Henry, temporary.

Being a closet stickler for ulu places, I had to visit after learning that this cafe had only been set up a few months ago but will only be around till next February. The building where it's located is set to be enbloc-ed for future redevelopment, so most of the other tenants have already vacated the premise. Apart from the handful of residents who have yet to move out from their homes, and just a couple of other operating shops, it was very much void of the usual buzz found elsewhere on our island...

which is exactly what I love about such places.

However, despite the seemingly deserted exterior, it would take only a second to realize that business was rather brisk upon entering the cafe. It's not a big place (at all); all indoor and outdoor (pet-friendly) tables were taken up so we ended up at the bar counter until some other patrons left. 

The folks who were working diligently behind the bar counter to serve us the yummy offerings were really approachable and friendly; the lovely fair lady wasted no time in explaining the difference between black and white coffees when I inquired.

I ordered a cappucino and it came with a cute little morsel of a home-made (I'm assuming here) chocolate cookie; a lovely touch. And while the coffee's been highly-raved, I found it somewhat unpalatable to my unseasoned taste-buds. I thought it tasted a little tangy and ended on a sharp but bitter (is that possible?) note; not a finish that I particularly enjoy. Anyway, I shall try the other variations if I ever drop by again soon; I'm sure my taste-buds will not have too much difficulty finding something they enjoy.

To fill our tummies, we had the Flourless Chocolate Cake, Nutella Banana Panini and a serving of some Savoury Scones.

flourless choc cake - I like how the top-crust cracked and the slice crumbled when we stuck our forks in, its dense texture and the satisfyingly rich chocolatey taste. For cheapskates like me who refuse to pay for another slice, the only gripe we would have is... why so small slice? :(

Okay, just kidding - I really wanted to try something else instead.

nutella banana panini - This homely and comforting combination can hardly (if ever) go wrong. It was a sweet treat that was well-worth the calories; long slices of banana and gooey nutella sandwiched between the warm and toasty chewy bread. Oh and did I mention that they were awfully generous with the nutella spread? We had trouble keeping the nutella from oozing out of the edges of the panini, only to form tiny 'wasted' blobs on the plate - but knowing the glutton that is me, of course no nutella was 'wasted' in the process of devouring this tasty treat.

We had some savoury scones (cheesy and 'chivey') too. Baked-to-order, the crumbly insides of the scones were piping hot when served. Quite a pity that the serving size was rather tiny though. 

The minimalistic set-up of the temporary space consisted of simple plywood bar-tops, naked incandescent bulbs dangling from the ceiling, lovely radio music (YES), and a range of tasteful magazines for customers' reading pleasure. The crowd ranged variedly from families (inclusive of aunties, uncles, fathers and mothers - who'd have thunk they're into such places too) to dating and married couples, bffs, etc.

That afternoon, we talked about how it was possible to understand "the feeling of having one's balls shrunken" (without needing any) as we looked at mind-blowing photographs of people balancing on trapezes high up in the foggy mountains, and learnt that both the atomic bomb and Comic Sans are considered to be in the Top-10 list of Worst Inventions - at least according to a particular magazine.
Oh, and I also managed to my Science scripts marked. Talk about productivity!