Revolution Coffee

Revolution Coffee is another offshoot of Papa Palheta's ever-growing coffee empire. After the dismal experience at Chye Seng Huat (also owned by the Papa Palheta people), I wasn't too keen on this. But Kang, my coffee-loving friend, who's on this quest to try every single coffee joint on the island, dragged me all the way to the super ulu-fied Revolution Coffee. And boy, was Revolution Coffee ulu-fied to the max. It's near-ish Portsdown Road, which is already considered to be relatively out-of-the-way, seeing as there's no public transportation access. And, the building it's housed in is in the middle of nowhere. The next nearest building is a good 15 minute brisk walk in the blazing sun away. I can't imagine anyone but the on-site office workers patronizing this place. Which is why, I suppose, Revolution Coffee isn't open on weekends.

As expected, the brews here are of a pretty high standard, but it isn't something that I can't get from a decent coffee joint in town. Also, their food's tonnes better than CSH, which isn't saying much as CSH's stuff was so disappointingly sub-standard. That said, the fare here at Revolution Coffee isn't good enough to draw me back there on its own.

Kang got a Plain Bagel ($4), with a slab of butter instead of the usual cream cheese. This was alright, with a hard, almost crunchy exterior and chewy insides, but I'm far from a bagel connoisseur. In fact, I've never gotten the appeal of the bagel. To me, it's a piece of really plain bread that's hard and chewy. So, unless one's a New Yorker, I've always thought it was damn pretentious to order bagels. Can someone please explain to me what's the big deal about the bagel?



The Spaghetti Amatriciana ($9.50), while ginormous in portion, was a bit amateurish. Overcooked spaghetti was tossed in a supposed-to-be-spicy-but-not-really-so tomato basil sauce and loaded with bacon. The fact that the bacon was in bountiful supply couldn't quite detract from the lack of finesse in this. Still, this was a commendable effort.


The Mad Chef's Sticky Date Pudding ($9.90), was pretty damn good. The pudding was moist and rich and had a delectable smoky sweetness derived from dates, buffeted by the rich smoky sweetness of gula melaka butterscotch sauce. A scoop of icy French vanilla ice-cream further upped the comfort level of this heart-warmingly rich dessert.


The Revolution Coffee Affogato ($6) was also memorably good. Perky extra-strength espresso, Premium French vanilla ice-cream, house-baked cookie crumble and a dusting of chocolate powder, what's not to like?



I loved the Cafe Latte ($5.50) here. It was creamy, full-bodied and had the perfect amount of froth at the top.



Revolution Coffee
21 Media Circle
#01-03A
Tel: 6777 2110
Open Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 5pm

Comments

Anonymous said…
that pud looks good! also, I made my way to chye seng huat for the first time a couple weekends ago (didn't get anything though) and the only thing that struck me was how alike all those hipsters inside looked. it's like they try to be different.. and then end up being the same.

hipterism is a strange phenomenon.
Bern said…
hahahaa, lemme guess: skinny jeans, retro sunnies and some bright or flannel shirts for guys and some Bugis street flouncy swirly skirt and chunky layered necklaces and bracelets for the girls?

I just suddenly realized that apart from the on-site office workers, hipsters are bound to love this place!
Anonymous said…
don't forget the highly structured comb-back-bald-at-the-sides coiffure that all the hipster boys are doing these days!
Anonymous said…
I love love love bagels. Funnily enough, I myself think they're a little pretentious! The best bagel I ever had was in Japan...(never had a New York one). Think people nowadays just like to go to Cold Storage, plonk the imported groceries into their carts and say they love these foods to appear cultured and well-travelled.

And hipsters?! Coffee places and cages are CRAWLING with them. I didn't know that keeping the expensive habit of brunch meant they just sat at home and relied on handouts from dad and mom (those in my age group anyway).

Amanda
Bern said…
oh oh, don't forget supermkt pate and caviar as well! hahahaa! sometimes, u just gotta laugh at the lengths of pretentiousness some ppl will go to. methinks it's a chip-on-their-middle-class-rooted shoulders thing. i say, stop pretending and just be yourself. ain't nothing wrong with not liking these seemingly "high class" foods. i hate pate, and i hate caviar, and i'm not afraid to say it out loud.

that's the thing abt coffee joints, i think. if they arent supported by great food, then i wouldn't go to any far flung place just to have coffee. the only coffee-centric joints i can see surviving wld have to be stationed in town. with lots of foot traffic. like a boutique, more artisanal, less-commercialised version of starbucks.
m said…
how can i love my cafes and cakes and cringe at sharing space with hipsters? it's a tough one.

the affogato and latte look promising :)
Bern said…
oh yes, those were gooooooood. just that this place is way too ulu-fied.

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