EG Coffee

Cafes have occasionally found themselves appearing in the neighbourhoods around the Queenstown / Alexandra Road area on and off; that being said, the opening of such establishments can be said as rather rare especially for the area closer towards Queenstown MRT Station. The newly-opened EG Coffee had seemed to find home within the building named Alexis; a condominium complex that does have some retail shops at the ground level with a restaurant named Ristorante Takada occupying one of the shop spaces within the area. EGC Coffee occupies a relatively prominent shop space within the building that is located near the pick-up / drop-off porch for the building, with the frontage of the space directly facing Alexandra Road. Whilst the shop space that EG Coffee occupies can be described as rather long, the space isn’t exactly deep — considering so, the dine-in space within the cafe is very much limited to a platform-style seating with cushions lined on the platforms and tables placed in between the platform to save space; those whom prefer more typical dine-in set ups will be able to find the lone dining table at the side that is paired with camping chairs that would work great for patrons visiting the establishment in a pair. The entire space is decked in a rather cosy setting with the large use of wooden furniture and fittings throughout the space; there is a bit of likeness in the decor of EG Coffee that reminds us of Taiwanese-style cafes — something which we find to be rather refreshing considering the consistent approach of minimalistic / ultra-futuristic designs that most cafes seem to go for these days. Being very limited with the choice of food that they can serve up considering the space constraints and other factors that could possibly be at play, EG Coffee is an establishment that serves a variety of light bites for its food offerings; this would include a line-up of bakes that consists of pies, puffs, danishes and croissants, bagels, cakes, Canele, Açai bowls and gelato — all that whilst the beverage menu consists of drinks classified into categories such as coffee, non-coffee, tea, soda and filter.

We initially wanted to go for more than one their light bite offerings but most of what they have available are displayed prominently in the display case placed at the counter and those items didn’t really stand out to us particularly. It was however difficult to skip on the Caneles knowing that EG Coffee does carry a line-up of two Caneles on their menu — between the Uji Matcha Canele and the Original Rum Canele, our choice was for the Original Rum Canele. One thing interesting to note about the Canele at EG Coffee is that these are actually served chilled — EG Coffee also does serve their Canele sliced into half by default; both of which seemingly a rather different take than what most places would do for a Canele. Despite being served chilled, one of the most commendable parts about the Original Rum Canele that we have had would be the crusty exterior that still comes with a crunch — the texture is something in which even some commercial establishments would not be able to achieve with their rendition of the Canele even if they have chose to serve it up in room temperature. That being said, it didn’t quite help that the Canele was served chilled since the usually soft and somewhat spongy centre that retains a bit of moisture now comes a little stiff and hardened though still carrying the fragrance of vanilla with a very soft, boozy note from the infusion of the rum. Still, probably something which would probably fare better if it was served warmed up or at room temperature.

Despite being an earnest, down-to-earth and indie set-up that is run by the owners themselves, EG Coffee is an establishment that actually serves specialty coffee that is brewed using their own blend of coffee beans. The current line-up of espresso-based specialty coffee offerings are brewed using their very own icons Blend; this blend features beans of Guatemalan and Ugandan origin, with its tasting notes being described to be of chocolate, caramel and cream. That being said, the Dirty which we had opted for in the “Coffee Drink” section of the menu is an item which we felt was a little bit on the milkier side. Still, kudos to them for having used a chilled cup to serve the Dirty which helps to preserve the temperature of the chilled milk after the shot of espresso that is steeped into it — a detail that some establishments tend to overlook on whilst serving their rendition of the same drink. Overall, EG Coffee does feel like a rather unpretentious establishment where the folks behind the cafe are earnest in what they do — one can tell the amount of effort that they had been placed in the decor, as well as how they emphasise on using their very own blend of roasted coffee beans to brew their cuppa; the sincerity of the establishment can be most certainly felt from the way that the concept has been executed. That being said, we do feel that these folks are still figuring their ways around their business and that there are definitely some teething issues where service feels a little nervous at times. Still, we could definitely see how EG Coffee could likely be that neighbourhood-ly spot within the vicinity for the folks living around the area to make their coffee runs — perhaps even a spot to hangout for pairs looking for somewhere for a quick catch-up over coffee as well.