Considering how Group Therapy Coffee is pretty much an established name in the local cafe scene here, the initial news of Group Therapy Coffee ending its operations at their Katong V location is likely a piece of sad news for the folks whom are regulars of the cafe at this location (they are still operating from their Cross Street Exchange outlet, which can be described as a spiritual successor to their original Duxton location). With that being said, all has not been lost — Group Therapy Coffee has wonder been replaced by an establishment named Le Petit Katong; Le Petit Katong being an establishment by the same folks behind Group Therapy Coffee. Some works had been done to the space with the change of concept here — gone would be dark interior that features a yellowish lighting that was more in tune with Group Therapy Coffee’s look when they were still situated at Duxton; the current look can be described as more contemporary with a slight Balinese influence from the use of wooden furnishings with elements of rattan. The space is also more brightly lit than before; the entire look being more up-to-date. The change of concept also brought upon a change in its menu offerings — the menu now features sections dedicated to Entrees, Petit-Dejeuner, Pastas, Plats and Desserts. Beverages available at Le Petit Katong includes a list of alcoholic beverages, as well as espresso-based beverages and teas, juices and canned drinks.

Whilst we had given one of the pasta dishes at Le Petit Katong a go during our visit made on a weekend dinner service, we felt that the Crepes Suzette was more worthy of a mention due to the rarity of the dish in general. Fort those looking for a version of the Crepes Suzette that is kids-friendly, they would be glad to know that Le Petite Katong does offer a version without Grand Marnier included — that being said, Crepes Suzette would not quite be Crepes Suzette without the addition of Grand Marnier so it is needless to say that we went for the version with Grand Marnier at a top-up of $8. The menu at Le Petit Katong describes the Crepes Suzette as an item that comprises of three (3) thin pancakes and orange sauce. Digging into the Crepes Suzette, the Crepes Suzette comes with crepes that are suitably thin and soft, folded into triangles just like how one would expect typically of the dish; the crepes being a little doughy just like how one would expect it to be and was fairly decent on its own. We did notice that the orange sauce that is being drenched atop the crepes does come with bits of orange flesh; this provided a slightly sweet but mostly zingy, citrusy note that is further enhanced by the inclusion of actual wedges of oranges. We could definitely feel the alcoholic kick coming from our choice to opt for the addition of Grand Marnier coming from within the orange sauce; this being particularly obvious in the ending notes of the sauce itself.

The Forest Truffle Mushroom is overall a rather decent pasta dish in our option — the menu describes it to come with elements such as black truffle, mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano and Paccheri; the use of Paccheri as the type of pasta to be served with the dish being a rather interesting choice to say the least. While the pasta was done al-dente with sufficient bite and does come hinting of a light truffle aroma that was not particularly overwhelming, it does seem that the mushrooms carried a tang from vinegar that overwhelmed the earthiness of the assorted mushrooms in part; something that didn’t really aligned with our preferences. With prices of the main dishes from the Petit-Dejeuner, Pastas and the Plats section of the menu priced between $14 to $35 (the lowest-priced being the Granola Bowl, and the highest-priced the Steak Frites), prices of the food at Le Petit Katong can be described as a little pricey though the prices of cafe fare does seem to be of this level in recent times. There might be still some tweaks required for the offerings at Le Petit Katong since it’s still early days for the establishment, but it does certainly make up for the loss of Group Therapy Coffee that has been around the ‘hood for all these years …