Lunch at Elements & Co Cafe @ Raffles Place

137 Cecil Street #01-02, Singapore 069537

Tel: 6221 6437

Website: http://www.elementsandco.com.sg

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

Having passed by and read up on Elements & Co Café several times before and wanting to try it out, I was glad that opportunity finally presented itself this afternoon – a semi-business lunch and this venue was chosen because it is relatively quiet / not-crowded even during lunch hours at CBD area. I hope they grow more popular as time goes by, though.

Anyway, what is so special about this hidden find along Cecil Street is that they concentrate a lot on healthy food items – it is easy to spot quinoa, kale and chia seeds etc on the menu even during a cursory glance. Health food items and products are also being retailed on the shelves.

Setting is rustic, relaxing and comfortable – wooden stools and simple tables with potted plants on nearly every table. What really touched us was the heartfelt service of the young service crew who would smile when making suggestions or taking our orders (place order at the front with payment upfront); they even took care to clean up coffee accidentally sloshed onto the saucer upon serving.

While waiting for our food to arrive, I had a Mocha (SGD$4.50) which came with pretty latte art and the aroma of roasted coffee; the chocolate hint was subtle but detectable, making my simple caffeine boost a bittersweet affair.

Green Tea Latte was beautiful in appearance, and had a delicious bittersweet taste - natural, healthy but not overly sweet or creamy.

A packet of Kale Chips (SGD$3.90) to go with coffee while waiting for the lunch companions. This was a unique and exotic snack, something for kale lovers to reckon with.

Fruity Granola (SGD$6.50) - with vanilla bean infused Greek yogurt and fresh berries was a refreshing dessert / meal - a healthy and sweet, cool dish filled with goodness. Photo as above together with Green Tea Latte.

Then we tried the Mediterranean Quinoa Salad (SGD$11.00) made up of chickpeas, quinoa, kale, cucumber, cherry tomato, capsicum, carrot slivers, Spanish onion, parsley, mesclun and haloumi. When it arrived I was stunned by the seemingly-huge portion but thankfully when I dug through it, I realised the kale canopy made up most of the top layer and the quinoa at the bottom was not too much. It was a tasty and utterly healthy salad filled with superfood and I loved the “clean” taste of the entire dish, enhanced by the slightly stronger pierce of Spanish onion bits.

The Oven-baked Seabass with Mushroom Risotto (SGD$14.00) consisted of fresh seabass, aborio rice, garlic, shitake mushroom, shimeiji mushroom and coriander. The entire dish looked so pretty in white. He enjoyed the healthy portion and taste, citing it as “unique but good”. Needless to say, the plate was polished clean.

Next, Miso Chicken Wrap (SGD$8.50) was gigantic in portion, made up of chicken breast, eggs, miso paste, Japanese mayonnaise and salad all rolled up into huge flour sheet. Taste was good and strong with miso's unique, umami flavour and chicken was succulent.

Finally, Moroccan Souk Kebabs (SGD$14.00) comprising NZ lamb, quinoa, pumpkin, chickpeas, sultanas, onion, almonds and ras el hanout 10 spices. This was no doubt the most flavourful and tasty of the lot, especially lovely when the  teeth sank into the tender, well-marinated lamb, basking in the aroma of the spices.