Muro Coffee (Esplanade Mall)

It is quite surprising how we had just written about Muro Coffee & Focaccia not too long ago and these folks had just set up yet another new location around the island — taking over the former premises of the now-defunct Gloria Jean's Coffees at Esplanade Mall, Muro Coffee has found home in a shop unit that is located right across from Alter Ego; other F&B establishments within the same vicinity would include the Supply & Demand outlet at Esplanade Mall, which also houses ARKTOS Gelato as well. It does seem that Muro Coffee & Focaccia has intended for a segregation between the branding of its original location at South Bridge Road and their new outlet at Esplanade Mall — the most obvious being the lack of mention of “Focaccia” in the namesake of its Esplanade Mall location. It also is fairly obvious from how the store is being decked; while the interior of Muro Coffee & Focaccia at South Bridge Road has a monochromatic look with an industrial vibe, the Muro Coffee outlet at Esplanade Mall retains the look of a commercially-run coffee joint that Gloria Jean's Coffees has left behind — this includes a decor theme that is more casual and functional with the large use of wooden elements in its carpentry for a cosy look. Much like the previous tenants of the space, Muro Coffee does have both dine-in seating situated indoors as well as outdoors — the outdoor seating mainly comprises of high tables and chairs while the interior seating consists of usual dining tables with plastic chairs. As suggested in the differences between the branding of the two locations that they operate, the menu of Muro Coffee during its launch does not carry any of their focaccia sandwich offerings that are available at South Bridge Road; instead, the Muro Coffee location at Esplanade Mall only carries a line-up of pies, wraps, soup and various cakes and bakes that seemed to sourced from external suppliers. Where the beverage menu is of concern, the line-up would include a list of espresso-based specialty coffee, specialty lattes (which includes flavoured lattes), espresso frappe, sparkling fruit-infused drinks dubbed the Fruit Fuser Sparkling, Matcha, Tea, Flavoured Frappe and Smoothies — there are also a list of Signatures which are essentially special concoctions of drinks that can be found at Muro Coffee & Focaccia at South Bridge Road.

Having had the Orange Espresso Tonic during our visit to Muro Coffee & Focaccia at South Bridge Road not too long ago, we found comfort in ordering same item during our visit to Muro Coffee at their Esplanade Mall location. The menu board at Muro Coffee describes their Orange Espresso Tonic to come with elements such as fresh orange juice, double espresso, tonic water and orange slice. Where the whole concoction came together, this pretty much was consistent to our experience with the same beverage during our visit to Muro Coffee & Focaccia at South Bridge Road — there was balance between the espresso, tonic water and the orange juice that provided a zingy, citrus-y note amidst the caffeine; nothing too strong tasting with the light body and fruity flavour profile of the coffee complimenting the addition of tonic water and orange juice just about right. Definitely a good, caffeinated thirst quencher to have when walking by the bay on a hot, sunny day. The Rose Pistachio Cake does seem to stand out to us amongst the range of cakes that have in stock due to the elements at play, though one thing that marred our experience with the cake was how the cake was a wee bit on the drier side of things. That being said, the cake wasn’t too dense in terms of texture — while the exterior features pistachio-infused buttercream that hints of a slight nuttiness, what did really catch our attention here was the layer of pistachio paste that came with crumbles for a varying texture of crunch; we also note that rose-infused pastry cream layer in the middle that provided a soft, floral aroma to the cake as well. Credit should also be given to these folks for upping the presentation of the cake by adding flower petals to the plating that gives it a bit more aesthetic appeal.

Muro Coffee does leave us being a little confused being folks whom have previously dropped by Muro Coffee & Focaccia in the past; the differences in what both establishments have to offer are pretty stark to the say the least, and Muro Coffee doesn’t exactly represent what Muro Coffee & Focaccia has to offer at their South Bridge Road location — Muro Coffee & Focaccia being more of an artisanal establishment as compared to Muro Coffee that feels more like a commercial chain at heart due to what they have to offer. Whilst we are not sure if this would cause a bit of dilution of the branding of Muro Coffee & Focaccia that they have painstakingly created with the South Bridge Road location considering how basic Muro Coffee is, those looking for the full experience that Muro Coffee & Focaccia is all about should definitely head to their South Bridge Road location instead — though Muro Coffee at Esplanade Mall might be a more convenient location for us to grab the Orange Espresso Tonic should we be craving for one whilst around the Esplanade / Promenade / City Hall area.