Black Pepper Beef Udon, also made it onto the menu.
From pastes, spice mixes, to ingredients like cured salmon, components are all made from scratch.
The brunch food reflects the Australian style of cooking Chin is trained in, while the Asian fares and selection of pasta “is really more of my parents’ influence,” which Chin poured time crafting, particularly the local recipes.
“My dad comes in here every week and checks on my soup because he’s the one who’s most familiar with my mum’s laksa and rebus,” Chin said.
He added that his aunt on his mum’s side also acts as quality control to the dishes besides appreciating real feedback from diners.
The Madame Vego Croque was a delight to bite into, and also one of the favourite comfort foods for Chin. A take on a croque monsieur – French ham and cheese sandwich – the cheesy vegetarian version at Snitch is sandwiched with bread made from layers of puff pastry.
Listed under its Infamous Burgers & Rolls, the Walter White is perhaps an unassuming brioche bun burger that comes with fries. Expect tender and juicy bites of the southern style fried chicken burger with cabbage-slaw, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar cheese.
Take your pick of hearty rice bowls like the Norwegian salmon fillet-topped Omega or Moo Moo, brown rice served with sliced medium-rare rib eye, crisp potato, wobbly egg, onion jam, and garlic and herb-infused yoghurt mustard.
Pasta like the smoked duck breast Ugly Duckling Olio was well-executed, with lovely spicy hints of red chilli carried throughout the spaghetti tossed in orange-infused olive oil.
With a layer of cream on top, the caramel-ly Little Sweet Anne and Earl’s Passion (inspired by Chin and Teh’s travels in Bangkok) are deliciously fun to sip on, while the Granoberry is for all the sweet strawberry smoothie lovers out there.
