PS. Cafe

PS. Cafe
28B Harding Road

45 Ann Siang Road #02-02

290 Orchard Road
#03-41 Paragon

390 Orchard Road
#02-09A Palais Renaissance

http://www.pscafe.com/


Chic, Charming, Intimate Cafe

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 9
Value for Money: 7
Spent about SGD $55 per person.

Established in 1999 as part of the Projectshop clothing store, PS. Cafe soon gained a following of its own for its relaxing, casual, yet elegant ambience, and generous portions of food. Early on though, the quality of food and service was inconsistent, as several of my visits during the early part of the 2000s left a bad impression, and I swore off PS. Cafe for several years. This valentine's however, she decided on PS. Cafe, and I'm glad to say the experience went well.

Ambience at PS. Cafe is casual, yet elegant and relaxing. The chic look of Projectshop has carried over, with dark wooden panelling and beams overhead, comfortable wooden furniture, along with low ambient lighting, accentuated by bright spotlights at night, or natural sunlight during the day. There is a certain charming lushness of the countryside at PS. Cafe, due to the use of plants, and the spaciousness of the interior is thoughtfully crafted to still allow for private conversations and small enclaves. PS. Cafe is perfect for romantic dates!

Service at PS. Cafe is professional and friendly. Staff greet and seat you with a smile, are proactive in offering drinks or desserts, knowledgable on the menu, and able to make recommendations. I like that the service standards are close to a fine dining establishment, with staff coming around to ask for feedback and check on your meal. Food is also served rather quickly. Very good! Menu descriptions are comprehensive and apt, but I wish PS. Cafe could have included pictures in the menu as well.

Food at PS. Cafe is best described as modern European, with a mix of influences from American, British, French, Italian, and Singaporean cuisines. PS. Cafe is known for their large, generous portion sizes, and sharing is recommended. Generally, food is well prepared and tasty, and dishes are well balanced, with rustic country style plating and presentation. Prices tend to be rather high, as befits the standards here, budget about SGD $55 per person for a meal.





The PS. Chicken In The Basket (SGD $29) features lightly breaded, savoury boneless chicken tender strips, fried till the outside is crisp, but the inside remains soft, tender, and moist. Served with thick cut chips, vegetable sticks, and a duo of sauces; a tangy, refreshing kaffir lime aioli, and a slightly spicy, slightly sour, chili tamarind dip.

PS. Chicken In The Basket

The Crab Tart (SGD $32) resembles a quiche, with delicate hand deshelled blue swimmer crab meat baked in a buttery shortcrust pastry shell, along with kaffir lime and chili. The result is a light, delicate pastry, where the crust crumbles away when cut, and the generous portion of spiced crab meat within releases a fragrant aroma. Served with a fresh garden salad, a yummy prawn bisque gravy, and spicy home made harissa chili.

Crab Tart 01

Crab Tart 02

Crab Tart 03

The Vodka Cheng Teng Cocktail (SGD $19) is inspired by the classic Singaporean dessert of Cheng Teng. Featuring dried longans, white fungus, barley, red dates, and ginko nuts, infused with vodka, the initial taste is exactly the same as a cold cheng teng, followed by the stronger taste of vodka. Pleasant and refreshing.

Vodka Cheng Teng Cocktail 01

Vodka Cheng Teng Cocktail 02

Each PS. Cafe outlet has its own unique atmosphere. The main outlet at Dempsey Hill is set against an idyllic natural backdrop.

PS. Cafe Exterior

PS. Cafe Interior

PS. Cafe Sofa Seating

The PS. Truffle Shoestring Fries (SGD $15) come highly recommended, and it's no surprise. A heaping portion of hot, crisp, thin cut fries are tossed in earthy, fragrant truffle oil, and garnished with grated parmesan cheese and parsley. The aroma isn't too intense, but nicely balanced, and persists even till the end of the plate. Excellent!

PS. Truffle Shoestring Fries

The PS. Shepherd's Pie & Soup (SGD $27) is rather average. Freshly minced beef and diced carrots are topped with rustic, buttery garlic and herb mashed potatoes, then oven baked. The resulting PS. Shepherd's Pie is savoury, with the mash being light and fluffy, almost pillowy soft, but not the tastiest I've had. You get a choice of 1 soup, we settled on the Portobello Mushroom Soup, which features a roughly ground soup / stew of wild mushrooms and watercress, enhanced with truffle oil. Thick, creamy, and earthy, but again, not the tastiest I've had. Overall, an average pie and soup.

PS. Shepherd's Pie & Soup

PS. Shepherd's Pie 01

PS. Shepherd's Pie 02

Portobello Mushroom Soup

The Chicken Parmigiano (SGD $29) features a thick slab of pan seared chicken breast, topped with chunky tomato sauce, a slow roasted roma tomato, wilted spinach, garlic ciabatta croutons, gratineed cheese, and a grilled lemon. Served with a fresh, bright garden salad, the dish is fresh, full of flavour, and tasty. However, it's slightly let down by the somewhat tough texture of the chicken breast.

Chicken Parmigiano 01

Chicken Parmigiano 02

The Sticky Date Pudding (SGD $15) here is probably one of the best I've ever tasted! The actual pudding itself is warm, moist, soft, fluffy, and studded with dates, and the taste isn't too sweet. But the real winner in this dish is the excellent caramel toffee sauce, which is warm, thick, and nicely balanced, sweet with just a hint of savoury. The creamy, smooth, and rich vanilla ice cream is just the topping on this classic British English dessert.

Sticky Date Pudding 01

Sticky Date Pudding 02

The Mud Crab & Caviar Rigatoni (SGD $29) was an absolutely terrible pasta dish. While I appreciate the generous portions of al-dente rigatoni pasta, wilted spinach leaves, black caviar, and deshelled crab, the dish was swimming in oil. Worse, the crab isn't fresh, and has that slimy, swampy mud taste that is the hallmark of the mud crab. Thumbs down for me, I totally disliked it.

Mud Crab & Caviar Rigatoni