The UrbanWire

Chef Icon Nature Bakery, a little café at Kampong Bahru Road, is best known for their unbelievably good cheesecakes, as well as a chocolate cake that is the fruit of six hours’ labour.

In fact, they’re so good that when UrbanWire visited on a quiet afternoon, those famous cakes were sold out.

However, before we crumpled upon the weight of our disappointment, the other items in the menu caught our attention: Latte ($3.90), Hot Lava Chocolate ($4.50) and their Tiramisu ($6.80).

We were told that what makes their Latte different is that the milk is heated up to only 65 degrees, far cooler than the scorching boil we have gotten used to, in order to make it smoother.

While some people may complain about the drink cooling down too fast, the result is nevertheless a velvety drink that goes down easily, making it easy for you to appreciate the bitter tones of the coffee.

The foam is also done superbly; the sugar takes delightfully long to sink into the drink itself, so thick and solid is it.

The Lava Hot Chocolate is another triumph. Instead of using coca powder, Chef Icon Nature Bakery uses a bar of chocolate.

It makes for a comforting drink, warm and satisfying with the same smoothness that the Latte had. It’s the sort of hot chocolate that makes you wish there was snow in Singapore, just so you can enjoy this to its absolute fullest.

Finally, there’s the Tiramisu.

For those of you used to coffee, alcohol, sponge fingers or coca powder in this dessert, you’ll be surprised. This particular version doesn’t have any of the aforementioned.

However, there are handmade Italian cookie crumbs, sandy and chocolaty, top-grade mascarpone (think ricotta) and melted Belgium chocolate.

We know there will be those who argue that this isn’t true tiramisu, but with the first taste, the creaminess of the cheese light on your tongue, the crumbs providing the perfect counter-texture, you don’t really care.

Also, it’s not just Western desserts that Chef Icon Nature Icon excels at. They also produce their own kaya (coconut egg jam) and peanut butter, which are flavourful without being overly sweet. At only $2.50 a bottle, it’s value for money.

Address: 5 Kampong Bahru Road
Telephone No.: 9337 3900
Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday – 8.30 am to 8pm
Rating: ★★★★✩

Purchase S$6 worth of daily house pinchos & receive a house special chocolate frappe FREE! Simply print this voucher and present it at the National Geographic Café to enjoy the promotion. This promotion is not applicable with set meals and other promotions.

For a brand that’s so global, National Geographic Café has a surprisingly Spanish menu, leading one to wonder if it’s the result of having their headquarters in Barcelona.

UrbanWire headed down to their store at VivoCity and got a taste of Spanish food with a Spanish Tortilla and a Smoked Salmon before following up with an Apple Pie with Ice Cream from the weekly specials.

The Spanish Tortilla is a comforting creation made from eggs, potatoes and onions, served with a light salad.

The potato is the main feature here, making it a heavy dish that can double as a meal. However, the pesto and salad cut through the starch pleasantly, allowing you to finish the dish easily.

Smoked Salmon is served with potato puree and a Pineapple Carpaccio. The pineapple, unfortunately isn’t very noticeable, only when you read the menu do you realize that it’s even there.

The salmon is salty first, before descending into a fishy realm, which is a bit of a disappointment, but for the seafood lovers, it’s easy to forgive.

Finally is the Apple Pie with Ice Cream. The apple is cooked to perfection with cinnamon perfuming the filling, making the apple pie a joy to eat.

However, it’s more of a turnover than a pie, making the crust thicker than you expect it to be, but for those who love their carbs, this is for you.

Address: #01-19 VivoCity, 1 HarbourFront Walk
Telephone No.: 6376 9557
Opening Hours: 10am – 10pm Daily
Rating: ★★★✩✩

Scoop Of Art not only allows you to express your creativity through their arts and crafts activities, they give you the best gelato while you’re having fun.

UrbanWire went down to the Marine Parade Community Library and tried the frozen treats that promise the “fullest, freshest flavours”.

Scoop Of Art has developed over 80 flavours, with 16 available on any given day. On the day that UrbanWire visited, we tried Apple Cinnamon, Dark Chocolate and Alphonso Mango.

The Apple Cinnamon is an apple pie manifested in gelato form and for lovers of apples (Granny Smith to be precise) or the spice, this flavour is a dream come true.

The cinnamon is solid in its flavour, but it doesn’t try to dominate the apple, rather, the two combine forces with the creaminess of the gelato to put a grin on your face that stays long after you’ve finished it.

Dark Chocolate tastes like the whole bar of chocolate was melted and made into ice-cream, without any cream to act as a buffer. This is hardly a shy flavour, it hits you in the face with abandon, enough to knock you out of your chair if you’re not a trained chocoholic.

It’s hard to imagine that there are people who pair this with Scoop Of Art’s brownie, which is another powerhouse of coca borne of 69% chocolate, but there are, making you wonder if their throats are made of steel.

Alphonso Mango contains at least 50% real fruit, as do all the fruit flavours in Scoop Of Art’s offerings, which is good news for you as Alphonso mangoes are believed to be the best in the world.

You can taste the proof yourself; the gelato is rich and pure, devoid of any enhancers, flavourings or preservatives, which explains why the gelato doesn’t last for more than an hour if you choose take-away.

Scoop Of Art doesn’t just give us great gelato; they also offer other desserts, the most noteworthy of all being the Banana Cake.

Warm and moist beyond belief, this is a comforting slice of heaven that is made even more appealing when you consider that it’s only $1.80, less than half the price you’d expect.

Gelato Prices
Regular – $3.20 (Small) | $4.20 (Medium) | $5.20 (Large)
Premium – $3.80 (Small) | $4.80 (Medium) | $5.80 (Large)
Takeaway – $11.50 (Regular 500ml) | $20.50 (Regular 1000ml) | $14.50 (Premium 500ml) | $25.50 (Premium 1000ml)

Address: 278 Marine Parade Road, #01-03
Telephone No.: 6345 6563
Opening Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday – 9.30am to 10.00pm, Friday and Saturday – 9.30am to 11.00pm
Rating: ★★★★✩

All photos taken by Jasmine Chong from Klix Photography.