Coconuts Hot Spot: Jack Ripper

COCONUTS HOT SPOT — Listen up wannabe café-kopitiams (*cough* Cheng’s@27 *cough*), here’s a good example of a modern — and moderately priced — dining establishment in a coffee shop setting.

Fitting snuggly in the offbeat premises of 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1 — a walking distance from Ikea Alexandra and Queensway Shopping Centre — are a handful of not-your-usual hawker stalls led by young owners. There’s steak, gourmet coffee and cake, and even premium hand-battered haddock fillet. It’s all rather surreal: Where else can you reserve a table and feast on a hearty French onion soup while washing it down with teh oh peng?

This is where you will find gourmet burger joint Jack Ripper. There are only seven items on the menu, but that’s not saying it lacks variety. The beef burgers are all handmade in the Juicy Lucy school of thought, in which cheese is stored inside the meat patty, creating a molten core of gooey goodness that bursts inside your mouth.

If that’s not rich enough for the palate, there’s also an an array of luxurious burger toppings like crispy bacon, tomatoes, guacamole, onions relish and more depending on which one you get. All seven are appropriately — or inappropriately — named after victims of Jack the Ripper, a still-unidentified serial killer in London during the late 1800s.

Don’t let the prices surprise you — this kopitiam has blue-checkered tablecloths, after all. Unlike the tearful prices of mediocre dishes in other café-kopitiams (*cough* Cheng’s@27 *cough*), the meals at Jack Ripper are righteously satisfying and certainly gourmet as fuck.

Opt for the basic Mary Jane ($12), and you’ll see what the fuss is all about for Juicy Lucy style burgers. The tender patties glisten with moist juices and gooey cheese, sandwiched in between two crisp buns.

Richer fare such as the Elizabeth ($18) and the Annie ($18) are a good deal more costly, but would probably fill you up for the rest of the day. As if cheese-filled patties weren’t opulent enough, Annie’s generous topping of spicy guacamole and jalapeños add another layer of grandiose flavour to the sandwich.

Fortunately, all burgers come with a side of thick-cut fries. The combination of caramelized onion and beef rarely go wrong, and the Elizabeth proves the notion right with the onion relish adding a sweet (but not saccharine) kick to the burger.

Though it’s a complete antithesis of the dollar hotdogs of Ikea or the $3 curry chicken rice of Queensway Shopping Centre, Jack Ripper is a definite must-try for those seeking out something different — and undeniably gourmet — in the sleepy neighbourhood of Queenstown.

Jack Ripper is at Salut Coffeeshop, 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-40. Open daily 11.30am-3pm, 5.30pm-10pm.

Photo: Coconuts Singapore



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