Who says a stylish café needs to come with equally stylish prices?
Coffee Room at the new MBER development along Teck Chye Terrace certainly looks the part, with glossy burgundy floors, exposed red pipes, chrome furniture and an assortment of colourful retro chairs.
Despite looking ‘minimal’, the café has clearly put a lot of thought into its look.
An assortment of interesting books, burgundy accents, props and framed photos are mixed rather freely across the room, while the large windows bring in enough daylight to stop all those deeper colours from making the place feel dark.
Even the baristas look effortlessly fashionable (in hot-hot Singapore). There is quite a lot happening visually in terms of details, but I liked that it did not come across as too overly staged.
The name “Coffee Room” is carried rather playfully into the menu as well.
Instead of the usual categories, you get the Main Room for Espresso ($5), Black ($5.50), White ($6), Flight ($8) and Affogato ($9), while Room Service has the more unusual Dirty Blueberry ($7), Cream ($9) and Tiramisu ($9).
What impressed me more than the design, though, was the selection of coffee beans. There were several origins available during my visit, including Brazil, Honduras, Kenya, Colombia and Ethiopia.
I chose the Honduras Marcala, which had undergone sherry barrel fermentation and came with tasting notes of whisky, vanilla and chocolate.
When I had my White, it totally reminded me of Baileys with that distinctive boozy-creamy fragrance and sweetness coming through remarkably clearly.
There was no alcohol involved, of course, but the combination gave it an almost creamy Irish-cream character that I found quite remarkable.
Under the Garden category, you can find drinks such as Garden Tonic ($8), Citrus Tonic Matcha ($9), Matcha ($6.50), Chocolate ($6) and Tea ($5).
I enjoyed the Garden Tonic ($8) just as much, although for a completely different reason.
This is Coffee Room’s interpretation of an Espresso Tonic, made with its own house-made lemon syrup, and I thought the citrus was handled particularly well.
There was enough lemon to make the drink bright and refreshing, but not so much that the espresso disappeared underneath.
There is also The Pantry for something to eat, with Croissant ($5), Pain au Chocolat ($5), Almond Croissant ($6), Cookie ($6), Gula Melaka Swirl ($6), Banana Bread ($6), Hyunwoo’s Cheesecake ($8), Brownie ($6) and Brownie Sundae ($9).
So this is still very much a coffee-first place rather than a full brunch café.
What I found myself liking about Coffee Room was that it somehow managed to be both stylish and serious about its coffee, in a location as unexpected as Teck Chye Terrace.
Coffee Room
MBER #01-06, 2 Teck Chye Terrace, Singapore 546620
Opening Hours: 8am – 5pm (Mon – Sun)
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