Antoinette.

23rd July 2011. Written by Mu Yao.
Xin Li and I chanced upon this quaint little french cafe in the middle of Penhas Road, located somewhere near Lavender MRT. Described as a "destination cafe" in itself by Chef Pang Kok Keong, this off-the-beaten track cafe is quite a standout in the dull industrial shophouses amongst this area. The white French windows, neatly manicured shurbs guarding the pastel blue doors warmly invite all in for a classy cosy cup of tea. In spite of this, however, we were joined with soon-to-be-aunties and a fairly large group of tai tais who quite effectively turned the atmosphere of this classy chic place to something of a dim sum restaurant with their loud chatter. Oh wells, you can't have everything I guess. :)

Our pleasing Indian maître d' welcomed us to the table quite promptly even though it was quite a full house. Friendly, courteous and professional, came across as slightly pompous (so French!) when he tried to explain why they didn't serve scones. "They are American (yeah right), ours is a French restaurant." *sniggers*



Quite a popular destination with the taitai crowd I guess.



Xin Li studying the quite french (and pretentious) menu cynically. Look at his eagle eyes!



Xin Li's Petit Viennoiseries with Coffee

We had all in all, some petit viennoiseries (a croissant, a chocolate snail and some other pastry) with Xinli's fairly strong brew of coffee. That was $9, and you could choose a hot chocolate or orange juice instead of coffee if you would like. The croissant was nice, fragrantly buttery and flavourful. Nice crunch to the crusty skin that wasn't flaky with soft, pillow-y insides that was delightful to munch on. The chocolate snail had really yummy sweet rich chocolate inside. As for the third unmentioned pastry (the one with mysterious white specks on it), I liked it that I both tasted the savoury sweetness and smelled it too. I thought that it would have been nice for it to have something inside though, like chunks of fruit or chocolate (omnomnomnom). I didn't try the coffee, although Xinli mentioned that it had a very strong brew.


French Toast and Caramelised Bananas, anyone?

I on the other hand, decided to have some "French Toast with caramelised bananas" ($10.50), along with some "Organic Charming Meadows Tea" ($8). The teas just sounded terribly pretentious. I personally had better, especially with my Maple and Blueberry Tea that my friend bought over from Canada as a gift. Nothing to write home about.

The toast, on the other hand, was quite a sinful decadence, with powdered sugar, caramelised syrup and chunky bananas all over the place. Quite a culinary explosion with just full, full, intense savoury sweetness. It smelt nice too (like bananas). And who can forget the 'creme Chantilly'. Light, fluffy cream. This made the whole dish go booms. I could eat the cream all day and go bananas over this. I quite liked this!


Overall, I would go back if I dropped by in the Lavender area. Food is a little pricey though, I do know of nicer, quainter tea experiences that serve food of equal quality at cheaper prices. However, if you would love a charming French experience for tea in hot tropical Singapore to cater to your taitai tendencies, this place is definitely it.


Antoinette
30 Penhas Road
Contact: +65 6293 3121
Opening Hours
Mon–Fri: 11am – 10pm
Sat: 10am – 11pm
Sun: 10am – 10pm