CAFE - P

Learnt about the existence of Cafe-P whilst going around the Kent Ridge neighbourhood some time back; Cafe-P is a stall that is hidden within the Hawkerlab food court that is situated within the GENEO complex along Science Park Drive — being walking distance away and directly connected to Kent Ridge MRT Station along the Circle Line, Hawkerlab can be found right beside the entrance of Citadines Science Park Singapore. Cafe-P occupies a stall unit that is situated right beside the outlet of Hao Lai Ke 好来客 within the food court; it should be rather easy to notice the stall considering how they are probably the only stall within the food court that uses a dark-coloured signage for the signboard of the stall. Being a stall that serves up Western fare, Cafe-P does stand out in a way where they do claim that it is where “Western comfort food meets the vibrant spirit of Sri Lanka” — it is noted that the head chef behind the stall is a Chef Prabath Gunatilake; the menu does seem to surround heavily around more Western-style cuisine which is sectioned into Our Pasta, Our Mains and Our Sides.

Skimming through the menu at Cafe-P, we found ourselves being drawn towards the Maiale (Pork) — likely due to the mention of Home-Made Pasta is the description of the menu. Apart from the Home-Made Pasta, Cafe-P also describes the dish to come with elements such as braised pork, mushroom, garlic, chili, sesame seed and crispy parmesan. For those whom have not heard of the word “Maiale” previously, Maiale is Italian for Pork — the Maiale itself turns out to be a tomato-based pasta. Featuring Home-Made Pasta, the Home-Made Pasta here comes in a shape that is slightly broader than the average linguine — it also comes with a slightly softer texture than what one would typically identify as “al-dente” for pasta. With that being said, the tomato sauce base does come tangy and slightly earthier than the typical tomato-based sauce; there is a light, garlicky undertone here while the sauce clings onto the pasta giving it sufficient flavour. Additions such as the sesame seed and crispy parmesan does add somewhat of a crispness to the pasta for a slight variance of texture, though it is noted that the parmesan used here seems to be powdered parmesan that typically comes with pizza. The additions of mushrooms does give the pasta a bit of an earthy note with a bouncy texture, while the braised pork here does seem to feature pretty lean cuts of pork that carried notes very similar to roast pork for a meaty flavour — all that whilst being more moist and still reasonably tender, and carried a good bite without calming with any undesirable porky stench. For $11.90, the Maiale (Pork) does seem like a Pasta dish that delivers — its flavours being more than what one would expect for a pasta dish found in a coffeeshop, while portion size can also be described as generous; something that the office workers around the Kent Ridge neighbourhood can give a try!