Petit Déjeuner

The Coffee Concierge thought that it would be nice to end off the "French cafe" series with a little photo of breakfast in "La Banesterie", her residence in Avignon.

This small bed & breakfast is a charming old house on Rue la Banesterie in the old city centre. The Coffee Concierge was enchanted by their breakfast - fresh breads and French pastries, a good selection of cheeses and jams, a serving of fruit and another of yoghurt, and last but not least - coffee served in these beautiful old coffee pots. Each day, a different one appeared on our table. It felt extremely civilised. And everything tasted extremely good too!

In Singapore, Italian coffee terms seemed to have crept into our coffee vocabulary. We talk of expressos, capuccinos and lattes. So we tend to forget that the French, too, have many different ways of drinking coffee - cafe noisette, cafe au lait, cafe crema or just plain black cafe. I've explained some of these terms in these series of posts. But if you would like to know more about these ways of drinking coffee (or if you would like a far fuller coffee glossary), here's a website with a long list of coffee terms.

For now,

Au revoir!

A charming little noisette

The Coffee Concierge was in Arles, in a cafe which was formerly the residence (briefly) of Vincent van Gogh. It had a vaulted ceiling and a sunny courtyard (which was undergoing some renovation) - it was a pleasurable experience sitting first in the courtyard and then in the cafe building itself. The renovation work started up after the workmen had their lunch and it was a little too noisy to chat.

After lunch (a forgettable pasta dish) the Coffee Concierge decided that a little cafe was necessary to help the forgetting process. I ordered a cafe noisette, and was delighted to get a little shot glass of expresso with a dollop of cream on top. "Noisette" means "hazelnut" in French, apparently this is called Cafe Noisette because the addition of the cream turns the dark coffee to the colour of hazelnuts.

The cafe noisette was indeed the good stuff - rich, strong, coffee, with the cream just adding that extra smoothness to the taste. So if you encounter the words "cafe noisette" in that French menu, give it a go.

Service-wise, the restaurant was perfectly adequate but nothing memorable. I can't remember how much the cafe noisette cost either, which probably means it was pretty reasonable.

Service: 3.5 beans

Flavour: 4.5 beans

Cafe au Lait, s'il vous plait

The Coffee Concierge found her way to L'Opus Cafe (Bistrot and Restaurant) near Marché Jules Vallès in the flea market area of St Ouen. That would be the Marché aux Puces de St-Ouen near the Port de Clingancourt metro station.

The flea markets are only open over the weekend and typically start up around 10am. Except, that the website we checked said 9am and "get there early". So we were somewhat early getting to the flea market and thought it would be nice to have a warm cup of coffee whilst we waited.

So here is a cup - not of cappucino, but of café au lait or coffee with milk. Half coffee, half milk, this is what the French typically drink at breakfast. However, you can get it through the day. There is no strong coffee flavour (obviously) and there is clearly more milk than in a typical cappucino. It's the sort of thing you could really dump your croissant in on a cold winter morning.

The service was friendly - even though our waitress couldn't speak much English. So if you are tired from walking around the many different markets in the area, do pop in and put your feet up for a while here.

Price: Approx 2.50 Euros (I think)

Service: 3.5

Flavour: 3.5 (for coffee buffs) but 4 if you really like milky coffee.

URA Centre Pacific Cafe

The Coffee Concierge was at the URA Centre looking at the Masterplan exhibition which was up for public feedback before it gets gazetted at the end of the year. For anyone interested in Singapore's living conditions in the future, the exhibition is well worth seeing and is only open for a month.

There is a cafe called Pacific Cafe in the URA building on the side facing Maxwell Road Food Centre. It has the usual range of coffee drinks and a Boncafe Expresso machine behind the counter. The Coffee Concierge ordered the usual expresso to see what it would turn out like.

The expresso had giant bubbles of foamy crema most probably from a fully automated machine as he doesn't remember the milk being foamed at the milk wand separately and the expresso appeared in double quick time. Faster than a manual process. The crema with its giant bubbles persisted for quite a while and was the customary golden brown shade. It did not have much of an aroma or aftertaste but the taste itself was pleasant enough but not wonderful. As the Coffee Concierge was with several other people at the time, a group poll was taken and the various comments were that it was "mediocre", "smoky", "slightly bitter", " I like this", "light" (this referring to the mouth feel). All in all, a fairly average, not unpleasant cup without a sour flavour.

Needless to say the group drifted afterwards to the Maxwell Food Centre for a much fuller, more robust round of flavours from the local hawkers.

