Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Singapore cafe. Show all posts

Waiting for my coffee at Mellower Coffee

Citrus tart and chai latte from Mellower Coffee

Sweet rain coffee from Mellower Coffee Bugis

It has been raining lately in Singapore so it seems to be a good time to hide yourself in a cafe while looking at the wet window (if you are able to secure the seats near the window though). One of the cafes in Singapore which gives you the chance to do that is Mellower Coffee. The cafe actually has two locations in Singapore, one in Bugis and one in Tanjong Pagar area. I went to the the one in Bugis because bae said it’s bigger and we may have some peace sitting at the level 2 of the cafe. Level one of the cafe is so crowded, I initiatlly thought we had no chance to secure any seats/ table in Mellower Coffee. But turns out there are more seats at level 2 of the cafe. Phew.

Mellower Coffee is well, as its name says, well-known for its fancy coffee rendition but I can’t sleep at night if I drink coffee around 7PM so I let bae to choose their fancy creation, Sweet Little Rain (SGD 9.80) while I’m settling for a cup of hot chai latte (SGD 6). I wanted my chai latte to be cold because the cold cup is nice for photography purpose but Mellower Coffee only serves it hot. Oh well, hot latte is more suitable in the cool days of this tropical island anyway. We also ordered citrus cake which I forgot costs how much (maybe SGD 7-ish?), cakes are not cheap in Singapore sadly.

Sweet Little Rain is totally an expensive coffee I would say but it comes with a huge piece of cotton candy. So the idea is to place the cotton candy on top of the piping hot americano so that the cotton candy will melt bit by bit in a form resembling rain. It’s sugary rain and hence, the name “Sweet Little Rain”. You won’t be able to see it clearly without further observation but make sure you don’t put anything underneath the cotton candy for a long time. Otherwise, your things will be “baptised” with sugar. I saved Brown and Cony before that happened of course. I asked bae if the droppings of cotton candy makes his coffee sweeter but it doesn’t seem to be the case unless he takes a bite of cotton candy and sip his coffee immediately afterward. But that beats the concept of this drink!

Moving on, the citrus cake tastes pretty good but the base is a bit tough to break, even with metal fork. Other than the tough base, we kinda enjoyed this tart. My chai latte taste ok, but I still had difficulty to sleep at night despite it should have less caffeine. Bae, who is normally able to sleep under caffeine influence right before bedtime, also told me that he had difficulty sleeping that night. I suppose Mellower Coffee sells pretty strong caffeine fix. Beware if you are weak like me and stick to hot chocolate after 7PM okay.

Christmas cookies from Tachihara Coffee at Millenia Walk

Menu from Tachihara Coffee at Millenia Walk

Iced lavender milk tea from Tachihara Coffee

Hazelnut latte and lavender milk tea from Tachihara Coffee

I did not plan to go Tachihara Coffee at all on Tuesday. My initial plan was to just get a bread for the next day’s breakfast from Pullman Bakery since my bae and I were strolling around Millenia Walk to let our stomach digest the chicken rice that we just had at Wee Nam Kee in Marina Square. However, upon paying for my bread, bae received a 50% coupon for any coffee drink from the next door Tachihara Coffee. The coupon is only valid for that day (unless bae see the words wrongly) and since we had no idea where to continue our date next we decided to just chill and drink something at Tachihara Coffee.

I wanted to have cake too but the only cake available at Tachihara Coffee is a small cup of tiramisu which is stored in the fridge. I suppose I should just have a drink at this quaint little cafe which seems to be share the same owner with Pullman Bakery. Other than drinks and cookies/ some dessert displayed on the table and in the fridge, Tachihara Coffee also sells sandwiches, hot dogs and soups. It’s probably often frequented by office crowd on a weekday but the cafe is pretty quiet on public holiday. And it closes at 8PM too so we only had an hour to enjoy our coffee and tea.

