More and more themed cafes have been popping up in the dessert scene here offering specialised desserts to entice those who have been missing their sweet tooth fixes due to the travel ban. I have seen some focusing on Korean desserts and Japanese desserts. One classic look of these Japanese cafes are the sleek and clean décor like the Muse Initiative
With hardly any signs outside, it takes the curious onlooker to steal a peek inside the non frosted glass doors at the side to determine the identity of this venue.
At first glance, I thought it was a high end, private omakase dining with dedicated chef working at the counter and very limited seats. At closer inspection, the appearance of tea pots and sweet cakes made me realised it is a modern minimalistic Japanese café
I was really happy when they were able to serve us even when we did not have any prior reservations, I was hoping we could be seated at the counter seats to actually watch the real action as the pastry chef make these pretty plated desserts with their deft hands
While we were not able to sit at the counter, we were led up the stairs to the 2nd floor and it is very refreshing to see how they have decorated the space with small little artsy details making the entire space feel like a art exhibition
The 2nd floor space opens up to a modern tea house concept with ample use of wood and bamboo in the furnishings. I like the fact that the tables are generously placed apart from each other to give enough privacy to each group of diners. There is also other floors upstairs which I did not get to explore
In terms of menu, they serve mainly plated desserts, cakes and tarts, mochi and gelato, ice tea latte, cold brew as well as hot tea. What really attracted me was the menu for straight Matcha which is the traditional Japanese Matcha whisked with water. We had the Hana Matcha and the Kaze Matcha. For those who love strong traditional Matcha, both the Matcha has extremely nice creamy texture with a slight umami flavours and that bitter fragrant loveliness from pure matcha
For desserts, we had the Matcha mont blanc tart which is made up of Matcha chestnut paste, chantilly cream and almond frangipane. The almond frangipane tart shell has a nice crunch and balanced sweet flavour while the bitterness of the matcha complemented the chantilly cream well to give a well balanced dessert which is not overly sweet
This next plated was really pretty and we ordered it as we all loved lychee and the dessert contained raspberry mousse, cinnamon streusel, roku gin soaked lychee, cream cheese cremeux, rose foam. Personally, I’m not that much of a connoisseur when it comes to plated desserts so I can’t really taste the different components of the dish. The raspberry has a nice tangy taste and a consistent creamy texture but I’m not really a fan
The last item we ordered is the roasted sweet potato with coconut bubbles, cinnamon crumble and homemade gelato. A favourite especially in winter months, I love how the roasted sweet potatoes had a nice saccharine taste which was balanced off with the home made gelato. While it is a fairly simple dish, it was really quite satisfying
Overall, as we turned up without a reservation, we had a limited time before we need to return the table for the next group. I really loved the atmosphere of the Muse Initiatives as it is clean, modern simple and most importantly very calm and serene. Missing is the usually bustle and chatter of usual cafes but the serenity immediately brings me back to the cafes I visited in Japan while travelling. Not to mention that most of their desserts are plated like an art piece which is ideal for those Instagram pictures
Address: 34 Keong Saik Rd., Singapore 089141
Opening hours: 1 pm to 10 pm ( Closed on Sun)
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