ZUS Signature Curry Puff It hadn’t been too long that ZUS Coffee had entered the Singapore market but who wouldn’t agree that their first location here is a little too far flung for most to visit — fret not; one wouldn’t be required to make a visit down all the way to Changi Airport Terminal 4 to get their ZUS Coffee fix without crossing the border to Malaysia now that their new location at Westgate has opened its doors. ZUS Coffee takes over the former premises of the now-defunct outlet of Lady M there, being located at the second level of the mall in the open-air area; other dining establishments within the vicinity would include that of the outlet of Miam Miam there. Given the larger space of its Westgate location, ZUS Coffee’s operations at its Westgate outlet would also include a dine-in seating space; this is quite unlike its Changi Airport Terminal 4 outlet that operates like a kiosk. There is a decent number of dining tables here that caters to groups of two (2) and four (4) pax; the decor theme of the space is relatively functional but tasteful in a way that is similar to most other commercially-run coffee establishments — the interior seeing the use of wooden accent in the furniture and fittings that is matched against a contrast of blue and white with the former being colour scheme that ZUS Coffee has chosen for its branding. With the inclusion of the dine-in space at the Westgate location, ZUS Coffee does not only serve beverages, but also a lineup of savoury food, pastries and cakes to go along which are prominently displayed in the display chiller at the counter. Beverages are split across categories such as Coffee (further segmented into ZUS Signature, Mocktail, Classic and Functional), Coffee+ (further segmented into Cham Latte, Frappe and Creme) and Non-Coffee (further segmented into Tea, Chocolate, Refresher and Kids-friendly).
Given the sort of establishment that ZUS Coffee is, it is no surprise that the savoury food offered here would be those that are pre-packed and microwaveable in nature. What does remain interesting at ZUS Coffee as compared to other establishments of the same category would be the inclusion of items that would appeal to the South East Asian clientele — something that has got to do with ZUS Coffee’s origins as a Malaysian brand. Case in point would be the ZUS Signature Curry Puff which is also competitively priced at $2.90 a puff. This pretty much exceeded our expectations for a curry puff given how it has been executed for a curry puff that is served up at such an establishment — whilst most establishments that do not serve curry puffs as their main offering tend to serve up very uninspiring versions of it, we already like how the ZUS Signature Curry Puff looks with its layered puff pastry that looked especially flaky. We are glad that the puff pastry is as crisp and flaky as it look; all that without being particularly greasy or doughy — filled with a potato filling, the potato comes in mashed-up form that is fluffy and moist which also makes it one of the slightly wetter curry puffs that we have come across, while one can also find some traces of hard-boiled egg inside as well. ZUS Coffee also does offer some dishes that would do well for those whom are looking for a more substantial way — whilst the availability of pasta and lasagne may be a little more commonplace in establishments with a similar operation model as ZUS Coffee, it is interesting to note that ZUS Coffee does offer the Chili Api Fried Rice and Tom Yum Fried Rice that would better cater to our Asian tastebuds. The Chili Api Fried Rice comes in the ready-to-eat, microwavable packaging that is only heated up upon order; we were quite impressed with the overall quality of the Chili Api Fried Rice considering how it came suitably saltish — something similar to what one would expect for a typical plate of salted fish fried rice outside. The grains of rice also comes lacquered with sufficient oil so that each grain is distinct from one another; coming with scraps of omelette, some chunks of long beans and a few chicken pieces, these all added a contrast of textures to the dish — the Chili Api Fried Rice also delivered quite a kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds even for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness.
It wouldn’t be a proper visit to ZUS Coffee if we didn’t give any of their coffee offerings a go and this time round we found ourselves settling for the Iced Buttercreme Spanish Latte listed in the Creme subsection of the Coffee+ category of the menu. This is an item that sees the standard Spanish Latte offered at ZUS Coffee topped off with a buttercream mousse layer that adds on to the smoothness of the entire cuppa; all that without being overly sweet since the sweetened milk added to Spanish Latte already gives it sufficient flavour. For our order of the Iced Buttercreme Spanish Latte, we also went for the Boss blend of beans which comprises a mix of Brazilian, Colombian and Ethiopian beans that is said to be the stronger blend as compared to the Lydia that consists of beans originating from Indonesia, Brazil and Papua New Guinea. Some may argue that it is always fairly easy and more advantageous to just make the trip across the border to give ZUS Coffee a go; after all, the brand does has its roots from Malaysia, and outlets of ZUS Coffee are aplenty there. That being said, ZUS Coffee is one of those brands that has kept itself reasonably value-for-money despite entering the Singapore market; there isn’t any item (including its food offerings) that are priced above $8, and we do find the quality of their coffee surpassing that of other similar chains of its type — other commercially-run establishments tend to serve their flavoured lattes as a beverage, but ZUS Coffee’s approach still makes it an actual cuppa whilst managing the infusion of the flavours well. We had previously mentioned about hoping to see more ZUS Coffee outlets opening around Singapore soon and it does seem that ZUS Coffee had given us more than just that with the offering of food items at its Westgate outlet — perhaps it would be some time before we will start seeing them sprouting up in more centralised spots / around town soon!
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