Price: S$1.90
Flavour: 3 beans
Service: 3 beans

Dome Cafe - Singapore Art Museum

The Coffee Concierge was passing by the Singapore Art Museum the other day and decided to drop into the Dome there. That's always been one of the coffee concierge's favourite cafes in Singapore because of its location in the grounds of the old Saint Joseph's Institution, now the Singapore Art Museum. It has that old colonial feeling about it still and Dome has done a decent job of using the space it has on the ground floor with both al fresco areas as well as an indoor area. The only thing is that if you eat inside, your clothes will end up smelling a little like you've been in a hawker's centre after leaving.

Despite the pleasant ambience, the expresso ordered was not great nor was the brownie. The expresso was mainly sour at first sip. It became a little less sour and more pleasantly bitter at second sip and some swirling. On the whole it did not have a particularly strong flavour or aroma and had a minimal aftertaste. The service was polite and prompt. The brownie tasted like it had been made from instant mix bought from the supermarket.

Price: S$ can't quite remember but should be in the S$4 region
Flavour: 1.5 beans

French Press

The Coffee Concierge was in Amboise the other day. (The lengths we go to tell you where to find a good cup of coffee.) Where is Amboise, you might ask? Amboise is a small town in the Loire Valley in France, and its main claim to fame is the ancient chateau or castle which sits on top of the hill in the middle of the town. So the Coffee Concierge sat in the Patisserie Bigot, a Salon du Thé with a great view of the chateau, and a name which really won't travel well.

The Coffee Concierge ordered up a café to round off her lunch of ham, quiche and two scoops of homemade ice cream which comprised dessert.

I was pleasantly surprised when, voila! the coffee came in a French Press. In fact, despite the name, this was the only time when my coffee came in a press in France. For the ins and outs on how to use a press pot, do read this post by Coffeegeek. I can only say that I thoroughly endorse the use of the press pot in giving a good strong rich cup of coffee, because the ground coffee gets to steep a little longer in the water.

Actually, I recall my parents steeping their local coffee in one of those enamal teapots for a few minutes on the stove before straining it into their coffee cups. So maybe they didn't have the fancy equipment but hey, they enjoyed their morning coffee.

In terms of price, this was only about 2.50 Euros or so. The service was good and smooth despite the fairly large crowd. The food was also tasty and the ice cream was accompanied by a meringue. I'd happily go back to the Patisserie Bigot, unfortunate name not withstanding.

Price: 2.50 Euro

Service: 3.5 beans

Flavour: 4 beans

Morning Cuppa

Our first morning in Paris - so the Coffee Concierge headed out to look for a place to get a croissant and a morning cuppa.

We found a small boulangerie-patisserie at the corner of Rue St-Martin and Rue de Montmorency which was emitting the most delicious smells. Walked in, and ordered the morning special - a cup of orange juice, a croissant and a cafe. The Coffe Concierge took the coffee black with just one lump of sugar. It had a truly fragrant aroma and as you can see from the photo the crema on top persisted for some time. It went down smoothly with a slight taste of bitterness but all in all, a most satisfying brew which really does its job of perking you up. The croissant too was light and fluffy. I must apologise for the focus of the photo on the croissant instead of the coffee. After all, I had not yet had my morning coffee.

In terms of ambience, this was a cosy place. The clink of teaspoons on saucers, the sound of animated conversations (in French), the rustle of newspapers. The sound of coffee being brewed in the background, and of customers coming in and out of the shop.

I can't remember how much my breakfast set cost but it must have been about 4 Euros plus. Service was warm and friendly (the proprietor, who served us, was a voluble Frenchwoman). Indeed, great value for money for a great start to the day.

Price: 4 Euros (for whole set)

Service: 4 beans

Flavour: 4.5 beans

tcc - Funan Centre

The Coffee Concierge while picking up some BitDefender security software for his new Dell Vostro 1310 decided to check out the coffee joints in Funan and found tcc right at the main entrance.

The staff were highly efficient, friendly and attentive. The Coffee Concierge never had to do more than glance up to get attention from them. The Coffee Concierge ordered the usual expresso but unlike the service, it disappointed as it was clearly sour from start to end. No sweetness. It was bitter but not unpleasantly so. Had a thin crema which dissipated rapidly. Decent enough aftertaste which lingers. It did come with two tiny little cookies which were delightful.

The cafe was actually very nicely put together with a lot of attention paid to the decor and keeping it spiffy. The red comfy chairs were a nice touch. Overall, it's a very nice place to sit with a friend or work in. Too bad about the expresso.

