Compose Coffee (Paya Lebar Quarter)

Got to learn about the opening of the new Compose Coffee outlet at Paya Lebar Quarter; Compose Coffee seems to have been making a slow expansion around the island of the late — their first store having opened in Suntec City in late 2023, but these folks have also opened a smaller, second outlet at One Raffles Place in the heart of the Central Business District. Compose Coffee at Paya Lebar Quarter is located in the space that was formerly occupied by the now-defunct Fluff Stack; the space sits in the middle of the shopping aisle in Basement 1 of the mall — there is quite a decently-sized dining area that is located right in front of the counter to place orders. The tables are configured in a manner where it accommodates for patrons visiting the establishment in pairs or in groups of four (4) pax; the dining space featuring a terrazzo-esque flooring whilst also has a splash of yellow for some contrast — the dining chairs coming with cushions to provide patrons with a more comfortable dining experience. Whilst offering patrons with a lineup of Brookies and Croffles for light bites to pair up with their cuppa at their Suntec City outlet initially, the Paya Lebar Quarter outlet offers Croffles, Greek Yogurt, Fish-Shaped Bun and a Cream Waterfall Cake — this would be on top of their list of beverages which are segmented into categories such as Coffee, K-Trend, Zero Sugar and Tea.

The line-up of Fish-Shaped Bun available at Compose Coffee’s Paya Lebar Quarter comprises of a selection of two (2) flavours — the Pizza and the Red Bean-filled version; we found ourselves going for the Red Bean Fish-Shaped Bun. This turns out looking very much like the Japanese-style Taiyaki; albeit with the edges of the pancake still sticking out from the pancake a little — less neat in aesthetic, though does provide a little bit of a crisp bite nonetheless. Lesser of a bun and more of a pancake considering how the batter doesn’t exactly differ from the Japanese-style Taiyaki much, it does seem that the Red Bean Fish-Shaped Bun does not only come with a red bean filling within, but also does seem to come with melted cheese as well. We did feel that it is a little bit of a missed opportunity that Compose Coffee doesn’t ask their patrons if they would like to have their pastries heated up — the melted cheese ends up being all clumpy and doesn’t come with the cheese pull effect that they seem to want to achieve; the savouriness of the melted cheese does match up with the suitably sweet red bean filling that also came with an earthiness with it. We also went with the Banana Coffee; available only as an iced beverage, the Banana Coffee is pretty much a drink that comprises of black coffee and banana milk — the banana milk carrying a sweetness and a hint of fragrance of banana essence that does remind us of our childhood days sipping on Dutch Lady Banana-flavoured Milk.