Cafe de Swan

Got to hear about the opening of a new cafe that is a slight distance away from Bedok MRT Station within a private housing enclave whilst scrolling through social media one day — Cafe de Swan had recently opened its doors at Swan Lake Avenue; these folks had essentially taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Black & Ink which had been in operations in the ‘hood for quite a while. The same stretch of shophouses is where one can also find establishments like an outlet of Saffrons, as well as Le Petit Paris. Cafe de Swan is located at the corner-most shophouse with a distinct black-and-white shop facade with large signboards indicating its presence. Dine-in seatings can be found both inside and and outside of the establishment, with the outdoor dining seats comprising of foldable chairs and plastic tables; the interior set-up features a cosier seating especially nearer to the front of its space, with cushioned seats and dining tables with wooden accents that matched the black-and-white theme of the exterior of the space with the wooden accents that provided some contrast. Being a bit of a cafe-cum-bistro, Cafe de Swan segregates its menu into Appetisers / Soups, Mains, Pasta & Risottos, Snacks & Sides, and Desserts. It is also worth noting that Cafe de Swan does serve up Brunch offerings only on weekends and public holidays from 8am to 2pm, whilst they also serve açai bowls and gelato. Beverages available at Cafe de Swan would include espresso-based specialty coffee, teas, canned drinks and a line-up of coolers.

Whilst we visited Cafe de Swan on a weekday evening for dinner, we were more intrigued by the availability of Bangers & Mash as compared to the line-up of Mains and Pasta & Risottos that they have to offer — the Pasta & Risottos section of the menu comprises of dishes that are a little bit more on the conventional side, whilst we weren’t too interested with the offerings on the Mains menu that seemed to be a little heavy to us on the day that we made our visit. The Bangers & Mash is described on the menu to come with elements such as Kurobuta Pork Sausages, Wilted Baby Spinach, Mashed Potatoes and Sausage Gravy. As we dug into the dish, we must say that the mashed potatoes here are done with a very smooth consistency throughout; no lumpy / chunky bits here, while it was also moist enough without being too grainy nor dry. We do detect an extra note of savouriness with their mashed potatoes as well; likely came with a bit of cheese for an extra dimension of flavours. The Kurobuta Pork Sausages were also a joy to have; these pork sausages do carry a firm bite with a snappy casing that wraps the sausage really tightly; whilst inherently meaty in its texture especially considering how it doesn’t really carry much bounce in it, the inclusion of herbs in the meat also meant that it wasn’t excessively saltish as well. With the mash potatoes being drenched in the sausage gravy, the sausage gravy is in fact a brown sauce similar to the likes of the brown gravy that is served with poutine; slightly briny yet with a savoury note that gives the mashed potatoes a bit more depth of flavours, yet not particularly overpowering at the same time. The wilted spinach is the balance that the dish needs; provided a soft bite and being that neutral element to the meat and starches that came with the dish — overall, a pretty well-rounded version of the Bangers & Mash that turned out to be rather easy to have.

During our visit, we had also went for the Matcha Mont Blanc as the choice of item to go for in the “Desserts” section of the menu; the menu describes the Matcha Mont Blanc to come with elements such as matcha mousseline, matcha sponge, matcha crémeux, sable breton and mascarpone whip. The Sable Breton does seem to be on the slightly stiffer side; the consistency being a bit close to a cookie and requires some effort to slice through, though that consistency also meant that it did hold up well from the elements that came atop of it. The various matcha elements here carried a smooth texture that was light to have — elements like the matcha mousseline, matcha sponge and the matcha crémeux carrying very evident bitter undertones of the Japanese tea which would definitely appeal to matcha lovers, while it is interesting to note that the mascarpone whip didn’t really carry that usual tanginess and heaviness of cream cheese that one would expect from such a component within a dessert. There is also a hint of sweetness that we detected within the Matcha Mont Blanc which we likened to that of the spun sugar that one can find in a Croquembouche. The Flat White that we had went for was actually beautifully pulled; something that we weren’t quite expecting from a new establishment like Cafe de Swan.

Thought the cuppa was pretty decent less the fact that the espresso shot seems to have been over-extracted here that resulted in a rather chalky and acidic note which fell short from being the otherwise almost-perfect cuppa that it would have been. Cafe de Swan does seem like a good successor to the establishment that it had replaced; one that seemingly serves up what seems to be better fare than the previous tenant of the space, while we must also mention that the hospitality given by the two front-of-house staff on the day of our visit was impeccable — whilst we were at some point of time the only folks dining within the establishment, the staff still paid much attention to details such as refilling our glasses and clearing our table of excess items when are done with them; this is opposed to some other establishments that tend to leave patrons alone when they are the only ones within the establishment — the staff at Cafe de Swan does take a proactive approach with their patrons. Prices of the dishes on the Mains and Pasta & Risottos sections of the menu at Cafe de Swan starts from $12 to $32; the lowest-priced being the Prawn Aglio Olio, and the priciest being the Lobster Risotto. It does seem like the folks behind Cafe de Swan are striving to be a friendly neighbourhoodly spot to the the community surrounding it, and these folks are probably well on their way to being just that with how they are doing based on our dining experience with them. Looking forward to return some day to give their other interesting dessert options a go; their line-up of Tarts and the Vanilla Panna Cotta does look interesting to us for sure!