Merle & Co: Pet-friendly vegetarian cafe at Lentor Modern with hearty brunch plates

Pet-friendly cafes and vegetarian cafes draw two pretty distinct crowds. Those with furry companions for the former, and the health-conscious or those with dietary restrictions, for the latter.

So when this cafe at the recently opened Lentor Modern mall brought those two worlds together, we knew we had to check it out. 

Pet-friendly, vegetarian, and allium-free

Meet Merle & Co, one of the latest indoor pet-friendly cafes in town. Merle & Co invites diners to dig into brunch, relish a cold scoop of gelato, or simply enjoy a cuppa, all with their furry companions by their side. 

Decked out in wood furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows, Merle & Co is a vibey spot for catching up with your friends over brunch, or just to chill — even if you’re not a pet owner.   

Vegetarian options aren’t the most commonplace in the market today, and vegetarian brunch options even less so, which is how the owners settled on Merle & Co’s menu.

The owners, who declined to be named, are also behind vegetarian Korean eateries The Boneless Kitchen and Daehwa Korean. 

Besides being vegetarian, Merle & Co’s menu is allium-free, which means it excludes ingredients such as onions, garlic, leek, shallots, green onions, and chives.

Merle’s furry visitors are required to be leashed at all times indoors, in case you are wary of sharing a dining space with pets.

Brunch at Merle & Co

I don’t hate vegetables, but I also wouldn’t go out of my way to eat more of it. But despite my initial scepticism, Merle & Co managed to do a great job of making me forget that its food has neither meat nor alliums. 

We tried their roasted cauliflower slab (S$25), which features a roasted cauliflower “steak” atop a bed of sauce made from baby spinach, chickpea and butter bean. 

The roasted cauliflower paired with the sauce was flavourful enough for us to not notice the absence of meat — the “steak” was buttery, with a bite that’s tender, yet firm. 

Be sure to soak up any leftover sauce with the accompanying toasted sourdough.

Another signature brunch item at Merle & Co is The Underdog with toast (S$28) — velvety mashed potatoes drizzled in a truffle mushroom sauce and topped off with two soft-boiled eggs, alongside some veggies and two slices of thick-cut toasted shokupan bread. 

Why is it called The Underdog? It’s because you wouldn’t expect the star of the dish, the mashed potatoes, to be hidden under a bed of truffle mushroom sauce. The combination of San Marzano tomatoes, grilled zucchini, and grilled asparagus made for a hearty brunch platter that keeps you scooping for more.

If you’re looking for more brunch staples, Merle & Co has a French brioche toast with fresh fruits (S$21) and the Sunrise Breakie (S$25), featuring sunny side-ups, an assortment of grilled veggies served alongside toasted sourdough.

Pizzas and pastas 

Looking for more filling options such as pizzas and pastas? Merle & Co’s got that covered, too. 

We had the truffle cream Baby Bella mushroom pasta (S$22), a rigatoni pasta dish starring sauteed Baby Bella mushrooms, truffle cream sauce, grated parmesan, and truffle extra virgin olive oil. 

The truffle cream mushroom pasta was rich, creamy, and full of truffle flavour. The truffle cream coated the hollow surfaces of the rigatoni pasta thoroughly, making for a good ratio of pasta and cream with every bite. 

Of the pastas and pizzas we tried, we were most impressed by the roasted San Marzano and Roma tomatoes pasta (S$21). 

Instead of mass-produced tomato sauce from a can, Merle uses fresh tomatoes, making the dish naturally sweet, without additives.

Garnished with sweet basil and a drizzle of basil extra virgin olive oil, Merle’s tomato pasta is a glorious celebration of natural ingredients. Tomato pasta isn’t my usual go-to, but if it comes done the way Merle does it, best believe I’m going straight for it.

Of the pizzas, we also managed to try the spiced masala Garden (S$23), a 10-inch handmade pizza starring turmeric cauliflower, seasoned russet potatoes, Roma tomatoes, sweet red peppers, peas, and arugula. 

Masala-flavoured pizza isn’t a common find at all, but Merle & Co managed to make it work. 

The pizza base was more similar to a fluffier flatbread, rather than the crisp, oven-baked dough you get with regular pizzas, but it still worked great with the spiced veggies.

Perhaps what was most impressive to me — as someone that doesn’t have vegetarian fare very often — is how the dish was flavourful and hearty enough that the lack of meat or alliums never crossed my mind.

Merle & Co manages to bring out the flavours of the veggies and put them at the centrestage of the main dishes, and it’s done so artfully, even the more carnivorous eaters among us wouldn’t find themselves bereft. 

Coffee and more  

Besides coffee and tea, Merle & Co has special house drinks such as homemade iced lemon tea (S$6), coffee slush (S$8) and smoothies (S$9). The latter two can be made with either dairy or oat milk, at no extra charge. 

The avocado smoothie (S$9) with oat milk was lighter than other renditions I’ve had, in terms of both colour and taste, making for a creamy beverage that doesn’t feel overly rich and is well-balanced. 

If you’re looking for something lighter on the palate, the iced tea Cloud foam (S$9) is a good option. You’ll get to choose between French earl grey and jasmine teas from TWG Tea for the iced tea base, which is then topped off with a light and fluffy foam cap.This can also be done with matcha latte or hojicha latte for an extra S$1. 

For those that’d like to include their pets in the feasting, Merle & Co has a pet menu too. Get a Pawsome Harvest medley (S$12) consisting of roasted seasonal vegetables and quail egg for your pets to chomp on, or indulge them in a Puppucinno (S$2) or a baked apple pie iced cup (S$5.50).

Find yourself craving more of a sweet treat? Merle & Co offers a wide range of gelato flavours that can be enjoyed in cups (from S$5.90) or cones (from S$7.30). Vegan options are available, with dairy-free flavours such as matcha oat, vanilla oat and mango yuzu sorbet.  

Even if you’re neither a pet owner nor a vegetarian, I’d reckon Merle & Co is still worth a visit. The versatility of vegetarian dishes here really stood out and I’m sure most non-vegetarians will be impressed with the brunch plates and mains here, just as I was. 

What’s more, you might even get to see the cutest pets during your time here! 

This was a hosted tasting. 

Looking for more places to eat around Lentor Modern? Check out this modern Italian restaurant with pasta under S$30, or this quirky pink diner.