Price: S$4.00
Service: 4 beans
Flavour: 1.5 beans

J.Co Coffee and Doughnuts

Can you just see that glossy doughnut has my name on it? It didn't have to wait too long to get eaten by the Coffee Concierge. The Coffee Concierge has been a major fan of the J.Co on Batam where he goes every once in a few months to help out at a school on a nearby island called Rempang. But the Coffee Concierge was always in too much of a hurry there to just buy dozens of doughnuts and get on the ferry back to Singapore. Now however that they've opened a branch in Singapore (at Singapore prices of course), there's time to sample their expresso.

The verdict on the coffee: sour and sour. It tasted awfully familiar actually from something I've drunk before possibly at one of the Food and Hotel Asia 2008 booths. Now there was an actual coffee taste but the predominant note was sour from start to end. Not that much of an after taste or smell. Decent crema. In all, this Coffee Concierge says stick to their doughnuts especially the heaven berry one and the chocolate filled ones. There's a queue but it was moving pretty quickly along so don't be daunted by that.

Price: S$3.20 (comes with a glossy doughnut)
Service: 2.5 beans
Flavour: 1 bean

Starbucks - Holland Village

I know, I know, Starsucks and all that. But honestly, despite the worldwide flak for Starbucks, this Coffee Concierge still thinks they did the world a huge service by expanding the way they did across the USA and the rest of the world and particularly in the USA where coffee was pretty much like dishwater liquid a lot of the time, they did manage to help raise the bar quite a bit. However that was many years ago and since then Starbucks as a company needs to dig deep into its roots and re-discover its mission and be the coffeehouse on the corner where the barista knows and remembers your favourite brew.

So with all this baggage around, the Coffee Concierge decided to try the neighbourhood Starbucks at Holland Village. It turned out actually to be a better experience than I expected. The baristas and serving staff in general I suspect have recently undergone some retraining as they were certainly making a point of greeting, meeting eyes, and taking the order in a friendly polite way. And the staff did generally seem happy. The ambience is great there with lots of very nice sofas to lounge on and the staff kept the place pretty neat and tidy despite it being quite full.

The expresso? Strong and bitter with a long, lingering aftertaste. The crema was decently formed but not terribly thick and it stayed for a reasonable few minutes. I did find it quite hard to find words to describe the actual flavour. It was slightly but not very dark roast and had quite a bit of body to it but I'm hard put to actually say there were notes of fruit or anything else...just that it had a very strong coffee flavour. There wasn't a hint of sweetness at all which is a bit of a fault but overall not too bad.

Now this Coffee Concierge happens to like his coffee to have some bitterness but was not too sure if it would appeal to many Singaporeans since the national prediliction seems to be more for sweeter, milkier drinks on the whole. But it's certainly a coffee that would stand being mixed into milk based drinks.

Price: S$3.40
Flavour: 3.5 beans
Service: 4 beans

Barista Express at Clifford Centre

The Coffee Concierge was hanging around Clifford Centre waiting for a meeting and in the meantime popped down to check out the Barista Express cafe on the first floor of Clifford Centre. It's fairly basic cafe with lots of red decor and cheery, quick staff. However while it lives up to being express, the quality of the coffee is to match.

I ordered the standard expresso and it showed up with little crema that dissipated within 20 seconds and hardly any aroma. The taste was markedly sour whether hot or cooled down. It had a slightly burnt taste to it and while it did still have a reasonably strong coffee flavour with a long aftertaste, I can't say that it's one I enjoyed very much. 'nuff said.

Cost: S$2.20
Flavour: 1 bean

Sleek Cafe

Recently the motherboard in my office laptop started failing so I ended up at Sim Lim Square having coffee while waiting for the computer technician to diagnose what was wrong. Naturally the Coffee Concierge looked around for the nearest coffee cafe and ended up in Sleek Cafe which is in the basement of Sim Lim Square near the food court. It's a rather nice spot and relatively uncrowded. With the wooden deck and dark wood furniture and sunlight coming in through the top end of the basement, it's reasonably pleasant to sit in. The coffee turned out better than expected. While the crema didn't exactly last long, the flavour of the expresso was actually sweet at first sip which is a first in all the cafes I've gone to so far in Singapore. (I don't add sugar in general.) The flavours were actually relatively well balanced and sourness only started to seep in when it was distinctly cooler. All in all, a decent enough cup. The cupcake this time definitely took a second place to the expresso as it was clearly made from an instant mix and the dollop of icing on top equally instant with a taste to match.

