Criollo Cocoa

Went here for dinner with friends not long ago. Ordered their Buffalo Wings, Seafood Vongole Aglio Oilo, Smoked Duck Aglio Oilo, Chef’s Beef Stew and Laksa Pasta. The chef’s beef stew is the best! Will be coming back for that again. Their buffalo wings are in drumlets and wings. Taste okay. Seafood Vongole Aglio Oilo tastes okay, nothing special. Smoked Duck Aglio Oilo tastes okay too as commented by my friend. Lastly, the laksa pasta also tastes nothing special. We all agreed that the chef’s beef stew is the best out of the rest on our table. Will be back to try their deserts next time.

Came her for a quick bite with my boyfriend.
We sat at the table next to the window for a nice view of the area — good spot for relaxing and people watching.
I ordered the carbonara and my boyfriend had the beef strew. For drinks, ice lemon tea and matcha latte.
The carbonara (about $ 12) was a bit too watered down for my taste, I didn’t like it that much since there wasn’t much flavor. The and pasta itself had a good bite to it, however, so perhaps the other sauces might have been a better option.
The beef stew was flavorful enough from what I could taste from a bite. However, my boyfriend didn’t really like their matcha latte as he thought it to be too tasteless.
Finally for dessert, we had the earl gray loaf. Frankly, I was thoroughly unimpressed by the taste and the aesthetics of it. The loaf was too dry to my liking. There was a wider variety of dessert choices listed on the menu but a majority were not available on the day we went, which was a shame.
This café relies on self-​service but the staff there were generally friendly (for Singapore standards) when interaction was needed.
Overall, I find that the prices were a little steep for the quality of food I had, but it had a nice ambience and it’s definitely a good place to stop by for a drink.

Located right at the escalator landing of the second floor of Orchard Gateway is Criollo Cocoa Café. You cannot miss it! They pride themselves with providing comfort food all day, hence they serve breakfast items throughout the day.
The second you walk in, you are greeted by all the beautiful cakes and sweet treats that are indefinitely screaming for your stomach space!
The seats in the café are well spaced, giving tons of personal space for each group of diners. Something that is not always available in cafes that are set right in the busy district of Orchard Road. I really appreciate them not squeezing tons of tables together.
1. Big Breakfast $ 12 (Promo price till end of June 2015)/$ 16.90 (Regular Price)
First up was 2 scrambled eggs, served with chicken sausage, sauteed mushrooms, bacon which could be substituted for turkey bacon, hash brown, toast and fresh fruits in sweet yogurt. The BIG breakfast was highlighted by the BIG and very long chicken sausage, it was juicy and had a slight smoked after-​taste. Everyone agreed that the fresh fruit in the yogurt was delicious and a much healthier option for a big breakfast. For $ 12, you get quite alot on your plate!
2. Portobello Burger $ 12.90 *highly recommended*
It’s been a long while since I had a portobello burger. I’m a mushroom lover and from one mushroom lover to another, just order this! You will not regret it! The mushroom is so juicy and tender. The toasted brioche bun was executed perfectly, the bun was crispy on all the edges and paired nicely with the grilled portobello.
3. Seafood Laksa Pasta $ 16.90
It’s always nice to see a slight Singaporean twist to an Italian favourite. The laksa sauce was very distinctive but it was a tad too spicy for myself, as I normally do not eat spicy foods. The prawns and squid rings were fresh and I enjoyed it!
4. Mixed Grilled Platter $ 18.90
Usually, when I order a grilled platter, I would expect a lavish amount of grilled meats to clog my arteries. However, at Criollo Cocoa, it wasn’t the case. There were just 4 sticks of meat, all of which tasted okay, not fantastic. My favourite part of this dish, wait for it… the COLESLAW! No kidding, I cleaned my plate of the coleslaw!
5. Chocolate Waffle $ 9.90
I’m coming back for more! Being a café that is named after the source of chocolate, we couldn’t wait to try their chocolate waffles and ice cream. The café definitely spends some effort into presenting their dishes and the chocolate waffle was no exception. I really liked the chocolate gelato. It was 100% pure chocolate, one of the best gelato I’ve had in a long while. The waffles were the crispy kind and you could taste the chocolate in the waffle. For $ 9.90, this is one of the best value for money/​good quality waffles in town! The ice cream was so good, that we had no choice by to ask the owner, if we could try more ice cream flavours.
6. Malt Cake $ 6.90
Their cakes are supplied by Pies & Coffee and they are mouth watering! The malt cake was very dense with pure malt and chocolatey goodness. It will take more than one person or even two, to finish this slice of cake. Do not let it’s size fool you!
7. Earl Grey Tea Cake $ 5.90
I’ve tried several earl grey tea cakes and though this is not the best, for the money, it’s easily twice the size of what other cafes offer at the same price! Not to mention, it still satisfied my earl great tea cake cravings!
The cake is moist, not gerlat and most of all, not sweet. So you can slowly devour this cake bit by bit and not feel guilty!
8. Lychee and Coconut gelato $ 3/​scoop
We were blown away by the goodness of the chocolate gelato, as such we went on to try their coconut and lychee flavours. The lychee had real lychee fruit in the gelato. It tasted good, but the winner goes to the coconut ice cream. I’m not a fan of coconut, but this is by far the most perfect gelato flavour I have tried. It’s not sweet, but yet addictive. It doesn’t make you reach for a glass of water to wash down the sugar at all.
This café has a hidden secret! They have a gelato machine right next to their ice cream counter. There’s no advertisement or illustrations saying that they make their own gelato, after which they throw away unsold gelato after 10 days. Since the ice cream is churned by their machine, there’s no preservatives, hence the 10 day life span. The vanilla gelato notably has visible vanilla beans in it! Which truly won me over!
The café is nett priced which is a plus! Especially in the downtown area, where majority of the cafes charge service charge and GST. So, please help yourself to the utensils.

Ambience & service were all right. Lunch promo menu looks fantastic but turned out t be great disappointment. The dishes were tasteless. Not recommended.