Dropped by the new Musette that had opened fairly recently at Thye Hong Centre — the building itself is situated just a short walk away from Redhill MRT Station, and is pretty much the first building along Tiong Bahru Road that leads up to the new car dealerships up Leng Kee Road. Musette Cafe shares its premises with an upcoming fine-dining establishment that takes up a separate corner of the the same shop space named Full Circle by J.Man; both concepts are by the same folks behind one Michelin-starred 28Wilkie and Twenty Eight Cafe that are located at Sophia Flats at 28 Wilkie Road, just behind Wilkie Edge. Being their second concept, Musette bears a slightly different aesthetic than that of Twenty Eight Cafe; while the interior of Twenty Eight Cafe does blend it pretty well being situated in colonial-era building, the design of Musette seems to take on a slightly more industrial approach with a darker interior, as well as cement walls and metallic fittings — overall a more industrial look in comparison. It is also interesting that Musette also serves a rather different menu than that of Twenty Eight Cafe — Musette Cafe’s food menu is split into sections dedicated to All Day Breakfast, Salad, Mains (from 11am onwards only), and Sides — most of dishes seemingly being exclusive to Musette though there are some items such as the Pandan Souffle and Smoked Salmon Souffle that are extensions of what Twenty Eight Cafe serves up; the list of non-alcoholic beverages include specialty coffee, chocolate/Matcha/Houjicha options, juices, milkshakes, tea, soft drinks and mocktails. Alcoholic beverages include beer on tap, cocktails, spirits and wines as well. For those looking for some form of light bites here, they do offer a variety of viennoiserie that is on display at the counter.

Having caught the word “Orzo” in the Mushroom Orzo Pasta, we knew that this was an item that we cannot simply give a miss after skimming through the menu here. The Mushroom Orzo Pasta is described on the menu to come with elements such as mushroom, sous vide egg, fried kale and parmesan; other elements that we have noticed on the plate here includes pine nuts as well. We are big fans of Orzo pasta grains here; for those who are unfamiliar with Orzo, they are a type of pasta that is shaped almost like rice grains — a wise choice of pasta here considering how this gives a risotto-esque feel with a good bite. The orzo grains do come with a light drizzle of balsamic; this provides a slight tang to the pasta that gives it a bit of a flavour contrast against the lightly creamy notes it does come with. The inclusion of pine nuts provides a contrast of texture against the orzo; lending the dish a soft crunch that compliments the textures of the orzo. They seem to be pretty generous with the chunks of mushrooms in the pasta here; these gave a good bouncy bite and gave the pasta an earthy note, while the fried kale provides a lightly crisp texture that tops it all off pretty well. Breaking up that sous vide egg reveals a creamy and runny yolk; mix it up with all that beneath and it binds all the elements up with a silkier texture. The dish comes topped off with shaved parmesan; provides just that right level of saltishness for a savoury touch. All in all, a very well-executed pasta dish that we could not get enough of.

Having tried Twenty Eight Cafe previously when they have first started operations, we must say that Musette does feel like an establishment where they have taken much of their experience in running Twenty Eight Cafe, and refined them further for a better experience here. For one, we do find the Mushroom Orzo Pasta being executed well above our initial expectations — one that has taken into account flavours and textures for a cohesive experience which we thought was a great effort on its own. We were also very impressed with the level of service here — whilst one may attribute it to them having the time since we were one of two groups of pax dining in during our visit, they did manage to give us a short introduction to the concept and a short tour around Full Circle by J.Man; also gave us an introduction of the dish each time our order is served. Overall Musette has probably nailed almost everything right for now — it will be pretty interesting to see if they would be able to keep things consistent or even further elevate the dining experience from here. Would most certainly be back again for the Ebi Katsu Sando; that certainly was something that caught our eyes which we are eager to return to for some other time!