Culture Spoon is a new co-sharing kitchen concept along River Valley Road, with a 40 seaters space (30 indoors and 10 outdoors) featuring different chefs and cuisines on different days of the week.
Promising, though this can be confusing for diners as there are both permanent and pop-up concepts within the same space.
You get Thai, Western, Indonesian, Filipino Food, along with pastries and cakes – offered at different hours of the day.
Thai food is prepared by Wok with Man, Chef Wyman Wong who has prior experience at two-Michelin-starred Waku Ghin, and is available daily for lunch (11.30am – 2.30pm) and dinner (after 5.30pm).
Dessert is sourced from Cultured Bakeyard from 7.30am, whereas coffee is supplied by Quarter Life Coffee Roasters and Tea by The Tea Affair.
There are 2 pop-up concepts: Mamilani Home Cook (Indonesian food) on Fridays and Saturdays; and Luci’s Kitchen (Western and Filipino dishes) for lunch on Sundays to Thursdays dinner on Fridays and Saturdays.
I went on a weekday late afternoon, which means the kitchen is closed and only their desserts, coffee and tea are available.
Check out the display shelf for the pastries such as not all items stated on the menu are available.
Think Earl Grey Chocolate ($9), Black Sesame Tang Yuan ($8), Basque Cheesecake ($9), Tiramisu ($9), Chestnut Shortcake ($8.50), Burnt Butter Bundt Cake ($6), Croissant ($3), Calamansi Tart ($7.50) and Pecan Pie ($8).
I was half expecting the Black Sesame Tang Yuan ($8) to be in the traditional form.
Shaped like a tangyuan (glutinous rice ball) with a white vanilla mousse outer layer and black sesame curd fillings, the vanilla mousse leaned towards the sweeter side.
I enjoyed the black sesame curd with a smooth, velvety texture and a flavour that is robust, fragrant, earthly and nutty that counterbalance the sweetness from the vanilla mousse.
Set on top of a roasted puff mixed nuts base with sunflower seeds and chocolate base, it added some crunch to the overall texture.
I also ordered the seasonal Chestnut Shortcake ($8.50) that comes with alternating layers of chestnut cream, vanilla Chantilly and coffee sponge cake.
While I initially imagined it to taste like a Mont Blanc, the flavours of the chestnut shortcake turned out to be light on the palate, probably too light.
But I enjoyed the strong contrast between the soft and fluffy texture of the sponge cake that easily melts in the mouth, and chewy chestnut embedded within.
2 different single origins of coffee beans are used in their espresso-based drinks and are roasted by Quarter Life Coffee Roasters.
Think Pa-O Black Honey from Pin Laung, Myanmar with a sweet, silky, well-bodied flavour structure with sweet black berries and chocolate in the finish and Uraga Gomoro from Ethiopia with a sweet and floral taste.
The usual offerings of Espresso ($4), Black ($4.50), White ($5.50) and Barista Breakfast ($7) with both Espresso and White can be found on their menu with options such as Oatly (+$1), Iced ($0.50) and additional espresso shot ($0.50).
My cup of White ($5.50) using single origin of Pa-O Black Honey was enjoyable, being smooth, medium bodied with a sweeter profile, slightly acidic and well-balanced.
A co-sharing kitchen offering different cuisines in one space is definitely welcoming to the diners since they are given more options – especially when there is a strong expat community in the area, but perhaps some stream-lining of the food (or days of availability) could help position the place clearer.
Culture Spoon
409 River Valley Road, Singapore 248307
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 11am (Sun – Thu), 7:30am – 1am (Fri – Sat)
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Little Farms Café (Valley Point)
Thong Aik Coffee (Indus Road)
LR Boulangerie (River Valley Road)
Grace Espresso (River Valley Road
* Written by Nicholas Tan @stormscape who loves all things [NEW]. DFD paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated.