Monte Cristo Croissant For a mixed-use development situated within the Novena neighbourhood, it does seem that Royal Square @ Novena seems like a development that has quite a mixed breed of tenants that are located within the building — while there are casual eateries of the likes of Mademoiselle Tang Noodle 唐大小姐过桥米线 and that of Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant that occupies a space at Royal Square @ Novena, there are also establishments like that of Cafe Gui and even a mamak-style eatery named Sutha’s Cafe being situated there as well. The Coffee Affaire is one of the newest tenants which had recently moved into a shop unit that is located within the shopping galleria. Occupying a shop unit that is located at the ground floor, The Coffee Affaire is at the unit that is right across the dine-in area of Fried Rice SG. Given its glass facade, one could see how minimalistic the interior of The Coffee Affaire is — a single plant makes up the centerpiece of the dine-in area here that is decked in neutral tones; dining tables here seem to suggest that more emphasis was placed on larger group of diners with large circular tables being used for dine-in. Those whom are dining in smaller groups (i.e. two pax) or alone can opt for the counter tables at the espresso counter or by the window. The Coffee Affaire does serve up a menu of both hot food as well as cakes and other bakes to appeal to all; be it if one is looking for a light bite, or something substantial. The hot food menu is split into sections they consists of TCA All Day Brunch, Starters and Salads, while the selection of cakes and other bakes are on display at the counter. Beverages available at The Coffee Affaire includes the usual selection of espresso-based coffee, as well as V60 hand-poured coffee. For those looking for non-coffee options, The Coffee Affaire also serves a selection of tea, as well as a line-up of special concoctions as listed in the TCA Artisanal Creations section — that will be on top of a lineup of kombucha and soft drinks that they have to offer.
The Monte Cristo Sandwich isn’t a concept that is unfamiliar to us; we had actually tried the a similar sandwich once at the now-defunct Puteca Abate Italian Street Food and Deli Sandwich Bar that was located at The Working Capitol along Keong Saik Road. The Monte Cristo Croissant at The Coffee Affaire isn’t anything too different conceptually; the menu of The Coffee Affaire describes the Monte Cristo Croissant to feature elements such as melted Swiss cheese and ham, topped with a house-made raspberry jam. Don’t get us wrong here; the combination of the elements isn’t bad; it was a classic combination of saltish and sweet flavours that melee together as one; the savouriness of the ham and the sweetness from the raspberry jam did come up as quite a decent package, though one thing we didn’t fancy about the entire dish was the quality of the produce that is being used. Case-in-point, the ham wasn’t particularly fantastic; given how there is a sweet element (i.e. the house-made raspberry jam) that is included here, we would wish for the ham to come a little less salty — perhaps something a little more premium. Otherwise, there really is nothing much to comment on the Monte Cristo Croissant was flaky and buttery; toasted to a crisp, while the melted Swiss cheese did bring all of the elements together. The house-made Raspberry Jam was a little bit on the sweeter side of things, though cuts through all of the elements nicely.
Having tried the Monte Cristo Croissant at The Coffee Affaire, we do feel that the folks at The Coffee Affaire does seem to be trying to figure things out while at it — we do feel that the menu is rather limited at The Coffee Affaire, and that we did wow that they would probably pick better suppliers that could ante up the flavours of their dishes further. We aren’t really sure if the cakes and bakes offered at The Coffee Affaire are supplied, but we were pretty satisfied with the English Earl Grey Loaf that we had went for as a dessert to give our meal at The Coffee Affaire a sweet ending. The English Earl Grey Loaf was actually sliced quite thick — a pretty good size considering how this was priced at just $5 a slice. Featuring a loaf cake layer at the bottom, the cake itself was sufficiently moist — not too crumbly and actually held well to the slices for the knife; quite easy to finish despite the portion size. Much of the flavours of lavender came from the cream frosting that is generously spread over the top of the cake layer — it looked rather intimidating and jelak on first sight, but was pretty complimenting without feeling particularly overwhelming. Our Flat White did turn out to be rather decent as well; we would say that other specialty coffee joints might have served up better, but The Coffee Affaire does serve up a rather fair attempt that some other neighbourhood-based cafes may to do worse. All in all, The Coffee Affaire does seem to be a spot that is learning the ropes as they progress over time — we do wish that they could perhaps improve on their offerings by using better ingredients whilst also developing one or two unique dishes that could give them some character; that may do them well in the long run. Still, The Coffee Affaire does make for a good option to study or work from especially with the number of charging points that the cafe seem to have — might be worth considering if food isn’t the very first priority here.