The Royals Cafe

Excellent Halal Cakes And Confectionaries

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $15 per person.





A cozy, casual, family friendly cafe in Siglap & Choa Chu Kang, The Royals Cafe is well known for its delicious and wholesome Halal certified cakes and confectioneries. Since its founding in November 2007, The Royals Cafe has garnered quite a following for their tasty sweet treats at wallet friendly prices.

Ambience at The Royals Cafe isn't their strong point. Furniture is functional but simple, and the interior doesn't have much decor, beyond a small play area for children and several small pictures. But I like the bright interior, lit be natural lighting and flourescent white, while the attractive display of cakes and cookies draws attention.

Service at The Royals Cafe is friendly, with staff offering greetings upon entry. Orders are fulfilled quickly, and staff are also efficient at clearing tables quickly. I also like that staff are knowledgable on the menu, able to make recommendations, though they aren't so clear on use of ingredients. However, the order taking process is slow, you'll have to wait quite long for staff to take orders especially during peak periods.

Food at The Royals Cafe is simple and straightforward, with cuisine mainly consisting of either Western American style main courses, or Singaporean style favourites. Menu options are rather limited, but portion sizes are sufficient even for large eaters. Prices for most dishes are wallet friendly, costing about SGD $12 or so for main courses, and SGD $6 or so for a slice of cake.





Beyond the attractive stylised signage, the place is rather unassuming and plain. It can also get pretty noisy if there are a lot of children around.

The Royals Cafe Exterior

The Royals Cafe Interior

The Royals Cafe Bakery

The Royals Cafe Display Shelf

The Royals Cafe Grass Bunny Rabbit

The Assorted Sticks - Cinnamon, Cheese, Almond (SGD $5.10) strike me as rather pricey, but are actually quite good value for money as a snack, as the dough sticks tend to fill you up. Also good for sharing, I like the Cinnamon Sticks for its sweetness, and the Almond Sticks for its crunch.

Assorted Sticks - Cinnamon, Cheese, Almond

A cup of hot Milo (SGD $2.90) is expensive here, although it's served in a tall mug, and staff take the trouble to froth it till the top has foam. Still... it's just Milo.

Milo

The Iced Honey-Lemon (SGD $3.50) was below average, as I found it slightly diluted. Not too good.

Iced Honey-Lemon

The Royals Blue Lemonade (SGD $4.90) is the signature drink here, and while it started out great with a fizzy, zesty, thirst quenching, refreshing taste, it quickly became diluted from the large amount of ice.

Royals Blue Lemonade

The Cinnamon Loaf (SGD $3) is pretty decent, with a good texture of bread that is soft with a slight chew. The layers of cinnamon are well spread, and the overall bun isn't too sweet, nor too heavy. Like! Good as a snack, or for breakfast.

Cinnamon Loaf 01

Cinnamon Loaf 02

Probably among the best fruit cakes I've ever had, the Mango Delight Cake (SGD $45 / 1kg) is a true delight. The mango is fresh and portioned generously over the top of the light vanilla sponge cake, and the cream is sweet yet light. Much better than other brands of mango cake!

Mango Delight Cake

The Salted Caramel Cake (SGD $6.40 / Slice) is intense, with the sweetness of the chocolate cake clashing with the salty, sticky, caramel cream. Good flavour, but a slight more balance in the level of sweet and salty would be good.

Salted Caramel Cake 01

Salted Caramel Cake 02

It may be called Grandma's Chocolate Cake (SGD $6.20 / Slice), but this chocolate cake with a layer of sweet, sticky chocolate fudge frosting is semi-dry in texture. Decent at best, could be so much better if the cake were moist.

Grandma's Chocolate Cake 01

Grandma's Chocolate Cake 02

Love the bright, vibrant colours of the Rainbow Cake (SGD $6.40 / Slice), and the zesy, lemon and vanilla taste of the semi-dense cake. And while the addition of rainbow sprinkles added a bit of colour and crunch to texture, I didn't like the plain cream frosting, which was thick and dense.

Rainbow Cake 01

Rainbow Cake 02

Rainbow Cake 03

I loved the zesty, tangy, lime infused buttercream frosting on the Calamansi Chiffon Cake With White Chocolate Meringue (SGD $5.80), as well as the light, airy vanilla chiffon cake. The texture was just lovely and soft, but I didn't quite get why they have a wafer center, whose semi firm texture contrasted poorly with the softness of the cake. The lime macaron on top was rather flat as well, tasting like cardboard. Still I highly recommend the cake, just avoid the macaron!

Calamansi Chiffon Cake With White Chocolate Meringue 01

Calamansi Chiffon Cake With White Chocolate Meringue 02

Calamansi Chiffon Cake With White Chocolate Meringue 03

The Shepherd's Pie Beef (SGD $7.90) looks small when served, but is actually quite filling. Cut through the crisp outer potato layer and you'll find a warm, soft, fluffy mashed potato pillow, covering a hot, savoury minced beef and diced carrots filling. Taste is excellent, deep and savoury with the aroma of meat. Rather hearty, I was thankful for the fresh garden salad on the side! Recommended!

Shepherd's Pie Beef 01

Shepherd's Pie Beef 02

The Signature Nonya Mee Siam (SGD $5.90) is among the most popular items on the menu here, with nearly every other table ordering this. The secret lies in the home made gravy recipe, almost like a cross between a traditional Mee Siam gravy and a Laksa gravy. Rich, savoury, tangy, and lemak / creamy, the gravy is a potent dose of flavours. Also doesn't hurt that it's served with fresh prawns and a whole sliced egg. Highly recommended!

Signature Nonya Mee Siam 01

Signature Nonya Mee Siam 02