I have different friends to fulfill different needs.

I’ve got my super intellectual/shopping enabler best friend.

I’ve got my best bro with whom I discuss movies and shit.

I’ve got my soulmates from high school I still Whatsapp and Skype furiously with.

And… I’ve got my gurlfriends.

Chatting about boys, clothes, our careers and gossiping might not feature very prominently on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but can I just say – talking shit is cathartic.

Which is why when Mel booked a table at The 1925 to get together our group of girly-friends, I was thrilled because I know it meant good times and maybe… good food? Coz I didn’t know shit about The 1925. Nobody I knew had eaten there and all Mel said was that it looked cool and the food looked “tasty.” Sure.

So this 1925 place is fashioned as a brewery slash brunch place. I didn’t know what to expect, especially since most of the restos in Jalan Besar fashion themselves as these industrial-hipster hangouts where people wear lots of hats. I’m not into hats – worn indoors. In Singapore. Because why.

When we arrived Amy was tucking into Wasabi fries (picture above) which was just as you would expect – tangy and the right consistency. Not too crispy and comfortingly dense.

I got the Yellow Van to drink and really enjoyed it (our very helpful waiter advised me to go with that since it was the girliest of the beers they had – not disappointed!) The girls had the darker and more bitter beers and they were, in their own words “bitter.”

Food was a mixed bag, Mel was exited about eating the Aglio Olio with crispy egg, which she thought would be a soft boiled egg that was deep fried. Alas it came with flyaway crispy egg bits and the dish tasted more like not very good mee hoon than aglio olio.

Amy went for the chicken that came with potatoes and ratatouille and said it was passable.

I ate this. I know what you’re thinking, fish fillet? It’s so boring and safe and plain. Well maybe it’s a boring choice but goddamn it was good. Perfectly seared, with perfectly seasoned rice and an accompaniment of ratatouille. I was impressed and happy.

So it just goes to show – the safe choice is probably the best one.

We also had a salad (not on the menu) with a yummy wasabi-balsamic reduction dressing and a Hawaiian pizza (crust deemed too thin).

Overall the beer was good, service was great, food was so-so and the ambience was nice. Would I go back? Probably, just to test out their brunch items and then walk over to Chye Seng Huat Hardware for a coffee.

The 1925
369 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208997
+65 6294 9215