The Autobus

Really want to recommend this place. Spent the day doing my work at AutoBus. Tried their rice bowl, coffee and cheesecake. Completely loving the rice bowl! Super affordable, healthy and extremely tasty. The staff even offered a free sample of their red juice. Great service!

Chanced upon this spot for pre-drinks before our dinner appointment. It's a large canteen-like bar and restaurant, tucked at the ground floor of OUE Gallery. The crowd mostly seem like they work around here, and are just grabbing an after work drink. The one thing I absolutely love about this place is their 10sgd beers. Their craft beer selection is also quite wide, sufficient for the varying crowd visiting them. The bar food menu that complements the beer, is also something that I appreciate. All in all a good bar for pre drinking, after work.

Cool selection of beers including some from Bulgaria, and natural wine (wish there was more by the glass instead of only bottles) and the quality of snack food was great

Salad bowls done exceptionally well at the expense of a slightly higher price relative to similar offerings from its contemporaries, with the cheapest salad bowl option on their menu setting one back at $11 (inc. GST). Paying that entry-level price will entitle you to a choice of 1 base, 1 protein, 1 dressing, 1 topping and 2 sides. Notably, the attributes that make the Autobus a far more favourable place to dine relative to its competitors are, in my opinion, its thoughtful touches on every single sauce, dressing, side and protein, so much so that each offering is capable of standing out on its own, hearty portions that ensure satiety, proteins that are cooked in the kitchen on order, and its attention to serving things at just the right temperature. My order of brown rice, basil pesto dressing, breaded prawn, butter broccoli and furikake was delightfully herbaceous, comfortingly savoury and warming to the soul. As an avid lover of all things seasoned with pesto, it was very evident from a taste of the Autobus's delectable pesto dressing that the dressing was prepared from scratch using fresh ingredients. Their verdant-hued pesto leaned towards having a stronger basil taste rather than being cloyingly cheesy, a quality that I had greatly appreciated; a casual word with someone manning the counter corroborated that theory. While there is nothing particularly pioneering with the crispy chickpeas and butter broccoli, their execution is telling of the Autobus's commitment to quality - the chickpeas were either roasted or fried with a palatable outer layer of crunch and the broccoli retained their firmness without being overcooked. A substantial amount of brown rice was also provided, enough to make the whole meal filling. This strikes a contrast with meals I have had at Poke Doke @ Millenia Walk, which had often left me feeling hungry after an hour or so. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that their proteins have been prepared and cooked on order. The breaded prawns were not only served piping hot, but both the breading and the prawns' flesh were prepared well - the breading was fine and crisp, while the flesh, seemingly diced to a soft mince, was fried to tender perfection. To top off the dining experience, everything was plated artfully with an apparent attention to detail (see photos). I had a chance to dine at Nature's Nutrition not long ago, and I was enlightened by the disparity in presentation and culinary flair that could potentially exist between salad bowl vendors. While not by any means bad, Nature's Nutrition salad bowl could almost equal the Autobus's salad bowls with regards to portioning but falls short in the execution of its food, i.e. sides were pre-cooked and served directly from trays, and a pathetic amount of dressing was packed in a minuscule plastic container. Moreover, everything was served in and with disposable ware at Nature's Nutrition, while the Autobus had chosen to use real cutlery and crockery. The latter's decision is not only friendlier to the environment, but the dining experience also feels more substantial with heavier flatware, albeit this being a superficial consideration. The trade-off for all these? You will have to wait for your bowl to be lovingly prepared. There is a silver lining though - the cafe's interiors, awash with invitingly cosy wooden furniture and veneers - and its high ceiling makes spending time ruminating on one of its chairs a pleasure of sorts. You may also take the time to admire the cafe's intriguing internal signboard, fully lit across a wide expanse of the ceiling, as well as bicycles hung arbitrarily on its walls. It would be great if the Autobus looks into extending the timing during which salad bowls are available for order. The current timing starts at 11am and ends at 2:30pm. Some off-peak promotions would also serve to warrant more regular trips for late lunches, making the place an easy recommendation for my mother and other savvy housewives.