Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the city and situated in a relatively peaceful place, is a mere 5-6 minute drive into a land of greenery and horses prancing happily in the morning sun.

I've always been intrigued by horses, not because i was born in the year of the horse and not that i love to eat horse meat (NO, NEVER!) but seeing these friendly, strong, muscular and happy horses (at least they look happy to me) just makes my day. Not to mention if you can actually view them trotting away while enjoying great company, food and service, it just helps to start the day (at about 830am) on the right footing.

I made a booking about 3-4 days before as i was pretty excited about meeting up with 2 dear frenz, together with my son. Wanted them all to experience coming upclose and personal (dun mind the smell of horses though as u come out of your car)with these happy creatures.

My gf and I tried an Egg Florentine set each ($12), washed down with Cafe Latte.
Verdict: Divine.
The eggs were nicely done, with the tangy egg yolk oozing down, covering the soft, fluffy cloud of egg white, under which there is a bunch of nice-sauteed sliced pieces of mushroom and the bottom most as a holding base is none other than the toasted muffin. Potatoes were sauteed to the right texture and flavour as a complementary side. Lastly, not forgetting the Berries & fruits By The Side that topped it all up with the following words to describe - "healthy and full of Vitamin C"

My not-so-picky guy fren selected The Riders Breakfast ($13) with a super healthy glass of cranberry juice. He selected bacon to go with 2 sunnyside up, baked beans, potatoes and toast.
Verdict: Nothing to shout about cos u can always prepare this at home, really nothing out of the ordinary. He was disappointed with the normalcy of what was placed in front of him...not even devastation was an understatement.

BUT the food considerably value 4 $$$!

Service was amiable, not over-friendly and basically leave u alone to attend to your own social group. But when we needed to take orders, requires water to be refilled, the guys was pretty attentive. The staff is also accommodating towards naughty babies as my son became so active that he did his own version of STOMP. We sat and chatted while enjoying the cuppa and the tamed horses entertaining us.

Looking forward to my next road bump into the road that leads to Rider's Cafe.

Had the burger there in the evening. The burger was juicy and the buns were lightly toasted. Didn't feel like the burger was heavily seasoned so you can taste the actual beef itself... always important in a good burger. Also ordered a fried calamari to share, that was reasonably done. Not outstanding... but it was good and got our appetites going.

Service was fairly ok. Water was filled up fairly promptly and plates were taken away when necessary. But the night we were there, only 4 tables out of the 10 or so tables were filled.

I was having a casual conversation withh my colleague three days ago when we were talking about where to go and what to do over weekends or staycation when on leave. She then mentioned to me about Riders Cafe, which has a unique setting and good breakfast. Hence, I decided to give it a try today with my hubby, baby and parents. Reservations are strongly recommended as the place is packed early in the morning and we reached there at 9.45 am on a Saturday morning. They do not open on Mondays. Very nostalgic ambience of colonial setting with high ceilings, cream-coloured walls and ceiling fans. The moment I walked in, a whiff of coffee aroma and English toast made me really hungry. Spending most of my life in Singapore except for my frequent visits to Australia during vacation and my studies there, I was immediately brought back to those relaxing times I had in those aussie cafes deep in the mountains of Mebourne and Sydney. Best of all, u get to see horses trotting by. I reserved for a seat by the balcony which was really a treat seeing the horses trotting by with their riders, being cleaned and fed. How often do we see such things in urban Singapore! Only problem was the weather. But the food and the ambience did mitigate some of the discomfort. Eggs Benedict and pancakes with berries compote would be my top of the list recommendation. As for the riders cafe breakfast, I would suggest u order with sausage as u get to choose a choice of either sausage, ham or bacon. The potatoes are just right. I also had the low-fat yogurt mixed fruit granola, ok I guess unless u r on diet but it adds a light touch to the breakfast. Moroccan Mint is quite a comfortable drink to go with the riders breakfast. The service unfortunately was a little lacklustre not because the waiters were impolite but more so because they were not very attentive to the needs of the customers. I had to remind them of my drinks to be served twice after my food had arrived. It was not very crowded at that juncture. Also, for a service charge paying customer, I seemed to be asking things like salt and pepper to be given to me which should have come together with the food. The costs was reasonable vis-a-vis the ambience. 4 of us with 5 dishes and 4 drinks amounted to S$87. Definitely thumbs up for more returning visits.

I went to Rider's cafe 4 times in the last 10 days, here's the run down.

Fri- I was driving along Eng Neo and decided to turn left to the small road that leads to Saddle Club cause I heard of a few interesting restaurants. Rider's cafe looks interesting and the prices are reasonable, made a note to return soon.

Mon - Came with my family in late afternoon but learnt that they are closed on Mon. My daughter saw a few horses up close though.

Wed - Came for tea after a kids outing and had the chocolate cake that almost killed me + a kiddy sandwich to share between 2 kids.

Friday - Came with my wife for breakfast. Loved the Egg Florentine and my wife had the Rider's breakfast.

Great location with excellent view of horses up close, laid back and casual ambience, reasonable prices, will return!

Making a brunch appointment with my friends on Sunday is always iffy (Saturday night happy hour at Wine Bar anyone?), and it's almost impossible to get a reservation on the day itself for Sunday brunch here. Taking these factors into consideration, it was a good month and a half of abortive attempts before I managed to make a proper reservation here.

I suppose the lush greenery, tranquility, horses and other random assorted features might appeal to others. I just wanted to come here to eat. The remote location was actually a major inconvenience (don't even try coming here without a car), as opposed to being a charming urban oasis and whatnot. Having said that, I did manage to wrangle a seat on the balcony (since I was going to eat there anyway, why not).

As expected, the place was packed when I appeared slightly after noon. I saw some poor souls who presumably didn't have reservations standing on the front steps and looking hopeful. This isn't something I would do - it's too warm!

I think the staff weren't local, but they took our orders with a businesslike efficiency and requiring minimum repetition. Clearly Riders is beyond capacity on Sundays, though, considering the popularity of brunch. The staff looked quite harried dealing with the ravenous hordes, and it was a slight hassle getting their attention sometimes. No matter, brunch is supposed to be a genial, relaxed affair anyway.

Food:
After looking at all the food pictures here, I just had to order the pancakes ($10). This came with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream and berry compote. I found the whipped cream rather unnecessary, but I suppose it makes the pancakes look that much more appetising.

Three fluffy pancakes, slightly soggy on the side smothered with the compote, arrived in fairly short order. I'd prefer the accompaniments to be served separately so I can be really fastidious and neurotic about which condiments go with my pancake. I also didn't like the soggy ends. I still thoroughly enjoyed this, however, and the slightly tart compote was an excellent, and rather unique accent to the warm, delightful pancakes.

I also ordered a couple of eggs as a side (can't remember how much, but not a significant expense). I requested these over easy but they came over medium, close to over hard. This was upsetting. Brunch places need to be adept at frying eggs to order.

My friends also commented that the riders breakfast ($13) looked better than it tasted. It wasn't a bad meal. We weren't dissatisfied or anything. The food was adequate and the pancakes were quite good, but it really isn't worth the hassle of getting here. I suppose the greenery doing nothing for us (its not that lush, tranquil, idyllic etc tbh) contributes to these sentiments as well.

We were quite unanimous in our preference for Jones as a brunch destination, both for food quality and location, although pricing here is slightly better. Doubt I'll be back really, unless on a date or something (girls would probably appreciate this sorta thing more - food is more important to me).