Was looking forward to the opening of Hoshino Coffee, the more upmarket and artisanal sister café of Doutor Coffee. Both are managed by D&N Singapore, part of parent company Doutor Nichires Holdings in Japan, who also runs Japanese style spaghetti restaurant chain Yomenya Goemon and Chinese restaurant chain The Asian Kitchen. Presence of Japanese brands in the local coffee scene booming with both chains and home-grown independent joints meant caffeine junkies like me are spoilt for choice. Mild versus strong java, flat or full-bodied, from the usual American ones to recent additions such as Australian's Jamaica Blue and English's Costa Coffee with their 2nd and 3rd branches at The Star Vista and Vivocity respectively. At the revamped Atrium@Orchard next to Plaza Singapura, there is Starbucks on the 1st floor as well as Dome and Hoshino on the 3rd. Note that escalator from the 1st floor seemed to lead to the 2nd when it actually leads to the 3rd.
Other than precisely brewed hand-dripped coffee, the sunlit café is also known for its sweet and savoury soufflés. As the former was half-priced on weekdays 11am-3pm with any order of food or desserts, decided to give myself a treat. There was a nice aroma of roasted beans in the pleasantly smooth and bitter Hoshino blended coffee, which tasted mild and flat. The chocolate fondant with icing sugar atop was moist, dense and rich but its filling of soft chocolate in the centre did not flow as I had hoped for. To balance its sweetness, I had bitter matcha softee instead of the usual vanilla flavour. However, it was too milky for my liking and melted too fast. Comfortable leather armchairs and benches with lots of woods (in its flooring, panels and tables), pebbles and paper lanterns gave the place filled with Japanese customers a warm and cosy vibe. Loved the colours added by the red and yellow lamps to the otherwise neutral palette, and magazines that added to its chillax ambience.
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