Gentle Roast: Upper Thomson's Newest Aesthetic Brunch Cafe
If you had to start a new cafe, where would you choose— somewhere with little competition but lesser footfall, and hope that the cafe hype is enough to have potential diners making the effort to visit your cafe? Or would you opt to be at an established location, somewhere already full of long term players and newcomers constantly on the rise, like Upper Thomson Road?
Enter Gentle Roast, which has just opened it’s doors and opted for the latter.
Read: The Brewing Ground— New Glasshouse Cafe in Joo Chiat
Read: Simple Cafe 簡單。— Minimalist Taiwanese-Style Cakes and Pastries Cafe
Running the brunch cafe scene here are Habitat Coffee, Columbus Coffee Co., Knockhouse Cafe (previously known as Pacamera), and One Man Coffee, just to name a few.
Hoping to upset the status quo is Gentle Roast’s new aesthetically pleasing space, complete with a decently sized menu where you’ll find burgers, pastas, and brunch classics like big breakfast plates and Eggs Benedict.
The shophouse has an unsurprisingly narrow layout, with a short flight of stairs beyond the counter that leads to more seats and a cosier space for bigger groups.
Read: PRAIRIE by Craftsmen— Bukit Timah’s New Beautiful Cafe with a Courtyard
Read: The Bravery— Aesthetic Halal Brunch Cafe Reopens At Telok Ayer
Read: Necessary Provisions— Aesthetic Healthy Vegetarian Brunch at Tanglin
Read: Degree Celsius— New Minimalist White Coffee Bar at Dhoby Ghaut
To share, we had the Mentaiko Mayo Fries (S$9), which ended up being one of my favourite dishes we had. It’s nice that they separate the mentaiko mayo as well instead of drenching the fries in the sauce, turning them soggy. On their own, the fries were pretty fragrant and tasty too.
We then had the Golden Butterfly Chicken (S$22), a selection from their Signature dishes. The grilled chicken steak came topped with a cereal butter-esque gold floss— supposedly inspired by dishes from this part of the world; complete with cheese prawns, crispy enoki mushrooms and tomatoes. It was definitely an interesting dish, and one that you can’t find everywhere else. We particularly liked the floss, and were told it’s a bit of a secret recipe.
Over on to the brunch selections, the Eggs Benedict (S$18) was a little underwhelming to say the least. Given how it’s pretty much a cafe staple, any cafe lover would have had this dish in various iterations. However, it looked and tasted pretty basic, like something one would be able to whip up easily at home. Beyond that, only one of the toasts was actually toasted properly.
No complaints with the Seafood Aglio Olio (S$17) though, which came with prawns, clams, and tossed with garlic, chilli and cilantro. Garnished with lime wedges, this was one of the better dishes.
Lastly, the Rostisarie Chicken (S$18). Not sure about the spelling of the dish on the menu, as it was not a rotisserie-style chicken, nor a rosti with chicken, as it was a similar grilled chicken steak as the aforementioned Golden Butterfly Chicken.
However, this was like a standard chicken chop dish, sautéed with garlic mushrooms and spinach with a dash of cream, served alongside roasted potatoes, mesclun salad and brown sauce. It’s a hard one to get wrong, so Gentle Roast’s take on it was decent enough.
Coffee here registers a little more on the acidic side of things, and we had the Cappuccino (S$5), Iced Mocha (S$7) and Iced Chocolate (S$6).
Gentle Roast is a nice enough addition to the cafe scene at Upper Thomson Road, and on a Sunday lunch affair did pack the crowds, but as did every other cafe at this buzzing hotspot for brunch. It remains to be seen if Gentle Roast will be distinctive enough to do well against the stiff competition here, but it is an aesthetic dream, and definitely scores points when it comes to food presentation.
Read: @3— New Minimalist White Swedish Cafe at Kampong Bahru
Read: The Chir Cafe + Bar: New Korean-Inspired Cafe at Holland Village
Read: Strangers’ Reunion— A New Return to Kampong Bahru
Read: Alchemist at The Mill— Hidden Sleek Coffee Spot in a Kitsch-Gothic Building
WHERE | 227 UPPER THOMSON ROAD, SINGAPORE 574359
