Craftsmen Specialty Coffee

'Twas a lazy Sunday afternoon (isn't it always?).
The Sister-in-law + Husband decided to ditch myself and The Wife for sleep in favour of Mahjong.
Probably scared of me! HEHEHEHE.

So once more, me and The Wife decided to brave the unknown and source out somewhere new to visit. I was lazy, so when asked to choose from the list of possible places to visit, I decided on somewhere in the East.

And so, behold our latest food adventure.

Nestled right in the heart of the Siglap suburb, this cafe isn't very hard to find. To make things easier, they even have signs pasted on the walls of the opposite direction with arrows pointing potential customers in the right direction!

First thing you notice : How bloody crowded it is on a Sunday afternoon :(
Seeing as how she hates crowds, The Wife was initially against going in. But then I said : "Where in the blue hell are we supposed to go then? This isn't town!"

So we waited for all of....5 mins.
Haha we were lucky that there was a table leaving.
Once you get seated, you notice the little nuances and decor that make the cafe appealing.

Instantly made me like this place. Because I have a beagle! And her name is...Lucy (in the sky with diamonds...)!

The Wife was commenting on how nice their setup is.
It's the unpolished, industrial feel that has been steadily gaining popularity. Exposed bricks, uneven painting, concrete flooring, you get the drift.

Being the realist, I was all like 'Smart buggers ah these owners? Saving money actually by doing less!' But of course, I also agreed that the overall feel was well done and nicely executed.

 I also liked their menu. The Wife was browsing through the menu that was placed on an easel at the counter, and the cashier was like 'Oh you can bring it to your table.' Imagine me over there trying hard to suppress my sniggering. HEHEHE.

Upon ordering, they give you a little cube that they use to identify orders. Probably good to keep pesky kids (of which there are many on a Sunday afternoon) entertained. Cute.

So I wanted to order a Lemon Yoghurt slice. But the guy before me took the last one. Bugger it.
I had to settle for what they called 'One Banana Republic'.

This was a closeup so you can't tell how big the slice is...I would recommend 1 slice for sharing if you ever go! I couldn't finish my cake, and The Wife also had difficulty (but she did).
Back to the cake itself...I really liked the fact that they had banana bread in there...BUT. The chocolate and peanut butter (yes that is peanut butter) overwhelmed any banana taste that might have existed. Choc and peanut butter was all I could taste. Not in a bad way though. The taste was good, though overly jelat

And the banana bread part was very condensed, adding to the jelatness. It wasn't light and airy at all.
Verdict : Taste 8/10, Texture 4/10 (Unless you like REALLY rich cakes)

The Wife also had a slice of cake.

Other blogs and reviews highly recommended the Chocolate Salted Caramel, so I sorta coerced The Wife to try. We were pleasantly surprised by the addition of popcorn, yums!
Much like my One Banana Republic, the taste in this cake was great.
You might not be able to see, but there is a thin layer of salted caramel in the middle layer of the cake, and this slices cleanly through the heaviness of pure chocolate cake. In layman's terms : Not so jelat lah.
BUT, also like like my cake, the texture was too heavy. It felt more like eating fudge than cake. Ok maybe I'm getting old, this is the new direction of gourmet cakes. But I still prefer my cakes light and airy.
Verdict : Same score as my cake.

The Wife also needed her daily caffeine shot, so she ordered an iced mocha.

Her verdict : Too bitter, can't taste mocha at all.
My verdict : *Gave my best ogre face upon 1 sip*
I am not much of an authority on coffee, so don't trust what I say. I do believe that they will still fans of their coffe, after all, it's what they are built on isn't it?

Coffee aside, what I do know are my smoothies and milkshakes.

Behold, my strawberry/banana smoothie. If it looks watery,it because it IS watery. I almost thought it was melted ice kachang when it was served. It sure looked like it. So i decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe after mixing the ice cream it would resemble a smoothie. Ok...still no.
Disaster. I will stick to Coke when I come back to try the Lemon Yoghurt slice I missed.

The ambience here is great, I would totally recommend it for quiet WEEKDAY afternoons.
It would be great to sit in a corner and read a book.
I would come back, partly because it transports me to somewhere that is not Singapore.

This is the view from inside looking out. Looks like I'm on vacation ain't it? Bliss!

Don't treat my opinions as a negative review, I will probably come back some day.
Do give this place a try, as you might find something you do like.

 Oh yes, service is good even when they are busy, so I imagine it would be better if it were quiet!

 Price : About $15 (cake + drink)
Address : 2 First Street, Siglap V, #01-01
Website : None but Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Craftsmen.Specialty.Coffee

Signing off,
The Lunatic