The Place Opened just last month, GRUB is already making waves as the new hip cafe despite the short span of  one month. tRP had some difficulty finding the cafe as Bishan Park is not small to begin with. Therefore, you can imagine the relief we had when we finally spotted GRUB, which is nestled in the middle of the park. The park surroundings does add extra points to the feel of this casual cafe, as we are lacking such concepts in Singapore at the moment.
There is a fair share of indoor and outdoor seatings at GRUB and we would highly recommend the indoor seats anytime, given the insanely hot weather these days. However, we did not have much of a choice when we had to settle for the outdoor seats as the limited capacity as the indoor area was already fully packed despite our arrival before 11am on a Sunday morning (GRUB opens at 9am).
The Food I was excited to check out GRUB after reading about its food philosophy about responsible eating. The cafe advocates fresh and naturally prepared ingredients with no MSG, as well as responsible sourcing of its ingredients such as its beef and chicken from responsible farms.

The menu is a simple one page selection with the usual cafe fare to choose from – Sides such as churros, fries, burgers and sandwiches, desserts such as waffles, coffee and tea, as well as hand crafted beers.

We decided to order the Iced Mocha ($6) to chill ourselves down in the hot weather. The drink was decent, and I was not expecting the standard of a specialty coffee joint.
For something to share, the Chili con carne ($8) is worth trying. The sauce is not too spicy, while I also like the fact that it is beef stew.
For the weekend brunch selection, we tried to be conventional and ended up having the GRUB breakfast set ($15) which also comes with a choice of drink. It is a fairly wide spread, consisting of the grilled focaccia, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and side salad.
Desserts wise, the Churros ($8) we ordered comes with two complimentary dips – dark chocolate and crème anglaise. It is too sweet for my liking as the churros is overly coated with sugar to the point that it is difficult to taste the actual dough.
We also had the Belgium Waffle with gelato ($8) which is good for sharing as well. The waffle is average, so is the gelato. This is probably not the specialty of GRUB.
Rants Some hits and misses with the food, while the service needs some polishing. We were not served ice water until about 30 minutes later when we have to request for it. Orders were jumbled up, and I think it is ridiculous that our drinks are not served even 15 minutes after our first dish was served. It was a very busy morning for the cafe and I can probably understand why it seems that the place is under-staffed. Despite so, this is not an excuse for sloppy service. The no reservations policy is a big turn off for me as well. Imagine arriving at GRUB, and the whole place is full with a waiting time of 30-45 minutes. This is not located in a shopping mall where you can laze and walk around and be back later, the fact that it is located in the middle of a park is not helping in this sense, made much worse by the ever-humid weather in Singapore. Seating capacity is way too limited as well.

Will I return again? My stand is obvious and I will consider returning if only I am allowed to make reservations. Service is very important in every establishment, especially new restaurants, and this is something GRUB needs to do better.

Update: GRUB accepts reservations now. Make your reservation instantly at GRUB here.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 3/5
Hole in the pocket: 3/5
Ambience: 2/5
Overall Experience: 2.5/5
GRUB
510, Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (Bishan Park 1)
Singapore 569983
Tel: +65 6459 5743