I chose an unusual flavor of tea which I seldom see anywhere else, Ice Lavender Milk Tea (SGD 4.50) while bae chose to use the 50% coupon on his regular Hazelnuts Latte (SGD 4.80). Even without the coupon, I feel that the regular price tag for Tachihara Coffee’s beverages is relatively cheaper than other cafes out there. My lavender milk tea really has a good dose of lavender...I’m guessing syrup because I can taste the lavender flavor pretty strongly in my drink. While it’s probably making my milk tea flowery, I kinda enjoyed the weird combination. And the best part is, I could sleep soundly that night even though I had my milk tea at 7PM to 8PM-ish. It must have been low in caffeine level. Hehe.

Would pop by for quick me-time lunch fix if I can muster my willpower to go all the way to Millenia Walk from where my office is located. Hahaha.

Goma cake and matcha latte from Hvala Chijmes

Matcha latte and Matcha houjicha latte from Hvala

This weekend I finally had the chance to check out Hvala at Chijmes. Hvala is actually not new in Singapore since I have seen its shop at basement level of 313 Somerset. However, getting seat at the common area of 313 Somerset basement is a huge pain in the ass especially on weekends. So, I don’t feel like buying anything from Hvala Somerset due to seating challenge. However, I read in the news that Hvala has set up a teahouse/ cafe at Chijmes and there are seats where people can chill and take picture of the food/ drink that they buy. Getting excited by this news, I drag bae and my four little friends to Hvala. Hehe.

I was kinda worried about the crowd but the cafe was not crowded around 7PM. Well, I guess most of people are enjoying dinner at this timing but we had finished our dinner by then at the nearby ramen shop. So we are ready to chill and eating dessert at Hvala. Since Hvala is somewhat a teahouse, I always want to try out their matcha latte. Bae ordered matcha houjicha latte instead. You know, I always think that matcha latte has no caffeine (maybe due to what Starbucks always says) but I could not sleep easily that night so I figure the matcha used by Hvala probably is stronger than what Starbucks use. I don’t know but it’s probably just me.

Other than this insomnia risk, Hvala’s Matcha Latte (SGD 5.80) taste pretty good and it’s not the super bitter kind of matcha. Bae’s Matcha Houjicha Latte (SGD 5.80) taste exactly the same except for the addition of houjicha at the bottom of the drink. Turns out the combination of matcha and houjicha taste pretty good too. We wanted to try one of Hvala’s cakes too but were in a dilemma on what to decide. We figured matcha cake would somehow be an overkill since our drinks are full of matcha so we ordered Goma Cake instead. Goma cake is basically black sesame cake and it’s not often to see this kind of cake on display so I found this to be pretty interesting cake. It’s not so sweet and yet, I love it. Especially when it’s paired with match latte.

The crowd started to come in around 9PM-ish and when the crowd has come, you are expected to share the communal table because somehow the concept of seating in Hvala seems to either encourage sharing/ big group customers. Kinda weird but I don’t know, maybe that how the owner pictures its teahouse to be.

Singapore Food Log: Kagurazaka Saryo, Vivo City

Cha-nabe menu from Kagurazaka Saryo Vivo City

Desserts menu from Kagurazaka Saryo Vivo City

Beverage menu from Kagurazaka Saryo Vivo City

Signature parfait from Kagurazaka Saryo Vivo City

Kagurazaka Saryo’s signature matcha parfait

I was actually thinking of cancelling tonite’s dinner but then I remembered that my buddy won’t be around next week as she’s travelling to Taiwan. I decided to go on with the appointment despite my irritating cramp. Since I was not in really good mood with the cramp and last minute’s annoying email from someone in the office, we decided to eat something sweet at the latest addition of Japanese restaurant in Vivo City, Kagurazaka Saryo. The brand is brought into this tiny island by the same group who brought in Ajisen Ramen, Osaka Osho and Menya Musashi Ramen. Hmm, if I recall correctly, Kagurazaka Saryo is located at the exact location where Fruit Paradise used to be.

