Oriole Café and Bar @ Somerset

Written by : Xin Li
Nestled between Somerset 313 and California Fitness, behind Orchard Shopping Centre, the Oriole Café and Bar and her relative, the Bedrock Bar and Grill provide a bit of relief from the mad rush of Orchard Road.

Named after a group of Old World passerine birds, the Oriole Café and Bar adopts a log cabin, rustic style of approach in its interior design. The whole place is being covered in a brown palette, with pockets of warm lighting provided by the ‘chandeliers’ that hung from the ceiling. Enough said, I like this place for its cosy atmosphere and the relaxed and laid back environment it has created especially at the cushioned seats near the bar counter.

After having dinner at Relax Bistro, we went to Oriole because I wanted to try their affogato for dessert and that I never tried an affogato before. So once we got seated, I had the Honey Crumble Affogato – vanilla ice-cream, espresso, honeycomb crunch for $7.50.

Honey Crumble Affogato – vanilla ice-cream, espresso, honeycomb crunch ($7.50)

I am very pleased with this dessert. It made my day after a disappointing Aglio Olio at Relax Bistro. I could spot specks of vanilla on the ice cream when it came. True enough, ice cream was very good. It was decently sweet with a smooth texture. It melts slowly into a pool of fragrant espresso on a bed of crunchy honeycomb crunch. Each scoop of it gets better and better. Normally, one would get sick of the sweetness of a dessert after a few scoops. This is one dessert that I didn’t have that problem. It made me want to have another scoop after another. Victor, Sean, Alvin and Aw Yong also tried the dessert. While all of them agreed it was good, Aw Yong felt that the coffee flavour was quite strong and Alvin felt that the espresso used has a nice aroma and it was excellent.

Sean had a cup of Cappuccino for $5. I felt it was one of the better coffees he had so far.

Generally this is a decent place to have a good chat over a nice cup of coffee, some comfort food or a sweet treat.

Visited :

14th April 2010

Receipt:
Honey Crumble Affogato - $7.50
Cappuccino - $5.00
GST + Service Charge - 17%
Total Bill: $14.70

Address
96 Somerset Road
#01-01 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

Tel: +65 6238 8348

Opening hours
Mon–Sat
11.30am 11pm
Sun
10.30am – 11pm

Oriole Cafe and Bar