In Kovan, there are two cafes: Lola’s Cafe and Ice Edge Cafe. I have been to Lola’s for afternoon tea which is excellent and always has a long queue. But if you don’t want to queue, Ice Edge Cafe is a good alternative. The food is good there too.

Firstly, the COVID precautions are done well. They put up partitions between booth seats, which not only prevent the spread of COVID but also provide more privacy for customers. But the decor is a little messy, maybe it’s eclectic? There are chandeliers, which indicate a certain old-school class, but they pair it with garden concept and then there are superhero memorabilia and tin signages. They need to get a female or gay decorator in here.

The menu is well organised:
–starters ($6.50 to $12.80, including salads, soups, finger food like calamari and fries);
–pastas ($13.80 to $17.80);
–pizzas ($14.80 to $19.90);
–mains ($15.80 to $29.80, such as chicken schnitzel and beef stew); and
–desserts ($5.80 to $15.80, such as mao shao wang lava cake and waffles). They also offer a range of interesting gelato flavours from gummy bear to mao shan wang.

Each main comes with two sides, and for the black pepper beef stew ($19.80), we chose french fries and chicken mushroom rice. The stew is quite good: bright and not choking. There is a good portion of beef buried in the gravy. I do wish they give a bun to mop the sauce or at least give more rice for the gravy.

They have an interesting wild mushroom truffle sauce linguine ($16.80) but my partner picked their signature, seafood aglio olio spaghetti ($16.80). It’s good. If you have eaten aglio olio at a western food stall in a kopitiam, the aglio olio here tastes like that. Similar from the kopitiam stall, the pasta is spicy with birdeye chilli. But the difference is it is more aromatic (I think they use shallot oil).

When I ordered the buttermilk waffle ($15.80), I told them to omit the maple and chocolate syrup but the cashier wasn’t paying attention. He seemed restless. So the waffle comes with maple syrup, nuts, banana, marshmallow, chocolate syrup and a choice of two scoops of gelato. Thankfully, it isn’t too sweet as the whole. The waffle is great: crispy and slightly fluffy inside. It’s also a bit too salty. Might reduce the salt a bit.

As for the gelato, we picked mao shan wang and coconut. Initially, I thought the mao shan wang would overpower the coconut but it was fine. The mao shan wang is not too strong and has a sticky texture. Both gelato are good.

Including coffee, we paid about $72 for two persons. Pretty expensive for a neighbourhood cafe. But the food is good and if you don’t want to queue at Lola’s, Ice Edge is not an inferior substitute.

Menu

Ice Edge Cafe
2 Kovan Road, #01-10 Simon Plaza, Singapore 548008
tel: +65 6858 5729
M – F: 11.30am – 3pm, 5.30pm – 10.30pm
Sat, Eve & PH: 11.30am – 10.30pm
Sun: 11.30am – 10pm
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Food: 6.75/10
Value/Price: 5.5/10
Decor/ambience: 6.5/10
Service: 6/10

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–5 Senses Bistro, Funan Mall: Much Better Than the Average Cafe
–Maxx Coffee @ JEM, Jurong East: Indonesian Third Wave Coffee Chain Opens Its First Outlet in Singapore

Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.