It has been a while since I visited a café as we are encouraged to order in and not hang out in public places which will be crowded. When I was arranging a friend meet up session, my friends suggested meeting at one of the newer cafes in town. Excited at the idea of visiting somewhere new, I jump on board the idea and The Providore did not disappoint.
For a start, we visited the outlet at Raffles Place and it was a breath of fresh air amongst the tall office corporate buildings surrounding the area. Located right on the Raffles Place green, the café itself eludes a sense of relaxed air with full length glass windows and plants mimicking a greenhouse.
There were both indoor and outdoor seats as well as take away counters to cater to the busy crowd in the CBD area. As I visited during weekends, the entire area was empty so it resembles a very slow and relaxed al fresco café within a park
My first impressions when I entered the café was a mix between Jones the Grocer and P.S Cafe because of the modern industrial chic décor with the black metal, wood furnishings and array display of jams and sauces for both decorative and sales purposes.
At the end of the café, you can see the semi open concept kitchen and drinks counter. The entire space can sit almost 10 tables but this could be an effect of the safe distancing rules but I do find this spacing pretty comfortable as there was sufficient privacy from the neighbouring tables.
They do have a breakfast and main menus. The options for breakfast are served until 11.30 am on weekdays and 3 pm on weekends and public holidays while the main menu is served from 11.30 am onwards. The breakfast menu mainly contain items like egg benedict, muesli, toast with different toppings, pancakes and full breakfast plates. For the main menus, you get sandwiches, rice and pastas as well as a variety of meats.
We were there for brunch so we could have the best of both worlds so we started with some items from the breakfast menu like the smashed avocado on toast for SGD 19.50. With feta cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes and a poached egg, the highlight of this dish was the generous amount of creamy smooth avocado on lightly toasted whole meal bread. The egg was perfectly poached with the runny egg pairing up with the fresh and buttery avocado. The feta cheese was also light and added an additional layer of flavour. The only downside for me was that the serving was pretty small for this price and it would have been decent if there was 2 slices of bread instead.
My friend had the English breakfast which came with a choice of egg, sautéed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, grilled bacon, bratwurst sausage and sourdough toast. This plate cost SGD 22.50 which is more reasonable given the amount of food served. The eggs again were perfectly poached while the sausages and bacon were grilled lightly giving it a nice charred flavour but not overly burned.
We also had a croissant which was served with a portion of fancy Australian handcrafted butter. The croissant was nice and crispy and the butter was indeed creamy and smooth with the nice buttery flavour without being too oily.
The hot chocolate was creamy and chocolatey although I would have liked it thicker.
The coffee was quite decent with a nice robust body
There were raving reviews online about the lobster mac and cheese therefore we waited for the main menu to be served and ordered this at SGD 27.50 which was quite a disappointment. Firstly, the lobster chunks were quite small in pieces so the taste is absolutely lost in the sea of cheese so they could have well been added just for colour. The mac and cheese itself was not creamy enough and the pasta was quite al dente. Overall, it was just not worth the calories or our wait.
The tea served by pot was pretty decent and the variety to choose from was also quite varied.
Something to add on is the washroom which was located next to the outdoor seat. I like that the washroom area has a nice open and airy feel which is extended from the whole greenhouse greenery outdoor concept.
Although there are some misses in the food we ordered, I liked the overall environment of the café and the breakfast menu and drinks was also pretty decent. There was also a wide variety of dishes on the main menu which we did not order but looked quite tantalizing from the other tables which I would not mind ordering on my next visit. The entire café and surrounding areas is also great for those Instagram pictures.
Address: 7 Raffles Place, Singapore 048625
Operating hours: 8 am to 10.30 pm ( 9 am to 6pm on Sundays)
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