Café Barco by Wunderfolks

Went to Cafe Barco last week and ordered their Miso Salmon Don, Chicken Katsu Burger, Tater Tots, an Iced White, and a Matcha Latte (~$58/2 pax)😇 Overall ratings 8/10! Food is decent but Chicken Katsu is underseasoned and Iced White had a hint of sourness😅 Matcha Latte was to my liking tho! Recommend the Tater Tots and Matcha Latte, would head back for those😁

Have managed to learn about the opening of the new Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks fairly recent whilst scrolling through social media. Wunderfolks might be a brand that may be familiar to some; these folks pretty much started out as a home-based business serving up dessert tarts in 2020 — the brand had subsequently became a brick-and-mortar business with their first but now-defunct space along Joo Chiat Road. While the brand had been well-known for being one that runs retail kiosks that primarily caters to takeaway operations, the opening of their Tampines Mall outlet saw the addition of dine-in seatings a while — marks the very first time that one can enjoy the variety of dessert tarts which Wunderfolks has to offer on the spot. Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks can be described as an extension of the Wunderfolks brand; situated at Techview that is located just outside of Exit A of Kaki Bukit MRT Station along the Downtown Line, Cafe Barco takes over the former premises of the now-defunct Nasty Cookie Cafe which is also right beside the Six1Two food court located in the same building. It does seem that quite a fair bit of work has been done to the space from its time being the Nasty Cookie Cafe; the space now sports a chic yet vibrant contrast of grey and blue alongside wooden accents used for its furnishings — the blue being of the same shade that Wunderfolks had pretty much adopted as a theme for their branding. The dining tables are spread white far apart from one another; provides privacy in between different groups of patrons. Fun touches like the bear mascot for Wunderfolks can also be found in one of the corners of the cafe. Being an extension of Wunderfolks, Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks offers a hot food menu that is split into categories such as All Day Breakfast, Sandos, Burgers, Donburis, Pastas and Sides — this would be aside from the various tarts, danishes and other bakes that are stocked in the display cabinet at the counter. Beverages available at Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks include espresso-based specialty coffee (only till 6pm), matcha latte, drinking chocolate, tea sourced from Gryphon Tea Company and a small variety of canned beverages.

Looking for something on the lighter side, we found ourselves gravitating towards the Sandos section of the menu — the Mentaiko Egg Mayo Sando is in fact the lowest-priced main dish on the hot food menu being priced at $8.80. The menu at Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks describes their Mentaiko Egg Mayo Sando to come with elements such as toasted bread, mentaiko egg mayo, and Tobiko. Coming as-is, the plate for the Mentaiko Egg Mayo Sando does seem a little sparse and definitely does feel like something that would cater more towards smaller appetites; we did feel that the dish could have come with some greens that would help to provide some sort of balance whilst filling up the plate a little more at the same time. Taking a bite into the Mentaiko Egg Mayo Sando, the toasted bread itself does come within what would expect a Japanese-inspired Sando to be like — lightly crisp on the outside, but retaining the soft and fluffy interior; the bread does seem fairly much like a brioche. Despite the description given in the menu itself, we felt that the mentaiko egg mayo just did not feel “mentaiko” enough in a way that the egg mayo simply lacked the umami-ness that one would associate with such an item. Instead, this felt more like a regular egg mayo sandwich that came with Tobiko over the top; the Tobiko adding that popping sensation and that slight umami factor that makes the item inch towards being a mentaiko-infused dish just by a teensy bit. In its own right though, the egg mayo that came with the Mentaiko Egg Mayo Sando does come with a consistent texture; one that is creamy with bits of small, diced hard-boiled egg that gives a soft and bouncy texture — the Tobiko providing a good textural contrast to all of that.

Wunderfolks is a brand known for their tart offerings — these folks also do retailed a line-up of danishes such as the Ham & Cheese Croissants that were being stocked in their display cabinet at the counter during our visit to Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks that is made on a weekday evening. That being said, there are items that do seem to be newly-introduced at Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks; this would include their line-up of Madelines and Financiers. We opted for the Uji Matcha Madeline and this feels rather decent; the texture was slightly on the drier side of things, though it was also noted to be not as greasy as some commercially-made ones that we had come across thus far. Whilst being infused with matcha, the notes of matcha does seem to have come from the dusting of matcha powder over the Madeline itself; this does make the Madeline carry that hint of bitterness that one would well associate with the tea, though we did feel that it was a tad extreme for our preferences since it felt a little off-balance. It retrospect, the Maple Pecan Financier was suitably sweet and buttery with an evident hint of vanilla; came even with an additional contrast of saltishness above the nuttiness from the nuts embedded in the Financier itself. While the exterior was a little crusty in around the edges, the dryness of the Financier it did make it felt a little clumpy. They also do stock a variety of Caneles in their display chiller at the counter — considering the variety of the flavours for the Canele that they were serving up, they do seem rather reminiscent to that which are being offered at Flourcrafts Patisserie (and even aesthetically similar as well); a takeaway-only establishment that specialises in Caneles and tarts that is situated at EON Shenton along Shenton Way.

We opted for their TWG French Earl Grey Canele; we liked how the Canele carried a crusty, caramalised exterior that came with a crunch; the interior bearing an almost honeycomb-like texture that is similar to Bingka Ambon and carrying a suitably sweet note. The Canele does come with a core of Earl Grey-infused cream — the cream being dense and of a similar consistency with the Canele itself in terms of texture (not sure if this is due to the Canele being stored in the fridge, and does require some time to defrost; the TWG French Earl Grey Canele was the last item to be had at the table by us), but it does carry the familiar aroma of Earl Grey Tea with a slight floral note of lavender while at it. Cafe Barco by Wunderfolks is probably Wunderfolks’ take on being an full-service cafe — one that not only focuses on their expertise on their dessert tarts that goes way back into their initial days of founding, but also one that seemingly carries a Japanese-Western fusion element — think items such as the Mentaiko Pasta with Salmon and the Chicken Katsu Burger. Most items do however seem to lean towards only one side of the spectrum; perhaps an attempt to keep things on the safer side and to cater to less adventurous tastebuds in general — we did feel that the offerings we tried does need some slight tweaks to bring it to the fullest potential. That being said, Cafe Barco definitely adds an interesting dining option to the Kaki Bukit neighbourhood — one that is also notable for the sweet treats that it has to offer. Prices of the individually-sized mains range from $8.80 to $24.80 — the most expensive being the Angus Beef Burger; a spot would likely attract those whom love the Wunderfolks brand, while also being one that residents in the ‘hood will enjoy having at their convenience.