Address: Bedok Point, 799 New Upper Changi Rd, #01-01, Singapore 467351

Nearest MRT: Bedok

Cuisine: Japanese / Western fusion

Hoshino Coffee is a Japanese chain of restaurants with nine outlets in Singapore. Today the food review will be based on the Bedok Point outlet that I went to. Hoshino Coffee is originally fom Japan, a Japanese-Western fusion style of cafe-restaurant. They specialize in hand-dripped coffee with coffee beans selected by their own coffee blend specialist. Serving a good coffee, food and desserts in comfortable and relaxing ambience for all ages.

The Bedok Point outlet had quite a few people dining inside when I arrived at 12.30pm. Most of them were families with young kids. The walkway in the restaurant was wide enough to allow prams to enter and there are even two seaters with a high divider in between tables to allow more privacy for couples.

As part of the winter menu, there was a Hokkaido Fair which features special dishes from Hokkaido.

What is a visit to Hoshino coffee without trying their famous hand-dripped coffee? It was served iced in a tin cup and there was a 50% off the second refill. Milk and syrup were provided by the side.

The Omu soufflé curry is one of their recommended items on the menu. The curry had bits of beef and pork inside, with a fluffy omu egg stacked on top of the rice. The egg was really yummy, it taste like an omelette and had a cheesy texture inside. The rice also had some bacon bits inside which added flavour to the dish.

This dish looks plain but the Mentaiko seasoning gives the pasta a robust taste. The egg on the top was not too raw and after mixing with the pasta, the sauce was thickened. I like the texture of the pasta which was done al dente and not overcooked.

The spaghetti had a rich flavour of the lobster bisque, but at this price it would not include the lobster meat. The ingredients were mainly bacon and tomato sauce. The sauce for the pasta was rich enough for the whole dish. The parmesan cheese sprinkled at the top could have been made optional because not everyone may like the cheese.

The fries are the typical ones from the frozen section of the supermarket, and they just sprinkled some seaweed seasoning lightly. The sauce was not spicy for wasabi, in fact they may have replaced the sauce without informing us. The sauce tasted more like mentaiko than wasabi.

The chicken portion was very generous and the mozzarella cheese was oozing out of the chicken when it was cut. There was too much carbohydrates with the rice and potato wedges. The salad could have some sauce. This dish was the least tasty among the four main courses that we had ordered.

For desserts, we ordered the Strawberry French toast and matcha pancakes. The strawberry French toast was served with maple syrup by the side. The toast was like bread and not the thick kind, but the whipped cream in the middle was not to my liking. I would have preferred a scoop of ice cream to go with the French toast.

My favourite would be the matcha pancakes. The staff told us that this dessert would take 20 minutes preparation time and we were ok with the wait. The matcha ice cream was delicious and paired well with the warm pancake shuffles. It was thick and fluffy. There were also some black beans by the side to go with the matcha ice cream. The ice cream could have been served in a separate bowl, because the ice cream melted quickly when placed on the warm pancakes.

After a while, we decided to go for more desserts. The cheesecake serving was small, but the taste was superb. The cheese was strong and rich, which was complemented by the blueberry jam to give a slightly sour taste. It was one of the better cheesecakes I’ve eaten and reminded me of the cheesecake at Paris Baguette.

The chocolate cake was also rich and not too sweet. We finished it within a few mouthfuls because it was so good. The chocolate powder at the top made it seem like a tiramisu cake. I enjoyed both cakes a lot.

Overall, Hoshino coffee is a more high-end Japanese restaurant with quality food. The desserts and coffee here are definitely well-known for their high standards. The main courses, although trying to be fusion Japanese-western, some dishes are a hit-and-miss. In general, their pasta dishes can’t go wrong and also the Japanese curry rice are worth trying. I would come back to Hoshino again to catch up with friends over coffee and desserts anytime. The Bedok Point outlet may be a bit out of the way from Bedok MRT, but it does offer a quiet ambience. There is also an afternoon tea set promotion on weekdays which you can check it out.