Street Food Warms Your Heart: The Citrus House at 1 Magazine Road, The Central Mall

Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Citrus House at 1 Magazine Road, The Central Mall - The Beginnings The Ambience

The Beginnings of The Citrus House

It was at Marmalade Group (that owns Marmalade Pantry) when Chef Tom Oh was colleagues with Chef Wendy, that friendship ties were established. They both move on to work at OChre Italian Restaurant at Orchard Central. Chef Tom Oh knew Chris who is a classmate friend of his younger brother, and through Chris, was introduced to Henry Ang.

These four became firm friends and got together to form The Citrus House Pte Ltd, with Henry Ang and Chris being the majority shareholders owning 70%, and Wendy and Tom Oh being the minority shareholders, owning 30%. Both Henry and Chris handled the business aspect of the company: ranging from PR, Marketing, Business Development, Finance, Recruitment, HR, whilst Chefs Tom Oh and Wendy handles the kitchen from purchasing, sourcing, menu planning, new recipes, to training of kitchen staff.

Outlets

Apart from The Citrus House at The Central Mall, the company owns another outlet called Citrus By The Pool serving Fusion Cuisine located in Woodlands Swimming Pool, targeting mainly students and families.

Menu Planning

The Citrus House Set Lunch Menu changes daily to keep up with regular diners who is always looking for surprises every day.

The Ala Carte Main Menu changes every 3 months. The Menu boasts of about 40 items with several categories. (see menu below for details)

Kitchen Staff

Currently there are 4 kitchen staff (including Executive Head Chef Tom Oh) to prepare the food, most of these staff come with basic culinary experience, who simply follow the recipes as listed by the Executive Head Chef.

Ingredient Sources

The Citrus House uses local importers such as Euraco, Phoon Huat for chilled or frozen ingredients, as well as local supermarkets for fresh ingredients. The lamb used here is Australian chilled Angus beef. As for poultry, The Citrus House uses fresh free range chicken for its whole chicken dish, frozen chicken for its chicken chop and chilled chicken breast for its Signature Chicken Burrito. The vegetables used here are fresh vegetable from local suppliers. The wrap used for the Burrito comes from the supplier.

The sauces and marinates used here usually have additional add-ons to create new concoctions, eg cocktail sauce made with ketchup, maggi chili, tomato, Tabasco sauce, mayonnaise plus lemon. As for the Mayo used for the Chicken Burrito, Chef Tom Oh usually adds on additional ingredients to enhance the flavor. About 60% of the sauces used here are purchased from Importers of oversea brands, the rest are from the local market producers.

As for the seafood, poultry, meat : the prawns used here are frozen, the boneless chicken used are frozen, whilst the salmon used is fresh chilled, the beef and lamb used are fresh chilled. Chef Tom Oh chooses ingredients based mainly on their quality, irregardless of whether they are frozen or chilled fresh.

Food Preparation

The Duck Confit are usually marinated overnight, whilst the lamb are marinated for a few hours. The Citrus House makes their own dough for the bread. The Ham and Cheese Sandwich bread is made fresh daily. The cafe also uses other types of bread purchased from the supermarket. Most of the food here are cooked ala minute as per order.

Slogan & Mission Statement

USP of The Citrus House

The Citrus House differs from other cafes in that Chef Tom Oh do customize the menu to the taste of the diners. To create new recipes to attract and retain customers, Chef Tom Oh works as a team together with Chef Wendy and the Assistant Chef to brainstorm on new recipes. The Citrus House management invest in modern and up-to-date equipments and techniques such as the Chef Infusion Immersion Circulator in the cooking process to delight their diners.

Ordering, Payment, Takeaways

Ordering at The Citrus House is based on the Ordering Form (below) which the diners filled in, after which the Service staff logs in the order and flows to the kitchen.

Payment at The Citrus House is made using Credit Card, currently the cafe does not have Nets made available yet.

Takeaway Orders is allowed at The Citrus House, without any minimum order.

Currently the cafe does not use any delivery vendor but can deliver via the company vehicle for larger orders. To date there is no Promotion, nor Loyalty programs available yet. The Citrus House targets mainly : students, office crowd, tourist, PMEBs.

The Seating Capacity totals about 60 -70 pax.

The Signatures at The Citrus House includes : Signature Citrus Duck Confit, Molten Chocolate Lava Cake, Slow Cooked Leg of Lamb, Signature Chicken Burrito, Set Lunch.

Here's Henry Ang (below) inviting you to come visit The Citrus House to feast on modern European Cuisine.

The Ambience

The Citrus House spots a modern European theme in its decor & furnishing, complete with portraits of the cafe's signature dishes, neatly framed and lining the walls. There is a smaller dining section next to the kitchen area below.

The cafe also has a cozy high table section complete with high chairs with leaning back rests, for those diners who prefer to have a higher vantage point.

Next to the Payment cum Drinks Service Station is this Bakery display chiller showcasing the cakes on sale for the day.

This is the Payment cum Drinks Service Station where the Lattes and Cappuccinos are brewed and served.

Square wooden tables with metallic chairs occupy most of the main central dining section.

Robert Frost gave a thought provoking quote for diners to chew on : "There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will"