Seven Oaks Bakery Cafe

Singaporeans are known to travel across the border for groceries and good food, and as we ran out of new cafes to explore in Singapore, Johor Bahru has new cafes popping out everywhere for Singaporeans to explore

One of the popular cafes recently is the Seven Oaks Bakery and Cafe, specialising in croissants and Modern Fusion Brunch. Established in 2015, the cafe is known for its bakes and a pretty environment for photos

Occupying a standalone building, the facade really stands out with a part Victorian outlook, and the interiors also have different photo points for people to take photos while they are having their meal. The overall space is spacious and comfortable

The cafe has a great variety when it comes to pastries and cakes, and they have interesting flavours like mango sticky rice, nasi lemak, Lemon Lavender Mint, Salted Egg and salted caramel

We ordered some hot food before trying the sweet bakes, and this particular menu attracted me. The hot and sour Chazuku, which has seared Barramundi served with rice, salted vegetables, dried chilli, sesame, ginger, Sichuan pepper, and a fish broth. Priced at MYR39, it was affordable for me, but rather pricey for a cafe. The soup was surprisingly light, with a nice savoury aftertaste, and the salted vegetables added depth to the dish. The overall effect of the dish was comforting with a slight spice kick from the chilli and pepper. I liked that the fish was fresh and not overly seared, so it still tasted tender and soft with the soaked rice

My friend, who wanted more proteins ordered the lemon butter salmon, which was priced at MYR 42. Served together with a side of mashed potatoes, spinach and tomatoes, the dish was done well, but nothing too out of the ordinary. The fish has a nice crispy skin and well-cooked meat without being overly oily

For sides, we ordered the Tatter Tots with curry leaves and salmon tori taco, which is a fusion mix of salmon cubes with seaweed, radish and kimchi and a bit of rice. The Tatter Tots were fried well with no issues, and the curry leaves give it a nice and light spicy flavour. The taco shell was crispy, and the fillings were quite generous, but there was not enough sauce for the ingredients at the bottom. Due to the way it is structured, it was difficult to get the whole item in your mouth if you have a smaller mouth like mine, so I ended up picking the ingredients with a fork, so each mouthful has rice and ingredients. Flavour-wise, it has a nice tangy, spicy flavour paired with the mayonaise which provides the creamy texture to the sauce

Last but not least, we had drinks and desserts. I had an iced hojicha latte, and we got the nasi lemak puff and mango sticky rice pastry. The pastries had great layers, and they were flaky and crispy. The flavours were interesting as it really tasted like a nasi lemak dish, except I didn’t feel that it went exceptionally well with the flaky pastry. The mango was better as the flavours came together better

Overall, the food was considered ok for a cafe venue, and their variety supersedes the flavours. It is a nice place to chill with a different menu to snack on, depending on the time of day you visit them

Address: 134, Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, 80400 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia

Opening hours: 9 am to 10 pm