Dinner at Boufe Cafe @ Phoenix Park

308 Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park, Singapore 247974

Tel: 6734 7656

Website: http://www.boufesg.com

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

Boufe Cafe - simply "boutique" and "cafe" made into an original name for this pretty little cafe hidden away in the outskirts of Orchard Road, sitting famously at the secluded Phoenix Park - I'd been wanting to come here because I keep seeing photographs of the famous white swings against pebbled grounds.

The first time trying to get here failed, because they had an event; so we called ahead this time round. After taking some photographs of the lovely, clean-cut cafe with a lovely garden settings, we went in.

The interior was done in sleek white as well, with a bar counter and lots of white tables and chairs (sounds like a good substitute for "Diner en Blanc" eh? lol).

To the left of the main entrance is where the clothes retailer is located, with an array of dresses, rompers and blouses in different hues and styles for one to shop from.  It is interesting to encompass shopping and dining together in one space together, and it seems that many cafes are practicing this nowadays.

The alfresco area is utterly beautiful, almost in a fairytale-like manner, complete with vines of plants hanging from the top and sides of the white-themed cafe. It would be lovely to dine without the nature greenery, but an oversight by me caused us to make do with the indoors (not that there is anything wrong with the indoors, but the outdoors is more relaxing and quiet).

To the right of the main entrance is where the cafe is, and a tantalising array of cakes and desserts flaunting themselves proudly for our pick.

The table settings is delicately pretty with white utensils bucket and a transparent vase with fresh white flowers - I thought that little gesture was so endearing.  We browsed through the rather limited menu but managed to order everything we wanted.

The Beau started with an Iced Caramel Latte (SGD$6.50), a rather diluted mug of iced milk coffee in my opinion - with just coffee flavour but none of caramel detected.

I had the Iced Lychee Tea (SGD$5.50) which was a little sweet but got better when ice cubes melted (and I added a little iced water to it); other than that, the tea was fragrant and infused nicely with lychee's taste.

For mains, The Beau had the Spicy Crab Pasta (SGD$22.00), pasta cooked in spicy tomato sauce topped with white crab meat and arugula. The sauce was a thick spicy-tarty paste filled with very tiny slivers of crab meat - a disappointment because you could hardly see nor taste the crab. The only consolation was the springy spaghetti (one could also opt for penne) and the strong, spicy flavor of the paste which boosted the dainty-portioned dish.

I chose the Duck Confit with Mashed Potato (SGD$22.00) - a well-matured piece of duck leg confit coupled with mashed potato and orange demi-glaze. The sauce was a little too much, drenching the potato and melting them into pulp; pity, because the flavour of the gravy is rather nice, playing upon the hints of sweet onions. The duck was tender in texture but the skin was not crispy, disappointingly. Other than that, I enjoyed this dish.

For dessert, we had a Citron Tart (SGD$5.50), a pretty little darling with frozen cream heaped into a nice shape on top of the lemon curd. Taste was not bad - refreshing and sour-sweet as anticipated; but texture did not make the cut unfortunately. What might have been a fluffy, crispy crust was hardened as well as the lemon curd which might have been silken on the tongue - did they chill it for too long? Everything was hardened and it made cutting the tart a challenge, a pity for the good taste of this beauty.

Finally, service was a little slow (ok, so they don't charge service charge), but we waited close to 40 minutes to see any hint of our food at all, and then our mains were served at least 10 minutes apart. There was no warning on waiting time during ordering, and when we ordered it was merely around 7pm with about 3 tables in all.