Mango Souffle One of the newly-opened dining establishments that had received quite a fair bit of attention on social media whilst opening its doors recently would be that of LANTINE; these folks being located within then ground floor of a shophouse unit situated at 103 Rangoon Road that is just a stone’s throw away from Farrer Park MRT Station along the North-East Line — other notable F&B establishments within its vicinity would include Brunches Cafe, Old Hen Coffee Bar and Wooly's Bagels. LANTINE has gotten a fair bit of attention on social media considering how vibe-y the entire space is; the interior of the establishment does seem to exude a very oriental design theme that is quite unlike any other cafes that are operating around the island — the use of wooden furniture and fittings that seem to be of traditional Chinese styles being especially fitting to the theme of the dining concept. The dining area comprises of proper dining tables and chairs as well as low tables with low chairs; most of the tables cater for patrons that come in pairs, though the dining tables and chairs are placed in a layout suitable to accommodate larger groups if need be. LANTINE is primarily a cafe that serves desserts alongside being a teahouse; the menu comprises of sections dedicated to Dessert, Jelly Bowl, Soya Pudding, Souffle, Tiramisu and Snow Ice for the variety of desserts that they have to offer. Beverages at LANTINE will include the likes of Roasted Milk Tea, Coffee, Signature Coffee, Smoothies and Signature Drinks.
Since LANTINE was out of its Tiramisu offerings when we made our visit during a weekend afternoon, we decided to go for one of the items from their Souffle section of the menu instead. These are essentially their Souffle pancake offerings which comprised of souffle pancakes coming with quite a variety of flavours — skimming through the menu for the flavours of souffle pancakes that they have to offer, the Mango Souffle was the one that caught our attention on that day that we made our visit. Much like most other establishments serving up souffle pancakes out there, there is an estimated waiting time of around 20mins required for the souffle pancake offerings — LANTINE did not describe on the elements that come with the various dishes on their menu, thus being said, it can be observed from our order that there is pastry cream, berries, mango sauce and mango cubes served with the Mango Souffle; it also comes topped with pretzel that sits atop everything else as well. Digging into the Mango Souffle, we found the souffle pancakes to be light and fluffy, though a little bit of the drier side; we have had souffle pancakes in the past from other establishments that are a wee bit more moist (without being overly wet) that was easier to down. That being said, smothering the pastry cream and mango sauce does help to circumvent this anyway; the pastry does add a light hint of sweetness, while the mango sauce and mango cubes both provided a slight tang and sweetness to bring out the intended flavours of the Mango Souffle — the cubes of mango being a little sourish but still soft to bite likely to prevent the entire dish to go towards being a little too sweet. The addition of blueberries and Chef pearls added a bit of a bite to the dessert, with the blueberries introducing another dimension of zing to cut through all of the other elements in the dessert.
We also tried the Bayberry Taro Ball Konjac which is an item that can be found in the Dessert section of the menu. It can be observed from our order of the dish that the Bayberry Taro Ball Konjac does come with the same chewy pearls that came with the Mango Souffle, as well as bayberry-infused Konjac jelly and bayberry-infused taro balls especially given how almost all elements that came with the Bayberry Taro Ball Konjac come in a shade of red much like the bayberry itself. This was more like a jelly-based dessert despite not being an item that is listed in the Jelly Bowl section of the menu; the bayberry-infused elements does come with a floral sweetness and a slight tang that one would usually associate with blackcurrant and hibiscus combined into one; all that whilst without being too sweet. The jelly itself was smooth and slurpy as it slid down to the throat without effort, while the taro balls do add a chewy consistency that gives the dessert another dimension of textures. It is also noted that the entire dessert also did not come across as being too sweet either. Going for the Hot Osmanthus Latte as our choice of beverage, this is an item which could be found in the Signature Coffee section of the menu. While the Osmanthus syrup has already been added into the coffee at the point of it being served to the table given the obvious sight of Osmanthus petals in the beverage, additional Osmanthus syrup is served on the side for those whom wish to add a further floral note to the beverage. Though adding the Osmanthus syrup does provide a slightly stronger floral note to the coffee, it is also noted that the cuppa does get sweeter as well if one were to pour in the jug of Osmanthus syrup that comes on the side as well.
LANTINE is one of the places that we are pretty sure would end up in the list of cafes to hit for cafehoppers looking for an Instagram-able experience; from its decor to how the food is being presented and plated, there is no doubt that the spot would capture the hearts of those whom love taking photos of the cafes that they go to and the food that they are having. That being said, LANTINE is still in its very early stages of operations and they are definitely still in the midst of getting used to their operations — coupled with them serving up items that already requires some waiting time to be served like the Souffle, as well as items like the Roasted Milk Tea where patrons tend to require more time to enjoy, one would probably need to exercise some patience in both waiting for seats and food whilst the folks at LANTINE explores on how to circumvent this as they smoothen out their operations over time. We do think that there is some room for improvement to some of its food items such as the texture of the souffle pancakes that we had highlighted earlier, though we do feel that their food offerings are still of a stronger quality from what one would expect from such establishments which tends to be more lacking than what LANTINE had achieved. It is undeniable that LANTINE does offer an experience that is slightly atypical to what one would expect from a usual cafe; this is also the reason why LANTINE is probably a place that is worth a visit just to check out what they have to offer after all.
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