Ellenborough Market Cafe

I have been to Ellenborough Market Cafe at least 3 times in the past few years and I think standards (both food and service) have slipped. 

Fresh sushi.

The seafood was absolutely disappointing. The prawns were not fresh, the mini lobsters were ridiculous because there was very little meat within the shell. After trying these two, I didn't bother trying the crabs but apparently they weren't fresh also.

An interesting selection of salads- curry chicken salad, squid salad etc. There was also a Peranakan section which had my favourite kueh pie tee. Chinese food was pretty ordinary. Soup (Seafood chowder) was far too salty.

The only thing that everybody remembers about this place is the durian. How often is it do you get to eat durians without your hands smelling like durians? This was addictive.

Keep a lookout for the replenishment of desserts because after this batch ran out, they changed it completely to kueh lapis and mini tarts. The Chocolate Ganache was so-so, the kueh lapis were okay, mini tarts looked like supermarket pre-made plus the kueh lapis was slightly cold and slightly warm at some parts- totally gives away that these didn't come out fresh from the oven.

A pretty good selection of kueh as well. There was a crepe station where you get to get your crepes freshly made and they will scoop whichever flavour ice cream you would like. Queue can get pretty long, so, if you want just the ice cream, too bad you still have to queue. The chocolate ice cream is rich and sufficiently bitter!

All in all, the food wasn't particular impressive but not so bad that it would enter my won't-eat-again-list. What this place sorely lacks though is good service- plates being stacked up at our tables, not getting our cups of water, water not getting refilled etc. Although they tried to spread the stations out, there was still bottlenecks and overcrowding. For $48, I think I can get a better stretch for the buck somewhere else.

Ellenborough Market Cafe 
Swissotel Merchant Court
20 Merchant Road
Tel No.: 6 239 1848