Tea break at Brew Maison @ Bukit Timah

I'd crawled out of bed with a hangover, took a hearty home-cooked lunch, and then the message from *Celine came, asking me to go chill at Brew Maison. It sounded like a good cure for a headache-y Saturday afternoon, so I headed down to join her.

 The address is at 383 Bukit Timah Road, #01-9B Alocassia Apartments, Singapore 259727 and the numbers to dial are 6836 2948 / 6735 5068.

Brew Maison is a very new cafe opened in March 2014, done in refreshing Japanese  and Korean concept. Don't be fooled by the non-descript door - the spacious interior exudes a very inviting charm, with its sleek whiteness, beautifully objets d'art adorning the walls and cushy white couches. The clean-cut look and good service spells a very successful future for this lovely cafe, for sure.

I nearly missed my friend because she was seated at the other side (the cafe is huge!) with mirrored wall panels and more couches, and more walls painted in soothing pastel tones. There was no loud music or rowdy chatter, so all was very pleasant.

Their food menu was interesting. You choose your meat, followed by source of carbohydrates (bread? rice? pasta?), followed by the sauce.  It was adorable, and somewhat mysterious.

The cakes counter caught my attention - an assortment of mouthwatering cakes, muffins , eclairs and croissants. I was debating between one of these, or the ice-cream sandwiches beckoning to me from the posters they're mounted on.

After ordering, we were given a "pager" which would vibrate when the orders were ready, so we could self-collect. Despite the good counter service, there is no service charge hence we DIY in serving ourselves.

I ordered the Tea Set (SGD$8.00) comprising of a slice of cake and a hot beverage. My cake of choice was the Blackforest cake. It was very fine and smooth in texture, and was not too sweet in taste as well. The generous inclusion of huge dark cherries was what I loved most, so this was a keeper. The tiny watering-can with flowers on the table was just too adorable I had to snap a photo of it.

The Cuppacino was rather fragrant, and rather light in flavor. It was pleasant enough for this lazy Saturday afternoon, and its non-sweet, slightly-bitter overture complemented my cake very well. They have pretty latte art (including 3D) but I wasn't offered any - I heard reservations for latte art is required.

Photo courtesy of *Celine

*Celine had the Pork belly with Pasta and curry sauce lunch (SGD$8.20). The noodles were rather springy and the pork belly slices rather tender. The curry sauce was slightly spicy (I prefer spicier ones) but the overall flavor was good - refreshing but tasty.

Photo courtesy of *Celine

Drinks-wise, she had the Goguma Latte - sweet potato latte (SGD$4.00) - an interesting flavor despite its simple outlook. The sweet potato flavor filled the mouth with its aroma - a pity I'd ordered my usual Cuppaccino before I checked with her, lol. I would've loved to have this!

We also shared the Tori Bites (SGD$6.00) - handmade chicken nuggets that comes with fries and sauce (we took the recommended "brown Korean sauce"). The nuggets were crispy and the minced chicken flesh was distinctive (for most nuggets, all we see and taste is the flour) in flavor. The fries were very crispy, and remained crispy at the end of our 2-hours chillout session. The brown sauce was normal - a savoury sauce that added some taste to the fries but nothing to go gaga over.

Overall, it was a lovely place to be at, whether spending some me-time alone or catching up with friends, dodging the hot, hot weather, and enjoying some quality food and drinks.