Les Mains Deli (The URA Centre)

There definitely seems to be quite a fair bit going on around the Maxwell neighbourhood recently; whilst The URA Centre has recently seen the opening of a new outlet of The Caffeine Experience in the past couple of months, it does seem that yet another F&B establishment had also opened its doors in the same building. Occupying a shop unit that is located right across from The Caffeine Experience, The URA Centre now sees the opening of Les Mains Deli. For those whom find the “Les Mains” branding rather familiar; yes, these are the same folks behind Les Mains Bakehouse which have first established their presence in the local F&B scene some time back in Jalan Tua Kong. Unlike Les Mains Bakehouse where the space was initially positioned more towards being a takeaway spot during the initial days of its operations, Les Mains Deli is set up as a dining establishment with a dine-in element. With a space that offers a triple-facade that faces out to the walkway into The URA Centre, Kadayanallur Street and Maxwell Road, much of the space has been decked to include counter seating that allows diners to face out of the window — that being said, there are some dining tables and benches situated in the middle of the space that better caters to larger groups whom intend to dine-in. The interior space is brightly lit, with the space being adorned with furniture and fittings with wooden accents matched with elements of white and green around its walls — quite a clean look overall. With the distinction of the brand here being Les Mains Deli instead of Les Mains Bakehouse, the menu of Les Mains Deli seems to be focused around its Protein / Salad Menu which replicates the concept of Build-Your-Own salad bars elsewhere. Apart from the Protein / Salad Menu, there is a limited selection of bakes that one can also find at Les Mains Bakehouse being offered at Les Mains Deli as well. Les Mains Deli also serves up a line-up of gelatos churned by microcreamery — the same is also being offered at Les Mains Bakehouse at Jalan Tua Kong as well. Beverages available at Les Mains Deli includes cold brew coffee, espresso-based specialty coffee, tea, juices and drinking chocolate — just to name a few.

Having had a number of grain / salad bowls for the past number of weeks, we weren’t quite into ordering the items from the Protein / Salad Menu section of the menu at Les Mains Deli. Considering so, our attention turned towards the Petit Sandwiches which we are part of the Bakes menu that is available from opening till 5:00pm during its operational days from Monday to Saturday. The line-up of Petit Sandwiches would suit smaller palates whom aren’t looking into having something quite as substantial as a full grain / salad bowl — these being around half the size of a usual sandwich elsewhere. Despite the portion size, one could tell that these sandwiches are offerings that Les Mains Deli had made themselves — the menu does not describe on the elements that are featured in the various bakes; that being said, it could be observed from our order that the Turkey Ham Petit Sandwich comes with elements such as raisins, arugula, cream cheese and turkey ham. Taking a first bite into the Turkey Ham Petit Sandwich, this is pretty unlike the uninspiring, commercially-made sandwiches that some takeaway specialty coffee stands in the Central Business District serves up; we are already in love with how the bread comes with a crisp exterior — all that whilst being light, airy and fluffy with a slight tension to chew apart from within. The bread alone was already enough to get us excited with the sandwich, despite the sandwich sounding pretty much of a generic offering going by its namesake. The sandwich does feel like an offering which is very well thought-out; the use of cream cheese provides a smooth and creamy mouthfeel that gels the other elements such as the bread, the arugula and the turkey ham together — the turkey ham itself wasn’t overly savoury and provided just the meaty touch that it needs, while the inherent bitterness of the arugula was well managed by the richness and creaminess of the cream cheese that provided a dull tang that cuts across all of that nicely. We had also went for the Vanilla Madelines (3 pieces) which were served warmed up by default; these were decent in a way that they came with crisp edges — soft and fluffy with an evident Vanilla aroma and being just sufficiently sweet, whilst also not being too greasy as well.

Skimming through the various flavours of gelato that they have to offer here, we found ourselves opting for the Bailey’s and Cookies which does sound like a twist from the usual Cookies and Cream ice-cream which we are used to seeing an other establishments. Available in both cup and cone formats, we found ourselves going for the latter which turns out to be a cone bigger than that of the usual that we come across at other ice-cream / gelato parlours. There were not only nibs of chocolate cookies that provided a crunch factor, but also chunks of chocolate within that provided a crunch and gave a bitter sweet note to the gelato; the base of the gelato being boozy enough to provide an adequate punch of alcoholic notes that one would be seeking for in such flavours — a very well-rounded gelato flavour for sure. During our visit, we also went for the Piccolo; patrons get to choose between two (2) different types of coffee beans and our choice for our order of the Piccolo would be the Sumatra Mandheling. This is described to come with tasting notes of Macadamia, Milk Chocolate and Red Fruits — a cuppa which we found to be really well-pulled being creamy and smooth with a nutty body and a fruity finish; one that packed a caffeinated kick that makes for a good mid-day perk-me-up. Les Mains Bakehouse was a spot that we recalled having been fairly impressed with their bakes when we made our visit when they had first opened their doors — the only qualm we have had with is their location which is a tad inaccessible; one that most would consider as requiring quite a fair bit of effort to get to even for those whom stay in the East. Whilst we had not managed to give their Protein / Salad menu a go yet, we did find the Turkey Ham Petit Sandwich, Piccolo and the Bailey’s & Cookies gelato hitting the same standards that Les Mains Bakehouse and microcreamery had left us with back then. With their offerings being priced from $7 for the Petit-sized Protein / Salad menu that features one (1) base and two (2) supplements to $17 for the Large-sized Protein / Salas menu that features two (2) bases, two (2) proteins, three (3) supplements, one (1) crunch and one (1) sauce, the prices of the offerings at Les Mains Deli is pretty competitively priced against similar establishments located in the heart of the Central Business District. Considering how Les Mains Deli does carry some of Les Mains Bakehouse and microcreamery’s offerings, Les Mains Deli is definitely a more convenient location for those whom are interested to give Les Mains Bakehouse and microcreamery a go but found their locations to be a little inconvenient; also an establishment that those working in the area would likely appreciate having to their convenience.