By Mien Li
Singapore, May 25 2009
I've been a bit busy over the weekends but finally am able to find some spare time to visit the Trung Nguyen Cafe in Liang Court, Clark Quay Singapore. I heard that there is one that just opened in April 2009 in Marina Square (very near to my workplace).
Well, I can say that it was a very different coffee experience from my usual visits to the western coffee joints such as Starbucks and Coffee Bean and the local coffee joints like Killiney's.
Firstly, I must say I am impressed with the spacious concept and expanded sitting areas at the cafe. The ambience was good and the staffs were very friendly in helping with the orders. They also have cakes and pastries of sorts but I am unable to try them as I was still full from lunch (what a pity).
I ordered a latte and my friend ordered the traditional Vietnamese coffee with milk. The latte was very good with a tinge of Vietnamese coffee flavour in it (Slightly different from the robusta and arabica blend i am used to having) and a bit more bold. The traditional Vietnamese Coffee (4 beans - medium strong) was a bit sweet for our taste because of the condensed milk used. The coffee taste was pretty good. The overly sweetness of it spoilt the whole taste so we asked for more hot water to add on into the coffee. Nevertheless, it is unique experience and may be the next time we will take the coffee without milk.
An added bonus, the store selling Vietnamese coffee products such as instant coffee and coffee powder. On the whole, pleasant and comfortable but a bit high on the price side (pricing comparable to Coffee Bean and Starbucks but helping is a less).
The location may not be as convenient or viable to market such products in view of the low volume at the store on a Saturday evening (Liang Court is a Japanese upmarket supermarket).
I thought, I may be wrong as I was only there at one point in time. Having said that, I would like to express that this is just my honest opinion but I will definitely visit again should I crave for something that is different.
