Calligraph Coffee

It does seem that DUO Galleria has been seeing a bit of an influx of new tenants recently; the basement has seen the opening of F&B establishments such as that of an outlet of Luckin Coffee and an outlet of Bakery Cuisine in recent times, though it is noted that there has been several retail tenants on the ground level that has also moved out of their shop units in recent times. That being said, it does seem that there is a new kid on the block at DUO Galleria that had recently opened their doors; Calligraph Coffee is a new entrant into the F&B scene here, taking over the former premises of the now-defunct ZEST Taiwan Café that has moved out some time back. The particular shop unit isn’t a easy find considering how it occupies a space in the building that one may not necessarily pass; that being said, the shop unit in which Calligraph Coffee is located in faces the junction of Beach Road and Rochor Road. It seems that Calligraph Coffee has made quite a fair bit of changes to the space; the space is now decked in a minimalistic, clean and sleek look with majority of the establishment being decked in a shade of white — this is coupled with the use of dining furniture that comprises of white, grey and wooden accents, while there is a wall at the back of the space that sees the use of red to provide some form of contrast for a visual pop as well. Calligraph Coffee does seem to be an establishment that is more focused on their specialty coffee and Matcha offerings — its menu being centred around both espresso-based specialty coffee and filter coffee, as well as Matcha latte beverages. There is also a list of Specials featuring beverages like the Einspanner and drinking chocolate, while there is a menu featuring some light bites and desserts for those whom are feeling peckish.

Dropping by Calligraph Coffee for our mid-day cuppa and a sweet treat, it was needless to say that the item that caught our attention whilst skimming through the various muffins and tarts that they have to offer would be the Yam Paste Tart. It is worth noting that none of the light bites and desserts are being displayed prominently at Calligraph Coffee; that being said, the item should be available as long as it is shown in the self-service POS system which patrons are to use to place their order. It does seem that the Yam Paste Tart had been stored in their chiller for quite a while — the tart base of the Yam Paste Tart does seem to have lost much of the crunch that a fresh tart would have typically came with. Slicing down the Yam Paste Tart, it is noted that the Yam Paste Tart does come in two (2) layers within; the “Yam Paste” layer comes in a purple hue on top of the pastry cream, while the pastry cream itself is a white layer which we found to have included Gingko nuts somewhere in the middle of the tart. In terms of flavours, the Yam Paste does seem to go quite well; we didn’t find the fillings of the Yam Paste Tart to be too sweet — it also came with an earthy note that one would typically associate with taro-based desserts.

Both layers do come with somewhat of a light and airy consistency; not too thick with both elements being able to gel well together. The Gingko nut does add a bit of a bite, though the inherent bitterness of the Gingko nut doesn’t seem to be particularly strong (nor it needed to be in the first place considering the balance achieved in flavour here). Meanwhile, we had also went for the White (Hot) and found the cuppa to be well-pulled; smooth whilst not being too milky, it does carry a medium body with a fruity flavour profile that would work well as a perk-me-considering the kick of caffeine that it carries. With the opening of more specialty coffee joints in Bugis within newly-constructed developments like Guoco Midtown as well as in the unoccupied shop units within DUO Galleria itself, it does seem that the coffee scene in Bugis is pretty saturated by now. All that being said, Calligraph Coffee would probably do quite well as a specialty cafe with a dine-in element especially for the office workers in the ‘hood.