Afternoon Tea at Shop Wonderland Cafe

37 Haji Lane, Singapore 189230

Tel: 6299 5848

A fairly new cafe nestled along the row of exotic shops at Haji Lane, I have heard of it way before I decided to set foot into this pretty little haven. Shop Wonderland is not just a cafe, but a part of Wonderland for Detailed Planners, doing home and events decor.

This probably explained the gorgeous aesthetics of this tiny cafe, with all the floral touches and exquisite ornaments forming part of the designs.

The modernistic chic outlook engages the use of floral designs, ratten chairs and books to give the cafe a lovely ambience, well-spaced despite the sheer size of the cafe level. The service was not too friendly despite there not being much customers at 11.30 am. on a weekday, but I was not there to hang out.

I had an agenda - attacking the pastries counter (even though I already knew what I wanted in mind). They do have an interesting range of pastries, using rose flavors, green tea flavors etc, but I was here for the famous Earl Grey Lavender Cake.

There, we have it, the Earl Grey Lavendar Cake (SGD$7.60) served on an interesting wooden plate  resembling a table tennis racket, made prettier by the paper doily that sat beneath the cake. The pale lilac coating was silky and rich on the mouth, with a light hint of lavendar to it, as did the cake bear some semblence of earl grey's flavor in it. But the texture of the cake itself was rough, dry and hard, which was a tad disappointing given its lovely, resounding name.

Nonetheless, I washed the cake down with a hot, delicious cup of Cuppucino (SGD$5.20) that had a nutty hint and roasted coffee's aroma.

I would say that the ambience are probably the best things that catches one's eyes, and the pretty decor would make one linger for a while over books or catching up, but the limited selection of savoury food and hard cake would not bring me back, especially not in this stretch with many other competitors vying for the same market share.