Whet Your Appetite Wednesdays: Drips Bakery Café

It is often that new cafes pop up in out burgeoning food scene here in Singapore, but to find one that will stay on the market with good and honest down-to-earth food, it is honestly hard to find. For an amateur foodie like me, if you advertise that you want to include sandwiches on your menu, all i ask is that you add in some quality ingredients and take the effort to create something that i would not be able to find in a sandwich fast-food chain. (of which Quiznos does offer value-for-money sandwiches so that results in a higher primary expectation to beat) So when we heard wind of a new cafe that can stand its hold to provide quality food, we could not wait to try the nosh at Drips Bakery Café.

A drip of this and a drip of that, and it is a fantastic combination of coffee, savories and sweets. Alfred Chan, touted as the gourmet pastry chef of the heartlands, is the heart and hands behind  Drips Bakery Café. Alfred opened his charming little shop in Commonwealth two years ago, beginning with the sale of scrumptious tarts and cakes of unique flavours. Although he spent his professional years behind baking counters at the Shangri-la Hotel and other famous academies, he liked the laid back charm of a heartlands neighbourhood and particularly its friendly patrons who visit him at his shop. Alfred soaks up this lively environment and thrives in it and the steady stream of customers is evident of its success.

When you first step into this cafe, the first thing that you spy is the display fridge that is chock-full of eye candies. Of course, we mean that well with its delicious array of sweets that fills the case. Just a note of caution, hold on to your wallet because it is very easy to get entranced and want to order every tart you can see in the display. Yes, it looks that delicious. The next thing that hits you would be the subtle aroma of freshly baked goods that will surreptiously make you happy. Just our luck that that afternoon, the kitchen located further in the cafe was baking thumbprint jam cookies to prepare for the Lunar New Year. We could not stop sniffing the baked goods in delight. The spacious and naturally-lit cafe is adored is also adorned deliberately with a mish-mash of vintage furniture. If it is possible, we would greatly recommend that you sit deeper inside the cafe where they boast of a beautifully skylight that brightens up the corridor. Somehow, the natural light only makes our food (and our companions) look so much better. The joint also boasts an in-house pastry kitchen where you could take a peek at your desserts behind the scenes, lest you get bored.

With a seperate counter that is solely made for coffee, we could find no excuse to order ourselves some coffee. Our Piccolo Latte ($4.00) was served unsweetened, so it was lightly bitter though we could taste the subtle sweetness that came naturally from the warm milk itself. The velvety texture made the brew a joy to drink. Even when iced in the form of an Iced Latte with a shot of soya milk ($7.00), it was smooth and left the heady blend of the beans on the tongue.

Like mentioned earlier, it is often disappointing when cafes advertise their specialty in sandwiches and all you get is something you can make yourself in the comfort of your home. So when we ordered the Vegetarian Sandwich ($10.80) and Corned Beef Sandwich ($13.80), we had our hesitations. But that was proven wrong, we might say that this was the best sandwich we have had in quite a while.

The sandwiches came with a choice of bread, croissant or a homemade bread with alpine grain with cranberries. If you have nothing against not having croissant, we would definitely recommend the latter as the choice of bread. The Vegetarian Sandwich came with a selection of roasted vegetables like eggplant, tomatoes and peppers which was nothing but sweet after being in the oven for quite some time. Accompanied with the lightly buttered bread, the sandwich came with fresh greens and the addition of salty Emmental Cheese ($2.00) gave it depth.

The Corned Beef Sandwich was a star in its own right. We had the impression that the corned beef came in its crumbled preserved version, and it was to our delight that it was the sliced smoked version that had a smoky fragrance. Dressed with vegetables and roasted eggplant, the sandwich was a winner. What made the difference was the smear of wholegrain mustard on the bread that was tangy against the smokiness of the meat and the occasional sweetness of the bread. One of the best sandwiches we have had in a long while.