Vanilla Bar & Café

Really wanted to rate this place higher as they have some good dishes, unfortunately though it just averages out to be; well average.
I have eaten here 3 times with friends and always ordering different dishes
Let’s start with the bad, drinks are served in very small glasses so there is no value for money. Especially considering the prices of soft drink and beer! This is perhaps the biggest criticism as an asahi at sgd11.50 should be a whole bottle not a small glass. Coke should be the can with a glass on the side etc
The food some dishes are great (vodka penne pasta with bacon and for that matter most of the pastas as well the sandwiches are all very good meals) it’s the other items that miss the mark.
Cordon bleu and the fish etc all appear to be frozen/​pre package food and whilst I don’t expect an outstanding meal at close 20– a dish it should not be frozen.
Also had the green curry with egg and its every lacked in a coconut/​green curry authentic taste
Portion sizes are ok but I could easily eat 2 mains here and I’m not a big eater.
Atmosphere is nice when not too busy but when they are busy it’s way too noisy inside and hard to have conversation.
Overall 2.5 stars.

Location: Walking distance from Telok Ayer MRT station so it’s convenient to get to.
Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀! Staff was super friendly and relatively quick to serve my needs. Water was always refilled and I had no problem calling over the waitress.
Food: I had the Vanilla Vodka/​Tomato Cream Pasta for main. It was just like any other tomato based pasta. Good but not exceptional. The serving size was smaller than most places. But I’m a small eater so it was perfect for me. For dessert I had the Dirt Cake, which is a light cheese cake sprinkled with oreos and gummy worms, served inside of a flower pot bowl with a flower stuck into it! Super cute looking, but also super big. Best for sharing. The cheese cake wasn’t too sweet had good consistency but the bottom was still frozen (I assume they freeze-​store it). For drinks I had English Breakfast Tea. They served Twining’s brand, and offered free refill of boiling water.
Ambience: The café was a bit warm (temperature). Other than that, I liked how quiet it was. I went Friday night and it wasn’t bustling which I liked because I could relax and eat at a leisurely pace.
Definitely would recommend checking out!

I think for the price and location, this café is great! The meal portions are a good size and won’t leave you feeling hungry. And the finger foods are always good. The desserts are great for sharing, but alone they may be too much for one person. It’s definitely worth the time to check out!

Agree that portions are a bit small. Enough for me but I don’t eat all that much (or so I think!) anyway, popped in ard 830 on a Friday night after work, it filled up pretty quickly. Thought it’d be a nice quiet café but boy was I wrong! Décor is nice and all, but the chatter quickly magnifies too. I was somewhat assailed by all the noise.
My pan fried salmon took 20mins to come. And when it did, I was first wowed by the crispness of the salmon, but not so much the texture inside. It was a little overdone/​dry and the sauce wasn’t sufficient to save it.
That being said, it seems that the potatoes were more the saving grace. Nicely roasted and herbed, very comforting and deliciously savoury!

Stopped by for a quick lunch because my colleague was dying to try their Dirt Cake. It’s very amusingly served, in a flower put with the oreo bits looking like soil, replete with gummy worms and a flower sticking out. Beyond the cute factor though, it was really quite mediocre in terms of taste. Not bad, just not special.
I had the Japanese curry with chicken, and it was pretty good. Chicken was super crispy and very well cooked (not as in «well-​done overcooked») but executed well and turning out crispy, light, and tasty. The curry was so-​so, good enough to go back for, but not good enough that I’d highlight it as a MUST TRY. They’re also a little stingy on the curry, but we asked for more and they were very nice to bring an additional bowl of curry with carrots in it at no additional cost.
The ‘half wings’ are, not a half portion of wings, but half the wing joint. While this reduces the amount of meat on each wing, it does make it really easy to eat. The crumb-​coating on the wings is a little bit salty though, but if you just eat one or two, it’s really quite tasty, and they’re really crispy. Salt factor is the only point they could improve on.
Beyond that, nothing really left an impression. It’s a stable place. Better than 2 stars, not really solidly three. Not such I’d go back within a month of my first visit, but maybe when I’ve exhausted all my other regular places I’ll give it another try.

Rating Vanilla Café a ³⁄₅ reminds me of how many ok but not excellent places there are in Singapore. I’d actually lean towards a 3.5 stars for this joint because it is kind of a cute place and the food isn’t bad. I’m just not excited enough to rate it higher. Do note this place is small and gets really crowded at lunch so call ahead to make a reservation.
Vanilla is a Japanese western café serving lunch bites like Katsu sandwiches, yakiniku don and salads. They also have this cute plate of silver dollar pancakes called the «Simple Start» that I’ve been wanting to try. Note to the hungry, no not take the café’s brochure back to the office or you will be salivating over the well taken pictures. In reality, the food portions are not very big. I’ve tried the yakiniku don and had the rice replaced with a salad and it did the job. Smoked Salmon sandwich is also not bad but so small. I think the only item that won’t leave you hungry is the dirt cake. If you haven’t heard of it, walk by the café and have a look at their dessert display case. It’ll put a smile on your face.

A really small café that is typical of shophouses along the telok ayer district, i was attracted to the name of the place. When I visited it, it was quite a surprise to find that there are strong Japanese influences in the café’s décor and personality. Which makes it slightly on the unique side.
What made it really unique however was this dessert called the Vanilla Dirt Cake. It comes to you as a plant on top of a flower pot! Wow. When you actually dig into the «dirt» you will find it’s just oreo crumbs on top of vanilla ice cream. The presentation is really humourous though and there’s even a gummy worm beside the plant.
They also serve all-​day breakfasts, and I had their All-​English Breakfast for 9.90. What a steal! Anything less than $ 10 that includes egg, bacon, tater tots, 2 sausages and a salad is super worth it. Now I might need to remember this fact next time I am craving for an all-​english breakfast.

It’s often hard to find a nice quiet air-​conditioned place for lunch that doesn’t cost a bomb or stink like one in Raffles Place /​Shenton Way /​Tanjong Pagar. Most places leaves you smelling like stale oil and food which just kills the rest of my day.
Walking into the café, the first thing you’ll notice is the wonderful sweet aroma of vanilla in the air. Ladies rejoice, you’ll only smell the vanilla scent instead of other patrons’ food in your hair!
Designed like a quaint designer Japanese western café, its artsy and modern. The food is also a mixed Japanese-​Western style. Food portions arent large but personally I was happy with the yaki udon with chicken katsu and teriyaki sauce that I ordered.
They are famous for their dessert, especially the dirt cake. Presented in a pot with a fake plant on top of it and sometimes even with gummy worms to make it looks like you’re eating a real plant. And yes, you’re to eat the «dirt» which is actually oreos sprinkled vanilla ice cream.
A great alternative for lunch with colleagues, birthdays and other office celebrations. But do bear in mind the place is really small and the biggest party it can accommodate is probably about 8 persons.