Baguette & Coffee (Bugis)

Aside from the Chicken Pho, the Value Meal set also comes with fried and fresh summer rolls! Tried the fried version & they were decent, not too oily and stuffed with generous meat fillings.

Was tempted to stuff my mouth full with the 10-inch Bánh Mì, but honestly, their Chicken Pho (Pho Ga) Value Meal was too irresistible to pass up! 🍜⁣ Inevitable pho-related pun aside, it was a pretty pho-tastic experience slurping up the smooth rice noodles and tender shredded chicken slices with their broth. Tastes even better with the added heat from the cut chilli padi. The clear soup is already very flavorful with a subtle herbal aroma but goes HARD with the heat from the chilli padi & the fresh tang of the sliced lime. 👍🏻

It's uncommon to find an authentic cup of Egg Coffee in SG, much less a good one. Although not a coffee lover, I enjoyed their silky smooth concoction, with the creamy egg foam complimenting the dark roasted coffee flavour!

For those whom had been following us for a while, the name Baguette & Coffee might be one that would ring a bell or two — an establishment that had first opened in Sycamore Tree at Fowle Road in the Joo Chiat neighbourhood just several months back, it seems that the folks at Baguette & Coffee had felt that it was probably time for expanding this business. Baguette & Coffee’s second location is one that is situated at Tan Quee Lan Street in Bugis; occupying the first shop unit in the row of shophouses directly after Marrison Hotel that is situated at the junction of Tan Quee Lan Street and Beach Road, Baguette & Coffee had taken over the location that previously tenanted to Dochi Dochi that had a pretty short run in the space. As much as how Dochi Dochi had not done much to the space after the now-defunct Gelatology Lab had moved out of the premises, almost all of its furniture and fitting was kept intact by Baguette & Coffee — the paint scheme also looking rather similar as well throughout the entire space, which somehow coincidentally largely matches that of Baguette & Coffee’s colour theme. Given how the Tan Quee Lan Street location is larger than that of their Sycamore Tree outlet, Baguette & Coffee offers a slightly wider menu at Tan Quee Lan Street — no doubt that the menu’s emphasis would be on their Dalabami offerings; they also do offer quite a similar menu as their Sycamore Tree outlet which also sees other items like Pizza as well, though the new items available exclusively at Tan Quee Lan Street includes noodles, spring rolls and rice sets as well. Beverages available at their Tan Quee Lan Street location are largely similar to that of their Sycamore Tree outlet, which includes offerings split into categories such as Vietnamese Coffee, Nut Milk, Soda, Ice-Blended and Fruit Tea. Desserts such as Panna Cotta and Custard Pudding are also available at the Tan Quee Lan Street store as well.

One thing that is well worth noting about Baguette & Coffee is that they actually do not sell the typical Vietnamese Banh Mi which we are more used to seeing in Vietnamese eateries that had opened up all across the island. The variant of the Vietnamese Baguette that Baguette & Coffee serves up at both their Tan Quee Lan Street and Sycamore Tree locations are known as Dalabami. While the Dalabami and Banh Mi doesn’t really differ too much on the fact that both are essentially Vietnamese Baguette items with both usually coming with similar fillings, one significant difference between the Dalabami and the Banh Mi is the size of the baguette itself. Dalabami can be described as breadsticks, considering how they are longer (Baguette & Coffee claims their Dalabami to measure a length of 26cm), but also a lot thinner as well. Baguette and Coffee offers quite a wide variety of Dalabami that features various fillings — this includes the Jamon Baguette which we had tried during our visit to Sycamore Tree before they had officially opened, as well as a Fried Eggs Baguette and Traditional Vietnamese Baguette; just to name a few. One particularly Dalabami offering that caught our eyes when we first skimmed through the menu was the Shredded Chicken with Passionfruit Sauce Baguette — the use of a fruit-based sauce in a savoury sandwich seemed rather intriguing to say the least. Baguette & Coffee does not describe the elements that are being included in the Shredded Chicken with Passionfruit Sauce Baguette, though we note that the composition of the sandwich seems to have included pate, margarine, cucumber, shredded chicken and the passionfruit sauce.

Taking a first bite into the baguette; the baguette is all warm and crusty on the exterior — came with a tension to chew off and are all things of what we expect from a nicely done Vietnamese baguette that is toasted warm and only prepared upon order. The notes of the pate and the margarine pulls through as the more prominent flavours during the first few mouthfuls — all savoury though not particularly prominent in both flavours and texture would be the shredded chicken itself. There is an evident of a sweet and savoury; slightly tangy sauce that was almost akin to that of Hoisin sauce with a slightly fruity finish to it that gave a lot more depth to the flavours in the Dalabami — we are suspecting that they could have infused the passionfruit into the Hoisin sauce since Hoisin sauce is an element that is quite commonly found in Vietnamese cuisine. The addition of the thin slices of cucumber adds a slightly refreshing crunch, balancing out the carbs and the savoury notes of the entire sandwich. While there was an opening promotion running during the period where we made our visit to Baguette & Coffee at Tan Quee Lan Street where one can pair their Dalabami (only three Dalabami are included in the promotion) with the patron’s choice of drink (except ice-blended drinks) at $7.80, the Dalabami do seem a little pricey considering the portion size at its usual ala-carte price of $6.50 to $8.50 — well-priced even above some full-sized Banh Mi that we have come across thus far. While conceptually interesting, we do hope that the concept does work well with the demographic of the locality that they are situated in — this unit at Tan Quee Lan Street had seen multiple tenants come-and-go over a short period of time; may the odds be in their favour this time round.