In fact, both brands belong to the same group. This is proven by the fact that Kagurazaka Saryo offers the fruit tarts which are the special items from Fruit Paradise. Good thing for the fruit tarts lover I suppose. However, tonight we went for the parfait because it looks so good and it’s just the right size for sharing. There are two types of parfait offered by Kagurazaka Saryo. One comes with normal vanilla and matcha ice cream while the other one comes with soft served matcha. We took a while to decide between the two but finally we went for the cheaper one at SGD 10.90 before tax. We are frugal people hahaha.

The presentation of the parfait seems to lack color but it’s probably because of the lighting too, I’m not sure why. The parfait comes with two scoops of ice cream (vanilla and matcha), 2 pieces of waffles, 2 pieces of mini sponge cake, 2 pieces of white mochi balls, 2 pieces of another type of mini square mochi, and matcha pudding/ jelly underneath the whole thing. Overall, it’s not bad although I can’t say it’s fantastic either. We do enjoy devouring it while talking about life in general, tough work, difficult people to work with and upcoming travel plan. At least it’s always fun to talk about travel plan although we don’t travel together this year with me haven’t been able to secure a permanent job. But let’s think positively and be grateful with our current situation no matter what. God will make a way.

I am quite curious with the rice/udon broth that Kagurazaka Saryo offers though. You just need to top up for 3 SGD to get the drink to come together with the meal. Hmm, that’s probably not so bad of a deal. I may come back for it next time I’m in the mood for soupy stuff.

Singapore Food Log: The Tree Cafe, The Cathay

Earl grey latte from The Tree Cafe at The Cathay

Eggs benedict from the Tree Cafe, The Cathay

For the first time in my life that I found a restaurant which is closed at 1PM on a Sunday. I wonder if Batter Batter has earned a comfortable amount of earnings up to the point they only re-open the restaurant at 2PM. Hmm, it’s definitely weird but I suppose some restaurants probably don’t have to earn so much money. But anyway, since my friend’s suggestion is not available earlier, we decided to walk back to the Cathay to try out the pretty new cafe in the mall, The Tree Cafe.

The Tree Cafe is situated at level 2 at the Cathay and oh boy, I was kinda surprised to see the nearby Ban Heng has closed its door for good. F&B business must be pretty tough to handle with so many restaurants come in and out. To be honest, the Tree Cafe occupies the site which is notorious for F&B to come and go but let’s hope they can last longer than its predecessors. But it all boils down to what kind of food and drink that the cafe serve I guess.

For a start, the cafe seems to offer reasonable price for its dishes ranging from SGD 8+ to SGD 16+ (the most expensive at SGD 16+ is grilled salmon). It has a variety of dish I would say from rice bowl, all day breakfast, burgers, mains to pasta & salad. I’ve never seen eggs benedict costing less than SGD 10 so I’m up for it. Meanwhile, my dining buddy is in the mood for rice bowl so she goes for teriyaki beef rice bowl (SGD 8.5). The drink menu also offers latte at cheaper price compared to cafes out there with hot earl grey latte costing less than SGD 5 (I think it’s SGD 4.50). So I ordered earl grey latte hoping that they come with latte art.

Unfortunately, my wish did not come true, the barista probably need to spend more time to perfect the latte art and even the drink overall. While I can taste the taste of earl grey, I think their definition of earl grey latte is earl grey tea + a huge dose of milk until the whole drink is kinda too diluted. While it’s not perfect, I still finish the drink tho. Hahaha. I suppose I don’t like leaving some wastage. Money is after all, hard to earn.