Sadly however I still haven't got my laptop back so I'll just have to pay this cafe another visit when I go to pick up a hopefully fixed computer.

Price: S$2.80
Rating: 3.5 beans
Service: 3 beans

Latte Art: Etchings in Gold and Brown

This was done by the Boncafe barista at the recently held Food and Hotel Asia 2008 in Singapore. Gorgeous isn't it? I particularly love the gold striations. The barista was actually showing how it was done and allowing audience participation. The Coffee Concierge was a little too shy to try in so public an arena but has resolved to practice quietly at home. Given that one's coffee machine ain't even in place yet, that could take a while.

I Sing the Coffee Machine Elektra

Ain't she a beauty! La Belle Epoque. None but the Italians could design a machine so drop dead gorgeous. Although The Coffee Concierge cannot resist saying that the eagle on the top looks a tad triumphually French. But I will undoubtedly be flamed by Italians and French for saying that.

This is a model of a coffee maker from the Italian company, Elektra, which was on display at the Food and Hotel Asia 2008 in Singapore. One imagines that this was a coffee maker made to sit in the coffee lounges of large, grandiose hotels in Europe when large, grandiose hotels were still the "in" thing and are now replaced by large, grandiose bathrooms and sleek private quarters with diminished public spaces. However this model is actually available in this 21st century believe it or not.

*"I Sing the Body Electric" by Ray Bradbury is the title of one of my favourite science fiction books for those of you wondering why I have such an unusual title. Yes, the Coffee Concierge has a geeky side.

Spinelli Coffee Company: Novena Square

The Coffee Concierge arranged to meet a friend at Novena Square a couple of days ago and decided it was a good time to also sample the Spinelli coffee there. It was certainly a crowded zone with a lot of people around. Despite there being several outlets almost cheek to jowl including an organic cafe, Cedele, Spinelli's was quite full up with a fair amount of turn over of people coming and going.

The outlet had three staff kept on the run by the constant flow of customers: two men and a lady The Coffee Concierge was served by one of the young men. Service was polite enough but certainly didn't beat the attention the coffee concierge was getting at the admittedly quieter T1 location. The clientale was mixed but the coffee concierge did notice one man in his 30s or so in a black polo shirt reading, taking his time, and definitely watching the other customers and world go by. Most of the other customers were definitely more engrossed with their own affairs so it did cross the coffee concierge's mind if that was a Spinelli staff member on his coffee break keeping an eye on what the customers behaviour was like.

Sadly however the more hurried pace of life at Novena Square has certainly taken its toll on the quality of expresso turned out. The Coffee Concierge ordered the usual expresso while his friend ordered a spin. The expresso despite being made with presumably their usual Rancilio machines and with the same original blend, turned out poorer than the T1 barista's effort. Definitely more sour, less flavourful in general and much less aftertaste. The aftertaste did improve upon cooling for quite a while but still could not match the nice slightly bitter and dry aftertaste that I liked so much in T1.

The biscotti though is great. I have to say I actually really like Spinelli biscuits and food in general. Oh and for those looking for price, I think it was about S$3.00 for an expresso.


Overall rating:
Taste: 1 1/2 beans
Service: 2 1/2 beans

Spinelli Coffee Company at Changi Airport

A few days ago, the Coffee Concierge found himself at Changi Airport seeing off a good friend. So naturally, to blunt the pain of parting, the Coffee Concierge found himself standing at the Spinelli Coffee Company stand in Terminal 1. Spinelli shares this space with Mr Bean and Polar in supplying snacks and beverages to the thirsty travellers and their farewelling entourages.

The barista on hand was better than average, and obligingly looking up where John Ting, the newly crowned Singapore Barista Champ 2008, and Chris Yeo, the runner up, worked. (Turns out John Ting works in Spinelli Raffles Quay branch. Chris Yeo's whereabouts were more elusive so if any of my reader's know please do say.)

He also managed to make the Coffee Concierge a halfway decent expresso. I say halfway decent because while it had a strong smoky aroma and absolutely terrific aftertaste that lingered in bittersweet dryness in my mouth long after, it was still slightly sour. The sour quality dimminished as the coffee cooled to a lukewarmth. This sour quality I have found so far has dogged every cuppa I've had yet in Singapore. It'll be news indeed when I find one that isn't sour. It makes one wonder about the quality of the beans imported into Singapore in general.

