Lunch at Carol Mel Cafe @ Tai Seng (Revisit)

1 Irving Place #01-30 The Commerze @ Irving, Singapore 369546

Tel: 6635 5755

Website: http://carolmel.com

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

Cravings for a Signature Whimsical Waffle (review here) brought me back to Carol Mel Cafe at Tai Seng Area on a rainy afternoon.

The cafe was blessedly quiet at that time, not sure it was a good or bad sign. Good for the patrons I guess? Anyway people started coming in around 3pm, which was good for business.

Cafe's interior was dimly lit but brightened by natural sunlight streaming in, a rather fetching sight. Faux brick walls and some art adorned the sides, great for Instagram-worthy photography.

Started with their special Sakura Matcha Latte (SGD $6.00) which was beheld beauty in the rawest form - depicting a sakura tree and using specially-sourced Matcha powder from Japan. It looked inviting yet at the same time, stunning; I almost couldn't bear to drink it. The other 3 flavours (subject to availability) you can choose from are the Taro, Pumpkin and the Blue Peaflower.

Taro Latte (SGD $6.00) was another astonishing beauty and Damien the barista had cleverly written my name as part of latte art, with a cute design. Yam flavour was deliocious, bursting through the beverage slowly, like a sensation.

Iced Mocha here has a class of its own, served in a lovely bowl glass and comes with a marshmallow for that added sweetness. 'Secret ingredients' allowed for maximum enjoyment of this beverage, like liquid Ferrero Rocher. After we slurped the last drop, we ate the straw too.

I was also persuaded to give the Zhi Char Salted Egg Luncheon Fries (SGD $12.00) a try; this item is only available after 2.00pm. What's so special about their spam fries is that they do it the traditional Cantonese homemade style by frying the raw egg yolk with spices before tossing the luncheon fries in to absorb the salted egg sauce. Instead of being too rich or salty as I had feared, taste was surprisingly light, as was texture. In fact, each strip of luncheon fry was almost delicate, melting readily in the mouth, laden with lovely hints of curry leaves and salted egg yolk. Oddly, I also finished off all the crispy curry leaves.

Cold Seafood Pasta (SGD $16.90) comprised loads of seafood (prawns, salmon roe) with threads of angel hair pasta. Delicious could not even begin to describe it, but let's say that it was so good, I'd pay twice the price for this served at a restaurant.

Then it was time for their most special Signature Whimsical Waffle (SGD $16.00), composed of crispy buttermilk waffle, chocolate brownie ice-cream (usually ite salted caramel ice-cream), bananas, melted sharp cheddar cheese, figs, strawberries, blueberries, marshmallows, maple syrup and sprigs of parsley. The flavours burst was akin to the palate's dreams come true, threading through the sweet and the savoury, the fluffy and the juicy.

Was very happy with my revisit of Carol Mel Cafe and will definitely be back for more.