Afternoon Tea at Non Entrée Desserts Cafe @ Rangoon Road

204 Rangoon Road, Singapore 218451

Tel: 9878 6543

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

Taking over the now-defunct Woodshed Cafe, this bright and vibrant exterior is the transformed-entity of Non Entrée Desserts Cafe, a new kid on the block serving modern European desserts in various flavours and beautiful forms.  Having seen many photos of the pastries here posted by friends on various platforms, my sweettooth ached and I decided to come by. It is located right next to Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh (review here), within stone's throw from Founder's Bak Kut Teh's other outlet at Rangoon Road as well.

The cafe is helmed by ex-Basilico (review here) pastry chef, Francis and two friends, who seek to provide exquisite desserts for cafe-hoppers. The interior was simple, with a vintage, retro charm to it; service was affable and friendly. Patrons had to wait to be seated, but orders are placed at the counter together with payment.

Gelato was served as well; in a colorful variety. It was tempting on this scorching sunny weekend afternoon.  A fellow customer strongly recommended the Pistachio Gelato, terming it "spectacular". *Celine ordered a scoop of Tiramisu Gelato that was bittersweet with alcohol flavour but weak in coffee aroma.

The array of desserts was aplenty - all with enticing names and looked tempting to the palate. From nuts to chocolate to fruity flavour, there is something pretty for everyone; and they were priced rather reasonably, between SGD$8.90 to SGD$10.90 per slice.

We also looked through the menu, and decided to order a different assortment to share, since there were 4 of us.

But first things first, drinks to quench our thirst.  The Iced Milk Tea (SGD$5.00) was light in tea flavour and diluted; my Iced Lemon Tea (SGD$5.50) was bland in taste save for citrusy hints as well; *Celine mentioned that her Iced Mocha (SGD$6.50) was pretty good.

The first dessert being brought to our table was the Pistachio Raspberry Cake (SGD$8.90) - layers of pistachio sponge clasping raspberry puree in between; topped with light pistachio cream and coating of chocolate. It was lightly-sapid with the nutty sweetness of pistachio, sharpened by the slight-tartiness of raspberry, a well-balanced mix of flavours. Texture-wise, it was soft, like sponge.

Next, the Strawberry Shortcake (SGD$8.90) which was a pretty cylinder of pink coating snow-white interior. The cake was soft, smooth and redolent of strawberry flavour; it was easy to eat bite after bite of this without feeling overwhelming. The huge strawberry sitting atop was very sweet!

Then the Drunken Babe (SGD$16.90) - walnut brownie, milk chocolate cream pipe infused with Whiskey, smokey bacon crisps on chocolate paper, caramel popcorn and raspberry sorbet. This was a beautiful dessert architect and a burst of flavours all in one. The brownie cubes were moistened and luscious; taste heightened by the Whiskey-infused cream running through it. The popcorn added crunch to the salacious dessert, making it easy to want more.

Following that, Chocolate Avalanche (SGD$13.90) - one of their prettiest iconic desserts here - warm chocolate cake with luscious Valrhona chocolate lava flowing (if cut right) into the chocolate-almond nougatine and orange-infused vanilla ice-cream contained into the round glass jar. It would be an art to watch this tiny act. The chocolate was rich and saccharine, draping warmly across the tongue deliciously while we piled on cold ice-cream and sticky spoonfuls of nougatine - it was a very satisfying dessert, one that lingered long after in the tongue and mind.


Lastly, quite disappointed that the Cherry Pop (SGD$13.90) was unavailable that day - for it had all my favorite components of cherries, chocolate and a little alcohol.

So I ordered a very cute dessert - the Rubber Ducky (SGD$12.50) - Crème Fraîche pudding with fresh mango puree, sago, biscuit, exotic cocktail frozen ducky sitting in a foamy bath of lemongrass cloud. It was one of the most adorable desserts I have ever come across, and it tasted awesome too! The frozen ducky was slightly tarty, redolent of yuzu flavour, going very well with the fragrant lemongrass foam it was pooled in. As for the lemongrass foam, it was sago pearls beneath the bubbles, lovely to chew on.

Overall, we were very happy with the desserts at Non Entree Cafe - service was good and all the items scored high points on aesthetics and taste. Maybe they could improve on the drinks a little, then all would be perfect.