The food is not that bad considering the price is cheaper than egg benedicts at other places. The eggs poached perfectly and surprisingly goes well with baguette. At first I thought the mayonaisse looks excessive but turns out it’s pretty good although I realise there’s no benedict sauce in this egg dish at all. LOL. I suppose the chef probably substitute mayo (which is good for a lot of stuff I have to say) for benedict sauce because benedict sauce is a pain in the ass to make, I heard. My dining buddy did not really make any comment about the rice bowl but she left a few pieces of beef in her bowl. I kinda wonder now whether the beef are not cooked perfectly and hence, she did not eat them. Oh well.

I’m not sure if I would come back again cause most of the time I will be lured to Popeye’s downstair whenever I visit the Cathay. But if I need a place to sit down to have a good chat while having affordable meal, I think I will consider the Tree Cafe. Let’s see how it goes.

Singapore Food Log: Churros Night at Chulove Cafe, Vivo City

Flavorful long churros from Chulove Cafe

Mini churros with dark chocolate sauce from Chulove Cafe

Pistachio long churros from Chulove Cafe

I initiated to spend Friday night at Vivo City thinking to take pictures of those cute Tsum Tsum mid-autumn lanterns. But I did not know school holiday break has started and hence, Vivo City was swarmed with people, mostly families with kids. I don’t like super crowded areas and squeezing my way in with I don’t know how many other people kinda made me lose interest to check the cute lanterns. So I ended up chilling with my TGIF buddy at the new cafe in Vivo City, Chulove Cafe.

The “chu” part of chulove seems to refer to Churros instead of kissing sound. And just like what the name refers, Chulove Cafe sells churros, cakes and drinks (coffee/ tea). I skip the drinks part because there’s no way I’m consuming caffeine at 8PM+. I will end up like an owl cuckoo-ing for the whole night until morning. There are three types of churros offered by Chulove Cafe: one is mini churros in a cup, the other two are round and long churros. Round churros kinda look like a donut made from churros while long churros is one straight long stick of churros. Both long and round churros are laced with sauce and toppings. The starting price of the churros seem to be 3 SGD.

We tried a big cup of mini churros with dark chocolate sauce and one long Pistachio churros for our first visit to Chulove Cafe. The long pistachio churros is immediately served but since it has been laid at the display counter for I don’t know how long, the churros become a bit hard and cold. Meanwhile the mini churros need a bit of a waiting time before you can collect them at the counter. However, they taste nicer because they are fresh from the fryer. I prefer the mini churros to the long churros just because of the hot/ cold comparison I suppose but it’s important to eat churros fresh. I suppose Chulove Cafe will give people more option to rest their tired legs after wandering around Vivo City carrying their shopping bags.

Chulove Cafe has replaced the now defunct Serenity. But since it sells churros which is a popular Spanish dessert, probably both F&B outlets are owned by the same people. Hope they can last in the fierce F&B competition in Singapore.

Singapore Food Log: Group Therapy Cafe, Tanjong Pagar

Group Therapy Duxton in Tanjong Pagar Singapore

Group Therapy Cafe in Tanjong Pagar Duxton

Coffee from Group Therapy Cafe Tanjong Pagar

French toast from Group Therapy Cafe Tanjong Pagar

Scrambled egg croissant from Group Therapy Cafe

Café is one of the best places to have a catch up talk with high school buddy. After all, you have not met them for so long and you surely have many things to talk about. However, although there are so many cafes in Singapore, the food that each café offers does not really differ from one to another. This kinda making cafehopping in this tiny island kinda boring. But then again, we should try to have a catch-up meeting at new café once in a while. So this time, we pick Group Therapy Café in Tanjong Pagar as our catch-up venue.

The café is housed on the second storey of a conserved shophouse in Tanjong Pagar area. You will the signboard of the café on the first floor though so you will not miss it. We did not make reservation but the café is moderately crowded on Sunday morning. So we managed to get a table for the three of us before making prior reservation. Group Therapy Café serves many egg-based brunch items like egg benedict, croquet monsieur, etc. However, I was not in the eggcited mode for egg (pardon the lame pun) so I ordered something sweet instead, French Toast. My friend ordered scrambled egg which came with a sausage and croissant. It was pretty good. However, I still prefer the French Toast. A note before you order the French Toast though, since it comes with ice cream, I would think it’s best to share the French Toast with your dining buddy.

