The Provision Shop

Blk 3 Everton Park #01-79 Singapore 080003
T: 6225 9931
11am-9pm daily
Rating: 3.002/5 stars

A rave review on the food drew us to this new cafe by hotelier Loh Lik Peng (who opened one of the best restaurants this year, Burnt Ends) and Cocotte‘s chef Anthony Yeoh. The decor is an eclectic juxtaposition of clean modern lines and retro lamps, chairs and posters. Chiobu said, “Why do they want to make a new place look so old?” Chiobu observed that the cups and plates made the photos look like we were in a kopitiam.

She also commented the servers weren’t friendly, but I felt they were new and shy and, at the very least, efficient.

The savory food has a simple menu of pasta, sandwiches, and salads. The Reuben Sandwich ($14) was orgasmic! MUST ORDER. A salty corned beef, soury and pungent sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), a fat Russian dressing, boasted by a creamy Swiss cheese, were sandwiched between two crispy toasted sour dough–a kaleidoscope of tastes!

The Belinda’s Perogis ($5) was one palm-sized traditional Polish dumpling with mashed potato and ricotta cheese, topped with bacon and sour cream. The dumpling wasn’t dried properly; you can see water at the bottom of the dumpling. It was carbs wrapped in carbs. The calories weren’t worth the taste – give this a miss, and order another another sandwich.

For desserts, there were lemon cake ($6.50), choc walnut caramel tart ($6.50), and a selection of ice creams and sorbets ($5 a scoop). Chiobu said, “The lemon cake tastes like a fruit cake without other fruits!” Funny but true. It was very dense with a burnt crust, embittered by lemon zest, topped with vanilla cream. The homemade sea-salt vanilla ice cream ($5) wasn’t creamy enough and was bland: its texture was more like sorbet than ice cream. We didn’t finish the cake and ice cream. Skip the dessert and walk two doors down to either Grin Affair for tiramisu or Audacious Cakery (see below).

No coffee art?

Both Chiobu and I didn’t like our latte ($5) and mocha ($5) (from Highlander Coffee), bitter and grainy.

We didn’t understand how our experience was so different from the magazine review. We read that the sandwich was huge, but it wasn’t; it was just slightly bigger than a Yakun toast. The magazine recommended keylime pie–not on the menu leh. The magazine had such an excited tone but we left slightly disappointed. It’s about managing expectations. I thought The Provision Shop was an ok experience, not very good but not very bad too, but the magazine oversold it. Chiobu said, “It’s not worth waking up in the morning for.” We spent about $40 for two.

Audacious Cakery

Blk 2 Everton Park #01-61 Singapore 081002
T: 6223 3047
Facebook
M-Sat: 10am-7pm
Rating: 3.375/5 stars

Should have skipped desserts at Provision Shop and came straight to cakes at Audacious Cakery. There wasn’t anything audacious about the cafe; on the contrary, it is quite safe with delicious cakes. The green tea cake named Faith ($6.80) was fluffy and tasted strongly of matcha while the chocolate souffle tart ($6.80, ask to warm it, pictured below) was intense but not excessive and came with a thin slice of nuts that added variety. It was slightly bitter but quickly evolved into a sweetness. Even Chiobu, who didn’t like bitter chocolate and nuts, approved of the tart. Audacious also sells cupcakes, and savory bakes like pain au chocolate, croissant and french loaf.

The service by a young, slim boy was wonderful and considerate. When he saw that we didn’t finish the cakes, he asked how they could improve on them. (We were on a diet.)

Quite an excellent cake shop. I think the cakes rank slightly below K-Ki‘s, which to me is the best in Singapore. But two gay men came into the shop and bought cakes. You know gay men and calories: if they eat it, it must be good. We spent $13.60 for two cakes.