Le Petit Baker

If you google for cafes in the Serangoon area, you are bound to find out about Plain Jane. Its a quaint little cafe located under a HDB block with very eccentric decorations, old school cutlery and friendly staff.

We came here for tea just before a dinner meet up. We ordered some drinks and their famous cake rolls.

I can’t fully remember what we had but I remember the fruity tea was really light and flavourful but the cake rolls were almost a miss. I didn’t really understand what I was having because the cake was really thin and the cream was really thick and I could not really feel a balance in this dessert. But, the Thai Tea flavour from the cream was delightful.

Overall, the visit was calming and there was a good turnover rate of customers as well. I would visit again for the tea but maybe not for the cake.

Plain Jane @ Serangoon
Address: 211 Serangoon Ave 4, #01-10, Singapore 550211
Contact:  6281 2477k

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 12pm to 8pm, closed on Wednesday
Saturday and Sunday: 10am to 8pm

Personal rating: 3/5 (eccentric and pleasant)

Cass wanted to visit this place because she loves matcha and of course, the photos being shared by everyone looks super awesome.

We visited this place on a weekend and it was very crowded. The limited seats were all taken up and the sharing table was almost full. Fortunately, a short wait later, we managed to get a couple of seats and we ordered 1 drink and a slice of cake to share.

The drink was exquisite. If I remember correctly, it was a Hojicha drink and it was super rich and the bitterness simply matched with the milk perfectly. The cake though was just so-so. I would give it a miss if I visit this place again.

One thing I have to comment about is the staff. They all seemed very grump and upset. No one seemed to smile and everyone was just “doing their job” in a seemingly unhappy manner. It was quite off-putting to have a staff member take your order without a smile and give you your drink and cake without a smile too. Hopefully they could improve on this.

Another issue was the seating. The space is definitely japanese inspired with minimalist decor but during peak hour, there is so much space but no seats. When it is quiet with less people, such spaces add beauty but when there are many customers, maybe they can consider adding more temporary seating

Overall, for authentic Matcha and Hojicha, I would for sure recommend this place. I’m actually quite excited to try more of their drinks as well.

 

Hvala @ Chjimes
Address: 30 Victoria St, Singapore 187996
Contact:  6281 1286

Opening hours:
Daily: 11am to 9,30pm

Personal rating: 3/5

 

Whenever we ride pass this restaurant at Serangoon Gardens, Cass will say she wants to try it but before we made our own plans, a friend of ours invited us to have dinner there together. It is a cosy Italian restaurant which seems to be run by an Italian chef and his family. The staff were friendly and presumably, the lady-owner, was very chatty as well.

We ordered quite a number of dishes of our own and also some to share. The pizza was amazing! Definitely made fresh and with the fragrance of the tomato sauce, it was awesome.

For us, we shared a pork chop but sadly, it was a little tough. I mean, it was definitely well-cooked and had perfect grill marks on it but I found it a little too hard to chew.

One of us ordered the lemon dessert, which I can’t remember the name of, and that was actually a real lemon with lemon sorbet in the middle. It was really tangy and had a good kick to it. Even though I wanted to try the tiramisu, I was too full for it so may another time.

They have shorter opening hours so usually, you would have to make a booking before you go or you may not get a seat.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience.

Casa Manini @ Serangoon Gardens
Address: Serangoon Gardens, 14B Kensington Park Road, Singapore 557265
Contact:  6281 1286

Opening hours:
Tuesdays: 6pm – 9.30pm
Wednesdays – Sundays: 12pm – 2.30pm, 6pm – 9.30pm

Personal rating: 3/5 (cosy, tasty, friendly)