NOWAFTER Cafe

Not worth lah esp at this price point😭😭😭 It’s nice ngl but it rlly is j a pretty garlic cheese bread with a hint of truffle

New cafes seem to be pretty aplenty these days; there hasn’t been much of a focus on specialty coffee in the heart of Orchard Road in the past couple of years, but it seems that the opening of %ARABICA, as well as the recent opening of Kurasu and the move of Alchemist to The Heeren had pretty much made for a bustling local coffee scene at the centre of Singapore’s famous shopping belt. With Alchemist having moved to The Heeren from their previous space within The Cocoon Space at Design Orchard, this also meant that there is yet another space that is freed up for another F&B establishment in the Somerset neighbourhood. Enter NOWAFTER; these would be the folks that have take over the former space occupied by Alchemist at The Cocoon Space at Design Orchard. There isn’t much changes made to the space since its days of being Alchemist — much of the industrial-themed look is still being retained through the use of concrete-esque and walls, with the wallpaper depicting mannequins and windows scenes at the back of the shop space still remains. What has been changed would be mostly on the furnishings; the industrial look of the space is now complimented with furnishings that carry a monochromatic colour scheme with metallic accents. Given the sort of space that NOWAFTER has taken up, NOWAFTER is that sort of cafe which offers light bites — the menu mainly comprises of savoury breads and sweet bakes. Beverages available at NOWAFTER includes a really small selection of espresso-based specialty coffee, as well as a Uji Matcha / Dark Cocoa Vanilla Latte, and a small variety of Eispanner-based drinks.

Dropping by NOWAFTER for breakfast, it is needless to say that we were looking for an item that is of a savoury nature to go for when we made our visit on weekend morning. Given how there were only two savoury items on the menu, our instinct was to go for the Charkey Bun. The Charkey Bun is also one of the most featured items from NOWAFTER on social media — the Charkey Bun being described on the menu to have come with elements such as charcoal, mozzarella, garlic herbs butter, truffle and sour cream. One reason behind the popularity of the Charkey Bun is probably the aesthetics of the item; the Charkey Bun comes with a monochromatic appearance that is befitting to the entire decor theme of the cafe — the bun being all black while the dollop of sour cream provides a contrast of white against the black bun. Served in a way much like a pull-apart bread, the Charkey Bun can also be said as NOWAFTER’s rendition of the once-viral Korean Garlic Cheese Bread that was trendy a couple of years ago. Shaped in a way that is easy to break apart and to be consumed in segments, we found the Charkey Bun to be surprisingly fluffy, soft and light — definitely way more manageable to be had individually than we had though. Each segment comes with mozzarella cheese that is being embedded within for just an extra chew and an additional note of savouriness — the spreading of garlic herbs butter provide a garlicky fragrance that cuts through the slightly richer sour cream that is meant to be spread around the bread, rounding off all of the flavours with a slight tang. Flavours of truffle aren’t particularly prominent here however. The Espresso Einspanner which we paired up with the Charkey Bun was also absolutely on-point; served only in iced format, the lightly sweet and thick cream goes well with the coffee that came with an earthy and fruity flavour profile and a medium body — pretty enjoyable. All in all, a great place for some simple, freshly-baked breads / desserts alongside a well-executed cuppa to chill at in the midst of shopping along Orchard Road.