Dinner at D'Good Cafe @ Holland Village

273 Holland Avenue #02-01 / 02 Singapore 278992

Tel: 6219 9807

Website: http://dgoodcafe.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dgoodcafe

It was time to meet the favorite girls again, and I had originally thought of another cafe in Holland Village. Then *Chantal suggested D'Good Cafe, and off we went. There was a glass door and we pushed it open. She mentioned it was upstairs, but I didn't expect it to occupy two stories!

After entering the glass door, one had the choice of taking the stairs or elevator. We waited for this interesting elevator. It was akin to the kind of vintage, manually-operated elevator, so cute! We had to pull the door open when the lift reached, and then we had to keep our fingers pressed onto the floor buttons so the lift could keep moving.

This was Level 2, the bar counter and where one places their orders, gets their ice- waters and eventually collects their orders when the food was ready.

I made it a habit to check the pastries / cake counter out, and saw an array of cheesecakes and other delectable looking cakes.

There were also lots of interesting and pretty ornaments adorning the small space. The seating area was in the room opposite. D'Good Cafe believes in providing good coffee and experience to its customers, offering job opportunities as well as giving back to the community.  I like these values.

                             

We took the stairs up to Level 3, and I was surprised by the lovely little trinkets brightening up normal stairwell corners. It was really pretty overall - creating a little bit of fairyland cum vintage look to it all - flowers , postal boxes, etc. I glimpsed a long white swing on Level 2's seating area as well.

I was awestruck by the gorgeous sight of the alfresco seating on Level 3 as well, all sultry tentage and enchantment under the skies.

And enroute to the door of the seating area on Level 3 lay herein a basin of dried flowers and potpurri.

We entered the brightly lit cafe, and selected a table amidst the crowd. The cafe was done in good taste of simple sleekness, all polished wood and white tables and chairs. Though small, they tried to space the tables out rather well, so that we were not seated back to back with the next table.

These cuties occupied a table on their own, so we took photographs of them as well.

While waiting for *Sharona and *Nadine to arrive, we decided to start with cakes. I had the Strawberry Cheesecake (SGD$9.00) that came with a gelish / jellyish layer encrusting real fruits within. The cake was fluffy in its cheesy richness, and melted in the mouth. The red jellyish layer was not too sweet, and the strawberries added a lovely flavor to the cake.

*Chantal chose the Triplet Cheese Cake (SGD$9.50) - chocolate , cheese and rich dark chocolate (Oreo?) base topped with a chocolate macaroon atop. Texture was good - soft and sticky without being gooey, the cake managed to retain fluffiness despite its solid form. The flavors were lovely blend of chocolate and cheese, and the macaroon was not too sweet.

Then the girls came and we began attacking the food. The Cream of Mushroom (SGD$8.00) was tasty, redolent of the unique aroma of mushrooms; it was viscous enough but not mucilaginous, and there were still tiny chunks of mushrooms at the bottom of the hot piping soup.

*Nadine and I both had the Rosalle Iced Tea (SGD$4.90) each - a tangy, slightly sour but lovely tea with lots of benefits.   It was close to 9.00pm hence this was the best non-caffeinated choice - healthy yet refreshing. Some liken the flavor to resemble Ribena's.

For mains, there was the Prawns Aglio Olio (SGD$16.00) that came with maple seasalt. The prawns were large and delicious looking, but the pasta was a little on the dry side. Nonetheless, the lovely essence of a good aglio olio - complete with dried chilli padi, garlic and olive - were captured, and the flavor was very satisfying.

Then the Shimeiji Oysters Pasta - touch choice deciding between the Oysters Poached Egg Pasta and this, but this won eventually.  The pasta was done well - springy and boungy, and the pearl oysters were fresh and chewy. The tiny mushrooms and salmon roe added to the texture and flavor of the pasta. It was a delicious treat, especially when *Nadine and I loved oysters.

Next, the Baked Lemongrass Chicken (SGD$17.50) that was accompanied by mashed potato (with real potato chunks), mushrooms and zucchini. The chicken was rather tender, and the mashed potato was good. In fact, I'd say that the chicken was flavorful - just that the hints of lemongrass was weak, almost undetectable.

Overall, we enjoyed our dining experience and catching up at this pretty little multi-storied cafe, and the food was lovely overall (especially the pastries and pasta). The service was a little lackluster though - from the brusque replies of the servers on Level 2 to the waitresses on Level 3 who kept on clearing our cups and plates although we were still eating (the server did not even ask if she could clear before just snatching my cups away, twice).