I've forgotten how much it cost but I think it was about S$3.00 for an expresso which is average for a coffee chain here.

Overall Rating:
Service: 3 1/2 beans
Taste: 3 beans

Latte Art

As promised in my earlier post on Boncafe, here's a shot of the Boncafe barista's latte etching. I think personally their latte art skills are better than their barista skills but their latte art was stunning indeed. More anon.

Winners All

The second Singapore Barista Championship recently concluded on 25th April and the Coffee Concierge was in attendance but only for the finals sadly enough as work called on the day that the heats were held. So I only got to see the final three in action.

For those of you who were not able to go at all, the test requires the contestant to make a total of 12 drinks within 15 minutes. 4 expressos, 4 cappucinos and 4 signature drinks not necessarily in that order. They are given 15 minutes to prepare their stations and 15 minutes to clean up. They are judged by 4 sensory judges and 3 technical judges.

As an observer only, I was unable to sample their coffee so could only watch their showmanship. I rather liked the way both John Ting and Keith Low presented themselves and their drinks to the audience and judges. Both came across as being able to operate well under pressure. Keith in particular had one of his machines that was supposed to help the cream whip into shape fail on him but keep his cool throughout and talked his way through.

In the photo you see the three winners: Chris Yeo, John Ting and Keith Low from right to left. While they compete as individuals rather than as representatives of their companies, for those of you who may wish to want to sample their coffee and see what the top baristas have to offer, John and Chris work for Spinelli's and John is usually to be found in the Raffles Place branch. Keith works at Whitebait & Kale. I'm certainly going to be showing up at their outlets just to see what a difference a good barista can make.

What I thought was a pity was that the championship was held in the middle of a trade show that was held during office hours and generally restricted to trade visitors only. For an event that has the potential to capture the interest of all coffee drinkers in Singapore, the audience was restricted to trade folk since it was held within the Food & Hotel Asia Exhibition. For this event to grow in future, it would be better off if the organisers can eventually shift it into a more publicly accessible location. This does deserve a wider audience.

Da Paolo Gastronomia

The Coffee Concierge took a stroll down the posh-ish neighbourhood of Chip Bee Gardens today and popped in at Da Paolo's Gastronomia this afternoon. The cakes and pastries looked awfully tempting as always but sticking to his mission, he ordered just an expresso and a slice of cocoa pound cake and carried both gingerly back to a workloft nearby to sample.

Along the way, the aroma was strong and full bodied and later the taste was to match. There was plenty of flavour: a little sweet in the middle with only the slightest hint of bitterness at the end. However when swilled to the sides of the mouth, a certain sourness was in evidence which decreased when the coffee was cool. Overall, a coffee blend which would please most. The crema duly stayed put a good few minutes as can be seen in the photo taken approximately ten minutes after it was made. For caffeine lovers however, there seemed to be less of that so presumably it was dark roasted with the consequent loss in caffiene content though not flavour.

Overall rating:
Cost: S$3
Taste: 3 beans

Ya Kun at Holland Village

I have the perfect excuse for hanging out in cafes, drinking coffee and watching the world go by: work. Yes, now that I have to do market research on coffee serving cafes, their service and the quality of baristas, I'm happily spending time with my papers from work, reading and drinking coffee.

I have to say i really like Ya Kun's coffee. It's the local kopi-tiam kopi and I usually take mine kopi-c-kosong which for those of you unacquainted with the lingo here, it means coffee with milk without sugar. It comes in a little teacup of thick porcelain with a saucer to match and a tiny chinese spoon. I also had mine with two slices of their thin crisp brown bread toasted and spread with butter and kaya. Yum. I couldn't resist dipping my kaya toast into the kopi and I have to say it's actually rather good that way as long as I don't dip too much of it that i lose the crispness of the toast entirely.

The coffee? it's good. Thick and strong in flavour. It's very possibly from beans roasted with margarine or butter as it has that richness in it. Maybe corn? Not sure. But overall, the taste is excellent. The milk is rather strong as they usually use evaporated milk but the coffee taste still stands up well to the milk. It's way stronger in flavour than many a cuppa I've had in the expensive western style cafes. At S$1.50 it's also a lot cheaper but of course doesn't have the piped music etc but does have airconditioning and a fairly decent place to sit down even if not sofas.

Service levels were generally good. I've noticed that I'm usually served quickly and promptly and got pretty geniune smiles out of them when they served me and when I left the cafe. I've noticed the service at this particular cafe in Holland Village near my office tends to be quite consistently good so kudos to the staff there.