The Ritual: Bukit Timah's Newest Achingly Aesthetic Cafe for Brunch
The affluent neighbourhood of Bukit Timah has a new cafe in town, by the name of The Ritual, which just opened in late November 2020.
I’m one to appreciate the decor and aesthetics of a cafe as much as the food, and when I saw pictures of the cafe, I was sold.
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With plain white walls, warm spotlights and a wide floor-to-ceiling glass window, sunlight pours into the cafe beautifully— illuminating the clean and minimalist furnishings.
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Over on the menu, you’ll find typical brunch classics like açai bowls, eggs and toast dishes, the full breakfast works, as well as sweet and savoury waffles.
We tried the Truffle Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon Toast (S$23) and the Vanilla & Strawberries Waffle (S$15) here, and I thought they were beautifully plated.
My Scrambled Eggs dish was topped with black caviar and served on a sourdough toast. Personally, I would have liked for my toast to be toasted a little crispier, but otherwise it was a simple, straightforward dish done relatively well.
The waffles were alright as well, with a thick crust at the bottom, which did make cutting into the waffle a bit of a trial.
Onto the drinks, we had the Iced Matcha Latte (S$7) and a cup of Black Coffee (S$5) which were both great so no complaints there. My matcha latte in particular was on the very milky side of things, which is not a bad thing.
Mind, this is a pre-launch menu, and speaking to the folks at The Ritual, they are still ironing out dishes and focusing on getting the experience just right. As such, they will be gradually increasing menu items within the next 2 weeks of this post going up, with a target of getting a full menu by December.
Overall, I think The Ritual is a very nice place to spend an afternoon, with a wonderful space and good coffee.
However, factoring in what I paid, S$30++ for a main and a drink, I thought it could have been quite a bit better.
See, there truly is no shortage of cafes in Singapore with beautiful spaces, many focusing on unique dishes to keep customers coming back. With The Ritual, the current menu is quite atypical of a brunch cafe, and aside from slightly more premium ingredients, there is nothing terribly unique that separates The Ritual from what you can get elsewhere.
Food is absolutely paramount to me in terms of what makes a cafe truly great, and personally, just down the road is Atlas Coffeehouse which edges The Ritual out, by virtue of being an established player with uniquely great dishes, so The Ritual is not without strong competition nearby.
But as they’re still sorting out the menu, I look forward to seeing what they eventually land with, and I’ll definitely be back should they come up with more unique menu offerings.
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WHERE | 383 BUKIT TIMAH RD, #01-09B, SINGAPORE 259727