How about the coffee? I found out that Chai latte is not actually considered coffee when I look at the menu. This is because Group Therapy Café lists Chai latte as one of their non-caffeine items. Oh gosh, am I really a coffee drinker? Hahaha. But anyway, their seven spiced chai latte (is it really 7?) taste so good and it’s not easy to find good spiced chai latte in Singapore to yupz, I’m happy. My friend mixed up my chai latte for her normal flat white and she was perplexed for a seconds, “How come my drink taste like spice?”. Make sure you don’t mix up the cup before drinking, peeps.

The café closes pretty early on 6PM though I would say. But I guess Tanjong Pagar crowd is mainly office peeps and the area is not so crowded on weekends. Maybe that’s why the café closes early.

It seems to me that the neighbourhood of Upper Thomson is populated by a lot of cafe selling waffles and ice cream. Well this is good news for me who love the combination of warm thick waffle and ice cream plus sauce. In the midst of many choices, I decided to go go to Les Patisseries because it’s basically just right beside the cafe that I just visited, Columbus Coffee Co. I was really lazy to walk that day. Hahaha.

At 8PM-ish on a public holiday, the cafe was deserted. But we did not mind it because after all my bae and I were on a date and we love quiet and dim cafe as our dating venue. There is a menu right outside the cafe so you can check out their selection of waffle, ice cream and sauce before stepping into the cafe. There are a few cakes available at the counter too but they did not pique my interest at all, unfortunately.

The great thing about how Les Patisserie serve their waffle is that although the cafe offers their set waffle creation, it also offers option for its diners to create their own waffle at both half size and full size. You can choose the combination of the waffle (plain/double chocolate/ earl grey/ rose), ice cream (salted caramel/ belgium chocolate/ madagascar vanilla/ mint chocolate chip/ thai milk tea/ mango sorbet/ raspberry sorbet/ rose & lychee/ horlicks/ strawberry shortcake/ cookies and cream) and sauce (horlicks/ classic vanilla/ dark chocolate/ salted caramel/ lychee puree/ forest berries compote/ maple syrup). The waffle costs ranging from SGD 3.5 to SGD 4.5 for half size and SGD 6 to SGD 8 for full size, ice cream costs SGD 4 per scoop and sauce costs ranging from SGD 2.5 to SGD 3.5.

Chilling out at Les Patisseries Upper Thomson

I let bae chose the combination because I am okay with the selection since there is no durian inside the option. He came back with a combination of half-sized earl grey waffle, mint chocolate chip ice cream (his all-time favourite, why do boys love mint ice cream/chocolate/drink?) and salted caramel sauce. Our waffle creation costs SGD 10.50 (SGD 4.5 + SGD 4 + SGD 2). This is the first time I saw the option of choosing half waffle (except Gelare, maybe?) and I was really glad this option is available because I was pretty full from my gluttony at Columbus Coffee Co right before visiting Les Patisserie.

Half waffles with mint straciatella ice cream

Les Patisseries is located at:

222 Upper Thomson

Singapore

Nearest MRT: Marymount

Opening times:

Monday to Thursday - 11AM to 11.30PM

Friday - 11AM to 1.30AM

Saturday - 9AM to 1.30AM

Sunday - 9AM to 11.30PM

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Wandering Fel

Mellower Coffee, Singapore

Tachihara Coffee, Singapore

Singapore Food Log: Hvala, Chijmes

Singapore Food Log: Kagurazaka Saryo, Vivo City

Singapore Food Log: The Tree Cafe, The Cathay

Singapore Food Log: Chulove Cafe, Vivo City

Singapore Food Log: Group Therapy Cafe, Tanjong Pagar

Singapore Food Log: Les Patisseries