Privé Bakery Café

15 July 2010. Written by Wei Han.

Privé is an establishment featuring 3 different eateries all located at the Marina at Keppel Bay facility on Keppel Island, but featuring different menus depending on what you are after. There is the restaurant where you can have a proper sitdown meal, a waterfront bar featuring high-end rattan chairs where one can chill right next to the million-dollar yachts that weigh anchor at the harbour and last but not least, the bakery café where you can get a light snack and sample their desserts.

Using Vivocity as a landmark, Keppel Island is quite a distance to travel by foot. I would recommend either taking a taxi there (according to sgdessert.com the cab fare should cost around S$4.50 to go there, and of course another S$4.50 to go back to Vivocity), or driving. If you do drive, be warned that the parking fee is not cheap but I think the view as you drive across the short bridge is most pleasant and is quite an experience.

Today my dining partner and I decided to try out the bakery café. The café is completely floored with Silver Travertino stone and all the chairs and tables are wooden. This lends the place a rather cosy feel to it and one can easily sit down and chat the afternoon away. Even though it was daytime, the soft down lights were switched on. Blended with the sun-rays shining in through the large bay windows, the entire café was lit in soft, warm light which further enhanced the ambiance. At 2pm, it was not very crowded and we were able to hold a conversation without having to raise our voices. I would advise going there in the day as clear skies really add to the island's beauty and it is worth your while to go for a walk after eating. Reservations are only necessary at night when the place gets crowded with dinner guests.

After settling down into a corner seat (note: the corner seat has double air-con vents so only sit there if you wish to experience what the next Ice Age will be like), we were quickly given iced water (makes you even colder!) and offered menus. A quick glance through it will tell you that the highlight of the café is definitely the selection of desserts. Savoury fare can also be ordered at the café but at that pricing, better food can be found elsewhere. My recommendation is to have a meal first before heading down to Privé to get your dessert fix.

After some discussion involving guess estimates of how much dessert our small stomachs could hold, we settled for the Hazelnut Praline Royale, the Baked Chocolate Tart and the Bailey's Irish Cream Milkshake.

We were pleased to note that the food came pretty quickly. Despite complains from previous customers that the service here is poor, we actually found the staff to be unobtrusive, attentive and efficient. Anyway on with the food!

The hazelnut praline royale is a layered mousse cake consisting of a top layer of chocolate mousse dusted with cocoa powder, a middle layer of hazelnut praline and a base layer of chocolate sponge cake. Taken together, each mouthful is a wonderful play of texture and contrast, with the crunchy praline mixing with the soft, silky mousse, and the slightly bitter cocoa powder serving as a distinct counterpoint to the sweetness of the cake. It is really a delightful thing and a must-try.

The baked chocolate tart boasts a 55% Valrhona Equatoriale chocolate mousse filling surrounded by a thick shortbread crust. It comes as a whole small tart rather than a slice and is one for the chocoholic. While the mousse is really well made and is smooth and creamy, the crust was a bit too thick, making it hard to cut a slice out using just a fork. This is a very simple, standard tart with the sweet mousse being balanced by the slightly salty and buttery shortbread crust. On the whole we felt it was nothing to write home about. Maybe if we were chocolate connoiseurs we would know how to appreciate the Valrhona chocolate but to the layman the tart would appear above average, but quite ordinary.

Last came the milkshake. It was a monster of a drink, having been made from 3 scoops of premium ice-cream and real Bailey's (probably a shot or two). It took our combined efforts, and much willpower, to down the entire glass. All I can say is, if you like your milkshakes super thick and really creamy then this one is for you. The taste of the Irish Cream features prominently. In fact, it is so dominating that you taste almost nothing else. We did not like it that much but that is mainly because we are not really big fans of Bailey's and was trying it based on an online recommendation.

All in all Privé is as much about the dessert as it is about the amazing ambiance. It is a really nice chill-out spot and surprisingly the desserts are priced very competitively. Pay this place a visit the next time you are out looking for a quiet joint to hold a function, or maybe just for a spot of tea with some close friends.

We tried:

1. Hazelnut Praline Royale – S$6.80

2. Baked Chocolate Tart – S$7.00

3. Bailey's Irish Cream Milkshake – S$15.00

Prices are quoted before a 10% service charge and a 7% GST.

Privé Bakery and Café

Address:

No.2 Keppel Bay Vista,

Marina at Keppel Bay,

Singapore 098382

Tel:

+65 6776 0777

Email:

info@prive.com.sg

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Sundays and Public Holidays

9.00am - 12.00am (last order at 11.00pm)

Reservations:

Reservations taken for groups of 6 pax and above only (24 hours in advance).

Dresscode:

Casual

Corkage:

S$25 nett per bottle.

No corkage charge on weekdays* until 6.00pm

*except eves of Public Holidays