D'Good Cafe
273 Holland Avenue #02-01
http://dgoodcafe.com/
Good Coffee, And The Chance To Create Your Own Blend!
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 6
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $22 per person.
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D'Good Cafe is among the trendy 'Fourth Wave' of artisinal Coffee houses mushrooming across Singapore. Their unique point is the opportunity to design and name your own coffee blend, while relaxing in a cozy home style environment, and sample some of the great food and drink available.
D'Good Cafe takes after a cozy cottage home. 'The Kitchen' features a heady smell of coffee beans roasting, and I like the touches such as the polaroid wall and buckets hanging from the ceiling. Proceed to 'The Lawn', the most iconic area of D'Good Cafe, with its 2 swings amidst faux grass, or head up to 'The Attic', designed to look like a children's playroom, complete with toy blocks and teddy bears. Or you could simply chill under the open canopy in 'The Balcony', with a view of the Holland Village housing estate.
D'Good Cafe is largely self-service. But they do score points for the willingness to accomodate requests, the intimate menu knowledge to recommend items, and the promise to brew a new cup of coffee if you're dissatisfied. On a seperate note, something in the kitchen caught fire during my visit, fortunately, it was minor, and no one was injured or evacuted. But I do commend the staff for keeping a level head and being calm!
The coffee at D'Good Cafe is very good. The cuppas I've had were full bodied, strong, and fragrant. Menu is somewhat limited, but focuses on all day breakfast, pies, cheesecakes and pasta. Prices are reasonable, though the small seating area means D'Good Cafe gets crowded fast.
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Welcoming and comfortable, each area of the cafe is laid out differently, meaning the ambience throughout the place is different, and you can choose which you like best!
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| D'Good Cafe Facade |
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| D'Good Cafe Kitchen Counter |
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| D'Good Cafe Coffee Roaster |
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| D'Good Cafe Coffee Beans |
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| D'Good Cafe Pictures |
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| The Lawn |
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| The Balcony |
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| Pond |
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| Cookie Stool & Box Of Love |
Loved the coffee here, robust and well rounded, strong and fragrant. And I'll be sure to try my hand at creating a blend! Also loved the excellent Hot Chocolate, with its rich, deep fragrance and sweet, thick chocolate flavour!
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| Mocha |
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| Latte |
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| Hot Chocolate 01 |
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| Hot Chocolate 02 |
Among the few Green Tea Latte (SGD $7) that I actually like. The taste of green tea is evident but not overwhelming, and I appreciate that there isn't the typical green tea sediment powder. Plus, you can actually taste the layer of coffee, with its strong, robust flavour, after the taste of green tea subsides. Pretty good! I actually asked for a puppy dog latte art, but I think the result looks halfway between a puppy dog and a teddy bear.
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| Green Tea Latte 01 |
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| Green Tea Latte 02 |
Nice take on the classic British English Breakfast, and each component was done well, except for the ham which I thought was a little dry. Otherwise, I liked the fluffy scrambled eggs, well sauteed mushrooms, and the meaty cumberland pork sausage.
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| English Breakfast 01 |
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| English Breakfast 02 |
Rather untraditional use of toast as the base of the Eggs Benedict, but it soaks up the perfectly poached runny egg yolk very well. Again, I thought the ham was a little dry, but I liked the freshness of the salad.
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| Eggs Benedict With Cumberland Sausage 01 |
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| Eggs Benedict With Cumberland Sausage 02 |
Despite its looks, the Chicken Tikka Masala With Japanese White Rice isn't spicy at all. Rather, it has the floral / herbal essence of Indian spices, with a buttery texture and moist chicken meat. Very good when paired with the fluffy, semi-sticky Japanese white rice.
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| Chicken Tikka Masala With Japanese White Rice |
The Maple Sea Salt Cheesecake (SGD $9) is quite the decadent treat. A rich, creamy, dense New York style cheesecake, infused with a touch of sea salt, creating a sweet yet savoury taste profile. The smooth, almost creamy texture of the cheesecake is delightful, and the white chocolate maple leaf garnish is pretty, though rather fragile.
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| Maple Sea Salt Cheesecake 01 |
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| Maple Sea Salt Cheesecake 02 |
Update Jan-2016: The 8 Upon 8 On Toast (SGD $13.50) is a showcase of cooking skill. A perfect poached egg, cheese, and sundried tomatoes, are all wrapped in an omelette, and stacked along with iceberg lettuce and slices of ham on a thick brioche toast. Cut into it, and the gorgeous runny egg yolk oozes out, it's executed so neatly that you can see all the various layers of ingredients! Taste is above average, fresh, savoury, eggy, with some sweetness. Worth ordering!
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| 8 Upon 8 On Toast 01 |
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| 8 Upon 8 On Toast 02 |
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| 8 Upon 8 On Toast 03 |
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| 8 Upon 8 On Toast 04 |
Update Jan-2016: The Pomegranate Citrus Smoked Duck Skillet Pancake (SGD $13) has a savoury sweet combination that works beautifully. A fluffy, medium thick skillet pancake, with a texture similar to an omelette, is stacked with savoury moist smoked duck, zesty mandarin orange slices, crunchy pomegranate seeds, crunchy lettuce, and sweet caramelised cinnamon walnuts, finished with a refreshing citrus sauce. Highly recommended!
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| Pomegranate Citrus Smoked Duck Skillet Pancake 01 |
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| Pomegranate Citrus Smoked Duck Skillet Pancake 02 |
Update Jan-2016: We felt the limited time, special promotion dish of Asian CNY Skillet Pancake (SGD $13.80) was below average, due to the odd combination of ingredients which clashes in taste. While the fluffy, medium thick skillet pancake was nice, garnished with crunchy lettuce and wolfberries, the savoury salty barbecue pork jerky / bak kwa and pork floss clashed with the sweet, juicy pears and sour plum sauce. Not that great.
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| Asian CNY Skillet Pancake 01 |
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| Asian CNY Skillet Pancake 02 |
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CONVERSATION