Compose Coffee (One Raffles Place)

Recalled the hype that surrounded the opening of Compose Coffee when they had first commenced operations in Singapore — being an establishment that is known to have been hailing from South Korea, these folks had garnered queues at their Suntec City outlet back then. It has been a long while since we had last heard about them — quite surprised to have found out that they had silently opened a second outlet in the island. This time being located in the Central Business District, Compose Coffee had taken over the former premises of the now-defunct All Day Cafe. Whilst All Day Cafe had previously also occupied the atrium space of the ground floor of the shopping gallery right outside of the shop unit that they were once at, Compose Coffee hasn’t taken the same outdoor area; instead, only opting to occupying the shop unit itself. Compose Coffee’s branding is fairly loud and recognisable — it is little surprise to find out how the interior of the shop is decked in a bright shade of yellow with black accents for its furniture and fittings. The space is slightly more well-segmented out for dine-in as compared to their Suntec City location. Unlike their Suntec City location which carries a wider selection of bakes, their One Raffles Place outlet seems to have a more limited selection of only Croffles for food options. Otherwise, the list of beverages available at Compose Coffee would include items like the espresso-based coffee and flavoured lattes, smoothies, teas, frappes, and their line-up of Woo-U Ice Cream that either comes inventors of an Affogato or an ice-cream latte.

Whilst we aren’t too big a fan of croffles, we found ourselves simply going for one since we were dropping by the location during lunch hours — just had to get ourselves an item to much on no matter what. Amongst the variety of Croffles that they serve up, the Cheddar Cheese Croffle stood out being the only savoury croffle item that they have to offer. It was a little regrettable that the Cheddar Cheese Croffle isn’t served heated up; the folks behind the counter also did not suggest that the service to heat up one’s Croffles being available either. With the Croffle being made beforehand, the Croffle is a little firm and stiff; we did find the Croffle cutting our gums a little as we chewed through the pastry. We could imagine it being quite a decent eat if it was being warmed up though; the Cheddar Cheese Croffle does seem to come with a sweet glaze over the top — likely honey, while the slice of cheddar cheese adds a note of savouriness over the typical buttery nature of the croissant that has been flattened with a waffle machine. With the croissant being compressed by the waffle machine, the Croffle does carry a firm texture that didn’t break loose or flakes away easily. During our visit, we had also given the Pandan Coconut Latte a try; the aesthetics of the beverage follows closely to their signature Busan Sea Salted Cream Latte — the only difference here being the beverage sporting a green hue at the bottom from the infusion of the Pandan element rather than the blue hue that the Busan Sea Salted Cream Latte comes with. The Pandan Coconut Latte does come with an earthy flavour and light body; much akin to the flavoured lattes that other coffee chains liked Cotti Coffee, Luckin Coffee etc. serves up — the Pandan wasn’t particularly prominent in our opinion, though there is definitely an association between the Pandan Coconut Latte and what one would find in a typical coconut latte.