Usagi Pan

Cafe Usagi is a name that those whom are following the local cafe scene closely would find familiar with — the establishment is perhaps best known for their mochi-related offerings, with themselves being located at two (2) locations across the island, one being situated at Suntec City Mall and another being located in TripleOne Somerset. It does seem that the Cafe Usagi is expanding their operations yet again; their latest concept at The Star Vista is named Usagi Pan, and takes over the space of the now-defunct CATBAKE Bakery & Chocolate at the basement level that used to occupy a shop unit with a glass facade. If one looks at all of the Cafe Usagi / Usagi Pan concepts altogether, the Usagi Pan concept at The Star Vista is the brand’s largest outlet. With this in mind, it is needless to say that Usagi Pan does offer quite an extensive selection of items in comparison to the Cafe Usagi-branded locations. Whilst Usagi Pan also does serve up the very same Mochi Waffles, Mochi Ice-Cream, Daifuku Fruit Mochi and Cold Brew Teas that Cafe Usagi is pretty much known for, Usagi Pan does offer outlet exclusives such as a line-up of patisserie items as well as French boulangerie, just to name a few. Beverages available at Usagi Pan is fairly consistent to what Cafe Usagi offers; think espresso-based specialty coffee, Matcha / Houjicha Latte, tea by the pot and the cold brew tea as mentioned earlier.

Stopping by Usagi Pan on a weekend afternoon for tea break looking for a light bite to go along with the cold brew tea, we were spoilt for choice on what we would like to try considering the large variety of French boulangerie and patisserie items that they have to offer which are displayed prominently in their display chiller and display case. After much contemplation, we decided to go for the Usagi Yuzu Cheesecake; an item which we had not recalled seeing before whilst passing by the two other Cafe Usagi outlets previously. The Usagi Yuzu Cheesecake takes on the aesthetic of a rabbit; pretty much a signature item right from the get-go considering how the logo of Cafe Usagi / Usagi Pan is a rabbit as well. Digging into the cheesecake, we found the Usagi Yuzu Cheesecake to be a rather standard American-style cheesecake otherwise in terms of its texture; the entire cheesecake itself was of a consistent mousse layer — we were half expecting a Yuzu gelee centre considering how it does seem rather commonplace these days for such bakes to feature so, though this was clearly not the approach here. Nonetheless, the infusion of yuzu in the cheesecake mousse layer was rather evident; the cheesecake mousse being rich, sufficiently dense and creamy with just a slight zing coming from the incorporation of yuzu that kept things refreshing. There is a graham cracker base at the bottom of the cheesecake; this was fairly soft and a little mushy; quite a forgettable element here.

Since we had never been to any of Cafe Usagi’s locations prior to giving Usagi Pan a visit, we also gave the Signature Mochi Ice-Cream a go as well. Our choice of ice-cream was the Gokujyo Houjicha — upon ordering, the staff will scoop the ice-cream onto a sheet of mochi before wrapping the scoop of ice-cream with it. We felt that the Gokujyo Houjicha ice-cream was fairly decent; its creamy, smooth and rich — comes evident of the bitter undertones and roasty notes of the Japanese tea. The addition of the mochi was a good-to-have — all chewy and stretchy with a mild sweetness though technically it doesn’t quite add much to the overall item considering how would typically end up chewing off the whole mochi layer just to get into the scoop of ice-cream. The Matcha Mochi Croissant was an item that we decided to try considering how Cafe Usagi / Usagi Pan is a brand best associated with its matcha and mochi-related offerings, and that Usagi Pan’s focus on French boulangerie does make the item seem to embody what Usagi Pan is all about. We felt that the Matcha Mochi Croissant was decent; essentially a croissant with a matcha-infused almond frangipane layer, the croissant essentially hides a mochi layer in between that features red bean paste within — a rather interesting approach though not a big highlight for us. The Cold Brew Tea (Genmaicha) was a refreshing item to have amidst all the desserts that we have had; very clean notes that is fairly easy to drink. Usagi Pan does add on to the list of dining establishments of The Star Vista that provided patrons with a good variety of desserts and sweet treats —a spot that one can consider checking out if in the area.