OLLA Specialty Coffee (Clementi)

It’s the start of the March school holidays! 🤩 — I finally got to drop-by @OLLACoffee at its 🆕 spot in Clementi.

We ordered their sliced pound cakes to pair with our drinks which is plain, simple & not too sweet.

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#ollacoffee

Felt like yesterday when Olla Coffee when they had opened their second outlet at The Woodleigh Mall and that we had found ourselves visiting their brand new premises at Clementi Avenue 5 — located at Blk 381 Clementi Avenue 5, Olla Coffee’s new Clementi space is meant to take over the former premises of their Sunset Way outlet which has since shuttered. The closure of their Sunset Way outlet can be said as a rather sad one, considering how the brand had first established themselves in the local F&B scene from that location, expanding from one small unit to eventually also absorbing the shop unit beside theirs. Their new space at Blk 381 Clementi Avenue 5 serves as a successor to that location; one that is in the same neighbourhood where they have been deeply rooted in for all these years — while the space at the new Olla Coffee location is a little tighter than the eventual size of their Sunset Way location, the new Blk 381 Clementi Avenue 5 location. The seatings are more well-spaced with an interior that features wooden accents and marble-esque countertops that suggests a Japandi-style design language — all that with a high ceiling that is a rather rare feature in a ground floor shophouse unit situated in a HDB block. Much like their other current and previous locations, Olla Coffee’s menu has a large emphasis on specialty coffee that surrounds around espresso-based specialty coffee, while there are also a whole range of tea-based beverages that they have to offer. The food menu at Olla Coffee has always been kept simple in their locations and it remains the same here; a limited menu of brunch-y dishes such as their signature Sunrise as well as the Shakshouka Baked Eggs w Chorizo. One can also not forget about their line-up of waffles, as well as a line-up of Tarts, Scones and Bakes which includes dessert tarts and pound cake slices.

Having been to Olla Coffee for quite a number of times by now be it at their Clementi and Woodleigh locations, we have already tried quite a number of their food and beverage offerings — one item that we cannot remember on whether we have had it before or not was the Mushroom Mac & Cheese. The Mushroom Mac & Cheese is being described on the menu to be an all-time kid’s favourite of Olla Coffee; not surprisingly so considering how it is a dish that is generally seen as a crowd pleaser anyway. The menu further describes the Mushroom Mac & Cheese to come with elements such as mushroom ragout, baked macaroni and creamy trio cheese — the last element hinting the mix of three different types of cheeses used for the preparation of the dish. There is some waiting time required for all of its food offerings; the Mushroom Mac & Cheese comes with a browned surface being the layer of baked cheese that blankets the mushroom ragout and macaroni below. One might find the baked cheese being a little dry and slightly crusty especially in the middle of the dish, though we were glad that the dish still maintains a stretchy cheese pull as we dug in to reveal the elements within. To keep the insides of the Mushroom Mac & Cheese sufficiently moist, cream has been added to the mushroom ragout which also complimented the mushroom ragout with a richer and earthier note of flavours. The bouncy macaroni provides a good textural contrast against the stretchy, melted cheese, while the bouncy mushrooms matched with the same of the Mac & Cheese; all of them giving the dish a savoury, creamy and earthy note that comes as one — not that they are re-inventing the wheel here nor are they attempting to, though definitely something that comes together very well that would most certainly satiate the taste buds of those craving for a good Mac & Cheese.

Since specialty coffee is their main focus, it is needless to say that we are not going to give their specialty coffee offerings a miss given that we are already at Olla Coffee; settled for the usual Espresso Tonic which is a concoction of an espresso shot served with tonic water that some specialty coffee joints are also known to serve. We liked how Olla Coffee’s Espresso Tonic has never been too gassy from the carbonation of the tonic water, while the espresso shot provides a good fruity and caffeinated punch that gives their rendition of the Espresso Tonic a bit more balance. Olla Coffee had pretty much went from strength to strength ever since their establishment — being one of the brands whom have come slightly later than the veterans of the local coffee scene, they have accomplished a fair bit, solidifying their name within the local F&B scene and gaining a loyal following as well. These folks have also been known to be especially consistent over the years with their food and specialty coffee offerings, which is the reason why we get stoked with every new location that they open. We would like to congratulate the folks behind Olla Coffee on the opening of their new location, and wish them all the best in what is to come!