Cosy is the name of the game at Zoey’s Diner, but only in the best ways. Zoey’s Diner is a new casual fast diner at CompassOne that serves burgers, salads, dessert and bubble tea, all in the name of comfort. The diner dresses their simple menu with sensible variety foods that taste good and are priced for their quality.
From the choice of bao buns to a bubble tea partnership with Winnie’s, this diner offers large variety in the simplest ways possible. If you’re ever stumped with options and just need to sink your teeth into the comforts of simple food with guaranteed succulence, this is where you want to be.
For Starters…They’ve got excellent sides
If you’re a corn lover, this is quite possibly one of the best corn soups you’ll have in Singapore at mid-range pricing. The preparation that goes into this soup warrants its potential presence in the menu of a high-range restaurant.
The soup is made with smoked corn and is the definition of comfort food with sweet corn bits and a distinctively buttery flavour profile. This is pretty much a smoked corn chowder, and it’s a sure breath of fresh air from the usual cream of corn soups that we see at diners here.
Zoey’s Diner also has a mushroom soup that’s creamy and delicious, generous with mushroom chunks to give you a good bite. They’ve also got an excellent range of fluffy fries. There are three varieties, Sriracha Sweet Potato Fries ($5.90), Chef’s Signature Fries ($5.90), and Zoey’s Truffle Fries ($7.90).
The truffle fries that we had were served piping hot, with a generous tossing of parmesan and a strong truffle flavour.
Burgers and Baobaes
What the heck is a Baobae in a restaurant…? The Baobae is a type fusion burger by Zoey’s Diner that’s a merger of Chinese baos and Western burgers, and they sure are darlings.
If you’re not a fan of sweet baos, you can switch out for their other bun option which is toasted brioche. They’ve got options for just about everyone, all of which are made fresh daily and definitely taste like quality ingredients.
Most of their burgers are priced at around nine to eleven dollars, and you can make it a set with one side and a drink for $3.90, or two sides and a drink for $4.90. Here’s some of what we tried.
The Moroccan Spiced Burger ($7.9)
Seasoned in a five-spice marinade and dressed with a lightly spiced yoghurt sauce, this burger is a party in your mouth, and you’re bound to enjoy it if you’re a fan of fusion food. While the Indian in me would next time go with a brioche bun for this one, the fluffy bao buns with their sweet tinge help to maintain a good balance of flavours with nothing getting too overwhelming.
It’s catered well toward the mass palate, so if you don’t like strongly spiced flavours, this is a pretty good choice.
Hear this: An Australian Braised Short Rib Burger ($10.90)
Holy mama. This burger is the stuff. The ribs in the Pepper Braised Steak burger are sous vide for 12 hours overnight, and they sure do deliver. Served in a brioche bun, the ribs in this burger are tender and juicy all through. There are also some lucky goops of fat and they’re absolutely divine when they melt in your mouth, in the bun.
The brioche works well to sop up the delightful black pepper sauce on the ribs. There’s wild rocket salad to go for the greens along with a slice of tomato, that are what makes this work so well as a burger, rather than seeming like short ribs forced into bread.
There’s a BREAKFAST BURGER ($8.90)…
The Morning Ham and Egg is an all-day breakfast burger with eggs benedict, asparagus, hollandaise sauce, and a generous slice of honey baked chicken ham. This burger doesn’t really suffer from the ham being chicken instead of pork. It’s salty and charred to perfection, with a texture akin to back bacon because they’re using some quality ham.
Get a Winnie’s drink like their specialty Floral Honey Rose Tea to wash down the rich, yolky burger, and you have yourself a perfect brunch.
We also loved the Sambal Fried Fish ($9.90). It aces.
This burger is awesome. A spiced fish fillet with ikan bilis and pickled vegetables in pillowy bao buns. The icing on this burger is a sambal mayonnaise. The spiced fish fillet packs a nice, gentle crisp and juicy fish.
The bao buns work really well with the fish and the sambal mayonnaise, which packs a good spice flavour. For what seems like a burger you could maybe find at a new-age pasar malam, this is well worth the diner upgrade at its $9.90 price point.
Other Offerings
Zoey’s has three other burgers. We tried the Zoey’s Chicken burger ($7.90) which is a chicken thigh burger marinated in house spices. It comes with a slice of cheese and lettuce. It’s also supposed to come with garlic aioli, which we either did not have the chance of receiving in an unfortunate kitchen slip up, or did not notice because the garlic didn’t really pack a punch. For what it’s worth, the staff and kitchen of Zoey’s Diner are of great quality, and this was likely just a random occurrence.
Zoey’s Diner also serves a vegetarian burger option, the Shrooms Bun-Mi ($6.90) which comes with shitake mushroom, pickled vegetables, peanut, fried onions and hosin sauce. There’s also the Crispy Ebi Cake burger ($9.90) which has a garlic & coriander patty, lettuce, and wasabi mayonnaise.
There are also three salad choices for low carb days, as well as a kid’s meal priced at $5.90.
If there’s room for Dessert then I want a piece
Zoey’s Diner has two simple comfort food choices for dessert. They’ve got a Lava Chocolate Cake ($4.90), as well as Granny’s Apple Crumble ($5.90), both of which are served à la mode. The apple crumble is not excessively sweet and is packed with wholesome apple filling.
You’ll enjoy this if you’re a pie fan, though you may not get the crumbly flour proportions that you may be used to, say, if you’ve been getting your apple crumbles from Swensen’s (that’s cheating).
Winnie’s Bubble Tea
The convenience and comfort that comes with being able to order bubble tea with a quality meal should not be underestimated. Winnie’s bubble tea from Taiwan is known for using a custom water treatment system for their teas for better flavour, as well as for using preservative-free pearls.
Drinks are priced affordably ($2.50-$6) and there’s a good range of light & refreshing drinks, as well as more sinful drinks for you to choose from. The Black Sugar Caramel Fresh Milk ($4) is one of their popular choices, which packs some deep smoky, malty flavours without being too cloyingly sweet.
Come to Zoey’s Diner for food that’s heartfelt and of prime quality. You won’t leave disappointed, as long as the diner upholds its current standards. The cosy space with limited seating will put you right at home.