La Ristrettos, Singapore

Coffee can be quite a pill.

Sometimes we despair of finding a coffee spot that is not overrun by crowds in Singapore. Some place other than the run-of-the-mill hipster café (complete with industrial chic décor and bearded tattooed baristas) would be most welcome.

Imagine our surprise when we managed to uncover a secret sanctuary… hidden in a hospital of all places! Make that the eighth floor of the Novena Medical Centre, a brisk walk from the Novena MRT station. Who knew?

The café itself is fairly functional: exposed brick walls, communal table, the crackle of the espresso machine and the hiss of the steam wand. It’s the space outside (yet inside; inside the medical centre, that is) that astounds. Lush greenery, from tropical plants to tall stalks of bamboo , wooden walkways and rattan furniture.

We sip on our coffee and juice here; we take our time over bites of crab cakes and pancakes (the former arrive with an English muffin, avocado, lemon aioli and a fried egg on top; the latter adorned with banana, scrambled eggs, bacon and salted caramel sauce).

Ah, serenity…

在星星國辦簽證和等簽證的期間，
除了約見了一些久違的老朋友，
參觀River Safari和南大校園外，還“順道”拜訪了一些咖啡館。
短短幾天里安排了不少節目和行程。
其中星期三的行程是要到River Safari去逛逛，
不過在之前總要得吃早餐吧？
看了看咖啡館名單，想去的不是太遠就不順路，
於是馬少再上網查了查，發現在距離我們酒店不遠處，
還真的有家咖啡館，而且是在一個我們意想不到的地方，
那就是Novena Medical Centre的八樓。
（誰會想到醫療中心找、泡咖啡館啊？）

來到醫療中心，發現這裡還蠻高級的，
連咖啡館裡頭的人們都衣著光鮮，一副專業人士模樣，
反觀我們兩個穿著短褲T恤，頭上頂著一頂帽子，
怎麼看都有點格格不入。
還好這裡設有戶外的位子；
也許大家嫌熱吧，外頭的人潮不多。
其實這戶外的環境挺不錯的；
大片竹子，四周綠油油的植物，加上藤木桌椅，
給人一種悠閒自在的感覺，
正好讓我無拘無束的拍個過癮。
這的咖啡順滑可口，算是中規中矩的，
反而看起來一般的香蕉鬆餅和蟹肉餅，則出乎意料的好吃。
加上外頭的環境清幽，算是一個意外的發現。