Estee is one of the latest additions to Our Tampines Hub which we had noticed quite a while but failed to hit considering how they were often packed when we made our attempts to visit them on weekend nights. Opened some time in late 2023, Estee had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of Merely Ice-Cream; the demise of Merely Ice-Cream’s outlets at both Our Tampines Hub and Sunshine Plaza is pretty much a hit for us considering how we have been supporting them almost for a decade — from us graduating with our diploma, to eventually being working adults having worked at a building just walking distance from their Sunshine Plaza outlet. Nonetheless, Estee is a Muslim-owned establishment — they had actually made quite a fair bit of change to the premises previously occupied by Merely Ice-Cream. The entire space comes with a clean aesthetic, with white being used as the main colour scheme of the space. This is matched by dine-in furniture with wooden accents, while the floor comes with a stone-esque finish that gives it a modern look. Despite the tight space that is occupies, Estee does have a dine-in space for eight pax spread across four two-seater tables. An establishment that focuses around their cake offerings, Estee displays their cakes proudly in their glass display shelf at the counter — the variety of cakes include layered cream cakes, muffins, cupcakes, brownies, sticky date pudding, cheesecakes and even tarts. Beverages available at Estee includes espresso-based specialty coffee, drinking chocolate, cold-pressed juices and premium brew tea.

We were looking to give at least two different items that Estee has to offer a try; we are usually not too much of a fan of cupcakes in general, though since we were going for their Chocolate Tart, we thought that it would be good to go for a smaller cake item like the cupcakes rather than the layered cream cakes considering how cupcakes are definitely easier to manage. Between the cupcake flavours offered, we found some interesting flavours such as the likes of the Bandung Cupcakes and the Horlicks Cupcakes; we eventually found ourselves ordering the former. Estee does not describe the elements that goes into their cakes on their description cards placed in front of the items on the display case; that being said, the Bandung Cupcakes come with a pink cake layer and fresh cream frosting over the top. Sinking our fork into the Bandung Cupcake, the cake layer does feel sufficient dense yet soft; nothing too heavy or jelat.

As we went for the cupcake as-is, the cake does come perfuming of a floral aroma typical of Rose syrup — nothing too sweet or clouds the taste buds. There is a surprise core pink-coloured cream core that carries a more evident hint of Bandung and a slightly sweeter note that elevates the flavours of the cupcake further. The fresh cream above is smooth without being too thick; we liked how they have seemed to abstain from using cream cheese that would have caused it to be a little jelak otherwise — the fresh cream being speckled with pink bits that not only adds on to the aesthetics of the cupcake, but also carries a crunch factor as well. Have also tried the Dark Chocolate Tart; the dark chocolate ganache was all smooth and luscious, though we felt that the shortbread-esque base didn’t quite hit the mark being relatively loose and crumbly, while the dark chocolate ganache doesn’t seem to stick to the base that made the two elements feel like two individual and separate entities somewhat. One thing that we did note about Estee’s offerings is the price point; with all items being priced below $9, their offerings are actually rather affordable — this is especially so when it comes to the layered cream cakes which would have cost more due to its sheer size that might have commanded for a higher price tag elsewhere. Somewhere that Tampines residents would appreciate having in the ‘hood.