Whale Lala Cafe – All About the Whales and Healthy Japanese-Western Food!

Whale Lala Cafe initially sounded queer to me. I didn’t think there was a story behind the name. Stepping into the cafe, I immediately noticed how sweet and pleasant the cafe looked. And maybe because the cafe wasn’t busy when I popped by, the quiet setting, together with the unicorns and whales plushies, gave me a sense of peace! I was greeted by a friendly staff and she shared her recommendations with me readily. Whale Lala Cafe offers Japanese-Western fusion food and vegetarian options too!

Sitting in a corner using her laptop was one of the owners of Whale Lala Cafe, Jeslyn, who is also the chef. A relatively shy but easy-going character, Jeslyn excitedly shared about some of the new dishes that she’s experimenting with.

Curious, I asked her, “Why Whale Lala?” She shyly replied: “Because I love whales and I wanna raise environmental awareness for the whales.” How cool is that! The menu is quite extensive, and you may be surprised by the standard of the food!

I was intrigued by the meatless (vegetarian) mains so I got myself the Cold Soba & Katsu ($14.80) which consists of cha soba and a meatless chicken cheese katsu which looked exactly like a chicken fillet! I was impressed by the taste of the katsu — it tasted like real chicken breast meat! In addition, the garlic cheese and crunchy batter were made the katsu even more addictive! The cold soba (healthier option) was meant to be bland, thus I will encourage you to eat it with the katsu and sweet teriyaki sauce! I secretly wished the katsu was larger.

Next, we had the Chicken Karaage Don ($8.80) which comes with brown-red rice, garlic soy chicken karaage, onsen egg, edamame and cherry tomatoes. Don’t you think that the don is priced very reasonably? After finishing the soba and meatless katsu, I felt just a tad “healthier” and very pleased with my new diet. Seems like Jeslyn is not only raising awareness for whales, she is advocating healthy diets too! I am not a fan of garlic soy because of previous bad experiences with garlic soy wings, but I accepted Jeslyn’s recommendation since she was very confident about their house-made garlic soy.

Well, I’m certainly glad that I heeded her recommendation because the garlic soy sauce was AWESOME! The chicken karaage was slightly crispy, yet juicy within. The marinade hit all the right spots! The cherry tomatoes and edamame were fresh as well. Breaking and mixing the onsen egg helped to “soften” the brown-red rice. You can be sure that this bowl will fill you up.

The Cheesy Bonito Fries ($8), though not the healthiest, tasted really similar to that from a certain fast food chain, just with bonito flakes. The bonito flakes added a touch of savouriness which we welcomed.

I was not intending to take photos of the Passionfruit Soda ($4.50) but I realised that Whale Lala Cafe uses pretty paper straws! Things made more sense now as I understood what Jeslyn meant by raising environmental awareness for the whales. I know, it’s only a very small gesture, but a small action can still go a long way.

I don’t know about you, but Whale Lala Cafe is one of those cafes that not only filled my stomach, but my heart too. We definitely can do with more of such cafes in Singapore.

MissTamChiak.com made anonymous visit and paid its own meal at the stall featured here.

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