Cafe De Paradiso

I should really be blogging more! All the words on my receipts are fading away... too much food eaten, too many places visited, yet I am still not updating as regularly as I want myself to be. Luckily, despite being busy, I will still allocate some time for writing. After all, it's my passion, regardless of whether I have an audience or not. So today's food review will be for a vegetarian cafe, Cafe De Paradiso, located at Boon Lay Way. I recommend this place because it has no crowd on a Saturday afternoon! Haha, best place for conversations with your girlies.Another must-go reason is that it has NO gst and service charge! Clap clap. Price hikes are the norm nowadays, hence, finding places which have no extra charges is like striking lottery.

As it was sweltering hot that day, the refreshing ice lemon mint tea ($3.50) was my beverage of choice. Initially, I wanted to have just the ice peppermint tea, but according to the waiter, they do not have that on that day. Eh, but how isnt this ice lemon mint tea created just by adding lemon into the ice peppermint tea? Beats me. This was nice. Refreshing and cooling. Good for quenching thirsts. I am particularly in love with the green bubbly foam. Yes, I go crazy over all things green.

 

For mains, I had the Claypot Noodle ($4.00), which was a colorful noodle dish with assorted vegetables like mushroom, wongbok, carrot, celery served in a claypot. I like anything served from a claypot because it somehow ensures that the food can be kept warm for a longer time. There is also this particular fragrance or aroma that lingers in the claypot. The soup was slightly bland but I didnt taste any hint of MSG in there. Probably that was the reason why it lacked flavor. It's a good thing though. We should totally put a ban on MSG. I believe cooking methods and the ingredients used can influence the taste of the dish, such that MSG need not be relied on at all. Noodles were cooked well and they werent too hard. Po Chai noodles (the kind used in this dish) need to be cooked for some time so as to soften them. Believe it or not, I have eaten uncooked po chai noodles before and it was unpleasant. 

 

Sin Chow Bee Hoon ($5.00) did not match up to my standards. The moistness of the bee hoon was there, the ingredients were plentiful, but somehow it tasted really bland. No oopmh factor in this. Too little seasoning or sauce was used. Despite being a pretty dish visually, it failed sadly in other aspects. It was a little oily too as a layer of oil was seen on the plate after we had finished eating. 

 

Fried Beancurd with Special Sauce ($4.00) came in 8 pieces, drizzled with a mysterious black homemade sauce and topped with sesame seeds. This was addictive, because it was served piping hot and it went well with the black sauce. The sauce was somewhat sweet and a little salty, which, till today, I still couldnt figure out what it was. Sesame seeds acted well as a condiment and complemented the sauce. The beancurds were crispy on the exterior and really moist in the interior. One bite into this and a whole lot of juices came exploding in your mouth. Surprisingly good. 

This is a nice cafe to chill out with your frens if you decide to have vegetarian fare. Ambience is good, no frills, homey feeling. No fancy decorations, no eyecatching furniture, but just a touch of sincerity. Service was good (or probably because we were the only ones? Haha). The only down side would be its location. Very ulu mulu leh. Who goes to boon lay way to eat? We were there because we went to a furniture shop just nearby. So it was due to coincidence that we spotted this eating place. I guess lots more advertising needs to be done to attract the crowd. 

Total Damage: $17.80 (for 2 pax)

Overall Ratings: 3.5/5

Cafe De Paradiso

8 Boon Lay Way

#01-29

Tradehub 21

Singapore 609966