Sunday, January 20, 2013

Hoshino Coffee, Singapore (Plaza Singapura)

*I’d also posted this on HungryGoWhere.

There had been so much media coverage about Hoshino Coffee that we decided to give it a try. The experience was, overall, disappointing.

First, the table that ordered after us was served before us - it was only when we noticed this and asked to check on our order did our first dish arrive. This is plain unacceptable, considering we had ordered similar items (the famous pancake), as well as spaghetti and coffee - which should have been served sooner than the pancake anyway.

Also, the staff got our order wrong - twice. We ticked our selections on an order list, which was confirmed by the staff member while we were still in the queue. Yet, when we were subsequently handed the order printout, it was missing our matcha softee and our double pancake was a single pancake instead. We clarified this with a staff member - who managed to rectify the softee but not the pancake order. This was finally settled on the second time we approached the staff.

That said, one particular staff member who was serving our table was very attentative. She kept offering to top up our glasses of water, cleared the dishes promptly and was very friendly. Thumbs up to her for her initiative and attitude.

Foodwise, Hoshino Cafe is good but overpriced. The friend who ordered the Hoshino Spaghetti ($14) found it good but a but a bit oily. Their cafe latte ($7.00) was small, and while it was good, it wasn't any better than other good coffee I've had. Their blended coffee ($5.80), which I didn't try, received no complaints - except for the teeny cup of milk which accompanied it. We had to ask for more milk, although the really tiny cup provided some amusement.

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For some reason, the coffees took quite long to arrive even though you wouldn't think it'd take too long to prepare. More puzzling is that our matcha softee ($5.80) took the longest to arrive - even longer than the famed pancakes which require at least 20min to prepare. The matcha taste wasn't very strong, and at that price, I certainly wouldn't recommend ordering it. Good thing that ours was redeemed due to a Stanchart promotion (1 free softee with every drink and main ordered).

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The double pancake ($12.00), made souffle style, was indeed fluffy and delicious. However, the whipped cream that came with it was a bit too salty and the serving of maple syrup was too dainty for the amount of pancake served. Luckily, the pancake batter is sweet on its own, hence we didn't need to ask for more syrup.

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Having tried the double pancake, I'm not sure what the huge fuss is. While it may be interesting that such a thick pancake still manages to be fluffy, fluffy pancakes on their own aren't too hard to achieve in your own kitchen. For that, I recommend The New Otani pancake mix, available at Mediya, Liang Court. It works like a charm for making fluffy pancakes.

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