The Book Café is at the end of Mohammed Sultan Road in the River Valley area that is a throwback to a 70s coffee shop from the west.
The Ambience, Service and Staff
The Book Café has plenty of natural light from their very large windows that illuminate the seating area around a reading room with magazines. The couches in the area are complemented by standard coffee tables and chairs that are decent sized around the rest of the café, and their alfresco area outside. The café can be a bit hard to spot from the street, given their location on the ground floor of the Seng Kee Building. We’d attempted to call in to make reservations. They only accept walk-ins on a weekend. We were seated by their professional staff and provided with water and menus immediately. They also had a few specials that were up on the board.
The Food
We were a party of two out for a weekend brunch. We ordered the the Chipolatas & Bacon, and the Pancakes, Eggs and Bacon (without the bacon and only 1 egg), along with two cups of coffee – a hot latte and an iced cappucino.
Coffees came first after about 5 minutes. They were reasonably busy on the morning with the café being at about 80% capacity. Their coffee was decent without being spectacular. The mains followed about 10 minutes later. The portions were decent sized and not overwhelming. The chipolata sausages had a gentle kick to them, and were well cooked while remaining tender and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They were augmented with a decent sized hash brown, some fresh sautéed tomatoes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. They served standard white bread, and it would have been nice to have had the option of whole grain or whole wheat bread. The pancakes were topped with powdered sugar and served with maple syrup and a side of mushrooms. They weren’t the fluffiest pancakes we have tried.
The Price Point
We spent just under $50 for our meal which is standard for a café in this area. Their hot coffees are competitively priced, as are their mains.
The Final Verdict
The Book Café is quaint. It offers a sanctuary for one to spend some time on the weekend catching up on their reading, or getting breakfast after having gone for a run, walk, or a bike ride in the area. This is a nice place to catch-up with friends on a weekend.
Address: 320 Martin Rd, #01-02 Seng Kee Building, Singapore 239070.
Phone: ++65 6887 5430.
Website: http://www.thebookcafe.sg
