Heard all about the new bench that had recently opened its doors around Bedok Reservoir Road — the area around Blk 740 Bedok Reservoir Road is probably best known for being one of the more hip neighbourhoods along the stretch of road that it is located at; the neighbourhood being home to the first location of Refuel Cafe, Reiwa Soba, Scoopy Doo and an outlet of The Daily Scoop as well. bench is the newest addition to the neighbourhood; occupying a space that is half the size of a typically-sized shophouse unit, one can find bench situated right beside Kumon Learning Centre at Blk 740 Bedok Reservoir Road. It wouldn’t be wrong to call bench a hole-in-the-wall spot; the shop unit that it occupies is fairly narrow — something that would make it rather comparable to that of Prodigal Roasters during their time when they were still located at Yio Chu Kang. It does seem that there is an obvious attempt in maximising the space of the cafe here; bench has installed foldable windows that double up as a counter area facing out of the store right beside the entrance — this also helps to keep the interior of the store from being overcrowded with patrons whom might be performing takeaway orders. The interior does seem to be simply decked, though despite the tight space here, there are still three (3) high chairs at the espresso bar that diners can sit around to enjoy their cuppa in air-conditioned comfort; there is a small seating area outdoors if those are occupied. Being an establishment that is primarily focused on their specialty coffee offerings, bench does serve up a list of teas and other beverages — this includes matcha related drinks as well. For those looking for a light bite, bench does offer a small variety of pastries that are displayed inside the establishment at the espresso bar as well as some savoury items such as the Chicken Mushroom Pie.

The light bite that bench has been mentioning on their social media pages and recommending over their counter seems to be the Salted Caramel Stick with Premium Gelato — an item that is being listed in the Sweet Tooth section of their menu. bench does not really describe on the elements that are included in the Salted Caramel Stick with Premium Gelato — that being said, the item does seem to comprise of a Salted Caramel Stick; a pastry that can be found stocked at the espresso bar together with the other pastry items that are in-stock for the day, as well as a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. If anything, we did feel that our experience of the item was being marred by the freshness of the Salted Caramel Stick — a Danish item that is being filled with salted caramel within. Whilst the salted caramel filling didn’t come overly sweet and dish carry a slight saltish-ness that one would expect, the pastry was soft and limp; lacking the light crispness and flakiness of a freshly-baked pastry. The vanilla ice-cream was thankfully smooth and creamy; came with an aromatic hint of vanilla, with the combination of salted caramel and vanilla being one that would never go wrong.

During our visit, we had also went for the Bench Signature Iced Cafe Latte — while no description was provided for the iced version of the beverage on the menu, the hot version was described as a Pecan Praline Latte. There is an evident nutty note and a saltish flavour profile that one can relate to pecans in a pecan pie in general; the latte being one that comes with a nutty and earthy note with a light body. One thing that stands out about bench for us is how its set-up is like; takeaway coffee stands are a thing that has become increasingly common in the Central Business District, while the heartlands and other areas do see the rise of full-service cafes that are bigger and serve up a variety of food items or just ice-cream and waffles — bench does remind us of some cafes in the past where they are just tiny and cosy nooks to enjoy a cuppa at. A spot that no doubt carries a vibe and character that is slightly different from most cafes around these days, though we do hope that they can look a little into the quality of the food that they are serving here despite the limitations that they have in terms of the space.