Restaurant Name: Hoshino Coffee 星乃珈琲店
Pricing: $$$/5
Food: ♥♥/5
Ambience: ♥♥♥♥/5
Da Rabbit is meeting her ex-schoolmates - Alvin and Edwin from Junior College after 8 years!!! As we all worked in different areas in Singapore, we have decided to meet somewhere central for dinner and catch-up.
Whilst walking around the newly renovated wing of Plaza Singapura, I noted that there were quite a few Japanese restaurants which looked exquisite, such as Hifumi, Nana's Green Tea and Tsukada Nojo.
Hifumi
Nana's Green Tea
Tsukada Nojo 美人锅
We were all too spoilt for choice when it comes to selection of restaurants. At first I wanted to try Tsukada Nojo as they are famous for their "Beauty Hot Pot" that is rich in collagen but as the portion is too big and the price range is higher, we decided to try Hoshino Coffee instead.
Le' Ambience
The cafe looked luxuriously decorated and we were very much attracted by the food display at the entrance of the cafe...
Check out the Food Display
They looked so real that Edwin poked his finger into the cup of coffee to see if it is really liquid but was amazed that it was actually solid! How intricate was the workmanship!! Even plastic looks so edible!!
Chillaxing on the Sofa
Alvin has settled down way ahead of us and started snapping pictures of the surroundings and foodie. It's so nice to dine with the guys as they enjoy snapping photos of food like I do! Such typical Singaporeans~ Aaaaaa ♥♥
We were very fortunate that evening as we arrived at the cafe before the crowd is out! Hence there isn't a single soul to vie with us in the queue at all ~~ Thank God!
The interior of the cafe is rather cozy and the furniture was rather vintage. We all enjoyed sitting at the sofa whist eating our food :) Also, there was a rack where they place a variety of magazines for our reading - however due to the dinner crowd, we do not have the time and luxury to chill around there after we have finished our food :(
Le' Menu
Hoshino (星乃珈琲店) is famous for their Japanese Hand-Dripped Coffee and fluffy soufflé pancakes. Hoshino Coffee pride themselves in using only premium Arabica roasted coffee beans that are selected by their very own coffee blend specialist - Master Kanno. According to the write-up in the menu on the Hoshino Coffee, it says that the Hoshino Coffee would be served to us "Hand-dripped".
Order Chit
Page 1 of Menu
Page 2 of Menu
Page 3 of Menu
Desserts Menu
What we Ordered
After much contemplation, I have decided to order the "Hoshino" Blended Coffee, "Hoshino" Spaghetti with Eggplant, Bacon, Shimeji and Sausage and Crème brûlée with Softee for desserts.
Alvin ordered the "Hoshino" Pot-Baked Curry Rice and Edwin ordered Pescatora Seafood with Tomato Sauce. We unanimously agreed to order the Double Pancake Soufflé Style to try as it is another of their signature dish.
Le' Food
"Hoshino" Blended Coffee (SGD5.80++)
Roasted over open fire, Hoshino Blended Coffee gives a strong bodied flavour with pleasant sourness.
The coffee was served to us in a cup with a separate creamer. The creamer looked really cute when contained in a separate mini container which looks like some toy from the dolls' house.
Indeed, the coffee has a very strong bodied flavour and it tasted really bitter too! We added 2 full teaspoons of sugar but the taste was still rather bitter :( Perhaps this is more suitable for true coffee lovers but not us.. I still prefer coffee from Starbucks.. Meh~
"Hoshino" Spaghetti with Eggplant, Bacon, Shimeji and Sausage (SGD14.00++)
This dish resembled and tasted very similar to Miam Miam's Capellini. In fact, I think that the menu is somewhat similar to Miam Miam's too! The Hoshino version tasted great and fragrant too and the spaghetti was not as hard as Miam Miam's ♥
"Hoshino" Pot-Baked Curry Rice (SGD15.00++)
This took about 15-20 minutes to be prepared and it was served to Alvin piping hot. It was so delicious that Alvin finished the entire pot of rice in 10 minutes! Whee~
Pescatora Seafood with Tomato Sauce (SGD15.00++)
Desserts!
Full of praises of the main course, it is time to finish off our dining experience beautifully with desserts~
Crème brûlée with Softee (SGD9.80++)
Ahhh~ We have not used this term "Softee" for so long since our primary school days! "Softee" stands for Soft-Served Ice-Cream and it was rather popular during our old school days where we would hand around at seven-eleven after school and spend our pocket money / allowance on Softee and Slurpies ♥~~
The Softee melted really fast.. Like 5 minutes after it has been served, it turned into liquid state and Alvin even thought it was whipped cream.. Meh~ So we poured the melted Softee onto the Crème brûlée and started eating the dessert. The outer layer of the Crème brûlée was surprisingly not crispy like the typical ones we have tried in Paris, France.. The inner layer was even more disappointing - it tasted somewhat like the beancurd texture... We then recalled that the entire dessert tasted like the Egg Tart's filling! In short, this dish can be summarized by one Hokkien word: "Nua" (means soggy). OMG~~ What a disappointment.. MEH!!
Double Pancake Soufflé Style (SGD12.00++)
To be honest, the pancake is another major let-down. Yes, they are thick and fluffy but they taste flour-ish too. The outer is nowhere crispy as well. Doesn't have the "fresh from oven" taste.
I strongly recommend you not to queue at Hoshino Coffee and try the pancakes at Miam Miam @ Bugis Junction if you are a desserts lover.
Le' Service
The service was average. The food was served promptly but we were signaled to leave the place as soon as we have finished eating the food TWICE. As explained above, this was our FIRST meet-up in EIGHT YEARS so we tend to be very chatty and long-winded (yes, we are getting older too). Isn't a cafe meant for you to sit there leisurely to enjoy your beverages, read magazines and chill around peacefully? The place was rather peaceful although it was open concept but the waiters were really persistent in hinting us to leave by coming over to check on us TWICE and asking if all our foods have been served and whether do we have any additional orders.
Overall
I would have given a rating of 3/5 for the food if not for the major disappointment from the desserts. Also, the service provided was not say fantastic. Plus I think the long queue is annoying as I have gave up trying the restaurant previously due to long queues.
Edwin and Alvin happily snapping photos
I would strongly recommend you guys to visit Miam Miam Singapore instead as their service and desserts are better than Hoshino's.
P.S.
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