Housed in very elegant and classy wooden furnishings, this is not your typical neighborhood cafe. And judging from the breakfast crowd here on a holiday morning, business is more than brisk.
Being in Orchard Road, one would not expect heartlander prices, and indeed, the menu suggested that you would burn a bigger hole in your wallet than usual.
Despite that, the diners seemed unfazed and were more than happy to stand and wait for their turn at the tables.
The bread and pastries on display were impressive enough, and the intoxicating aroma of the freshly baked goods permeated the entire establishment. There was a healthy mix of foreign expats and locals, and the breads were flying off the shelves.
I elected for some of the breakfast fare, and surprisingly, they turned out to be pretty good.
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| Eggs Benedict |
This dish has become almost a standard in every new cafe that has sprouted up in the last year. And truth be told, it is getting to be a very unexciting proposition for me. Thankfully, ABC's version is quite stunning for a couple of reasons.
The presentation was not only spot on, it was indeed quite spectacular as you can see from the photo. Instead of muffins, they used their own freshly baked bread as the base and I like how they finished off the garnishing with a few choice stalks of alfalfa sprouts.
Each of the two poached eggs was done to perfection and presented like a duo of pretty egg balls on top of the generous serving of smoked salmon. And the luscious golden hollandaise that was smothered on top was perfectly creamy and smooth. This is definitely one of the best eggs benedict that I have come across this year.
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| ABC Breakfast |
Their eponymous breakfast was quite a hefty and hearty one. Beautifully crisp bacon strips, good quality sausages and a side of earthy mushrooms sitting on a bed of well cooked sunny side up egg. What's not to like here? Well, nothing really.
A salad of wild rocket to complete the plating and despite the higher pricing, this is a breakfast that is not only generous, pretty but utterly satisfying.
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| Latte Coffee Art |
The coffee was just decent, but then again, there are places with the same price tag that serves much worse beverage. I had an espresso which had a fair amount of acid, but not too overly so. Paired with the sumptuous breakfast dishes, the coffee proved an ideal companion.
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| Freshly Baked Bread Rolls |
It was also nice to see that with the breakfast sets, they also provided complimentary bread rolls which were freshly baked and immensely delicious. The crust was a tad hard, but the fragrant indulgence of in-house baked goods was just too tempting to deny.
ABC looks to be one of the leading lights of such Parisian styled bakery cafes that are permeating throughout our shores. The healthy traffic attests to that, and despite its higher premium in its menu pricing, the quality that is dished up is nevertheless very good.
While I may not make it a daily occurrence to come here, it is still an ideal spot for an occasional indulgence or two. Well, maybe three.
Artisan Boulangerie Co.
#01-01, 118 Killiney Road
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