Essential must-go

Tucked away in a corner of Holland Village, Essential Brew strikes you as a homey yet classy cafe in which you could spend entire afternoons lingering over a hot cuppa and watching the expats and tai-tais go by. That impression is completely accurate. Walking in, you are greeted by a cool wooden-paneled interior, glossy saliva-inducing posters, and lounge-friendly low IKEA tables and floor cushions (inclusing some misshapen ones for which I could not recognise their purpose, until the waitress kindly plumped it up for me to sit on). Essential Brew invites its customers to sit back and enjoy the finer things in life.

That's not even the best part. The tea-inspired menu is a draw for young and old alike, with mouth-watering entrees ranging from Earl Grey Mussels and foccacia sandwiches to Rosti Stacked Beef and Mushroom Glass Vermicelli (vegetarian-friendly). Indeed, their best items are formed by fusing Eastern and Western classics, resulting in familiar and yet unique tastes. One such example is the Grilled Dory with Oolong Sauce, which comes with Jasmine tea-infused rice and an 'Oriental' salad. For something lighter, try their Calamari Rings - the best ever with just-right crispiness, and a generous helping of piquant salsa. Seafood lovers can also try the Seafood Platter (specified for one but easily split between two 'mouth-itchy' diners), which includes aforementioned calamari, grilled salmon, mussels and salad.

Humid weather getting you down? Try a tall icy drink from Essential Brew's extensive range of 'coolers' . The Vera Breeze was met with a warm reception, a delightfully refreshing conconction of green tea, lime, and aloe vera. Another drink, described as 'layers of chocolate milk', was an expectedly sweet indulgence, and brought me back to my primary school days when we would order milk in different flavours.

Desserts also feature prominently on the menu at Essential Brew. Unfortunately, the Jasmine Tiramisu is abysmal. I ordered it because it was a Chef's Recommendation, but I think the only reason he could be recommending it was so he could get rid of all the cups sitting in the display window :( It didn't taste like tiramisu OR mousse, just some cream gone bad mixed with artifical green tea flavouring.
The Rainbow Indulgence fared better, with 5 different flavours of cheesecake (green tea, oreo, lemon, strawberry and regular New York) presented in 5 shot glasses. Best shared with a friend - and keep rotating flavours so you don't get too jelat.

Essential Brew has also trained its service staff well. All my waiters/ waitresses in my multiple trips to the cafe have been nothing by pleasant, although they took very long in bringing my order, and once during their peak period (8-10pm) a waiter kept forgeting to bring us water. It is worth trying for seating on the very popular second floor, which is almost completely floor seating (remove your shoes and place them on little racks supplied by -you guessed it- IKEA). Ultimately, for those with time on their hands, this is a great pit stop for some decent R&R.