Following Plaza Singapura's expansion, Hoshino Coffee has been boasting snaking long queues during meal-times, serving authentic Japanese cuisine, which includes their signature hand-dripped coffee and pancake souffles. Having recently been to Miam Miam, I would have to admit that there was an uncanny resemblance between the two, in terms of their offerings etc. I haven't had the former's main courses, so I shouldn't judge as much.
Nevertheless, if you had a chance to pass by Hoshino Coffee, I wouldn't be surprised if you got seduced by their eye-captivating artificial food display. Pancake Souffles, like I said, are one of their best-sellers - boasting a light, fluffy texture that it's sure to get any dessert-lover hooked on first bite. Prices are S$9.80 for one, and S$12.00 for the double (and, of course.. if you're in the right mind, you should get the latter for sharing). The pancake souffles are served with a dollop of cream and maple syrup. Preparation time takes 20 minutes, but as they always say.. Good things are worth the wait.
Compared to Miam Miam's rendition, Hoshino won hands-down.
Hoshino Coffee serves mostly Western-inspired dishes for mains, such as their famous Hoshino Spaghetti (S$14), which consists of aglio-olio complemented by good portions of egg-plant, bacon, shimeji and sausage. Girlfriend's mother loved it, but I found it a tad too oily for my liking.
Arabiatta Spaghetti (S$15) was quite bland, but had a good mix of other seafood. Having tried Yomenya Goemen (one of their sister branch, which specialise in pasta), a benchmark has already been set for the quality of Japanese-infused pasta. Now, I dare say that this is definitely not up to par.
Personally, I had their Clam Chowder Soup Spaghetti (S$16) - a cross between carbonara and vongole I might say. The result is a brilliant mix of the clam's sweetness deluged with creamy goodness. Now, if they would be more generous with a few more slices of bacon, that would be perfect.
Hoshino Pot-Baked Curry Rice (S$15) is your typical Japanese rice, drenched in sweet Japanese curry, topped with slices of beef, sausages and egg. We expected the egg (yolk) to be more runny, but nevertheless makes for a scrumptious meal. If you're a guy or a big-eater, this is probably not enough. More ingredients might just do the trick.
Back to desserts.
Pancake Souffle with Chocolate Banana (S$13.50) consists of soft-serve, Hershey kisses, chocolate drizzles and sliced bananas. It was good, but not good enough for the price. Caramelised bananas would have made a better complementary than plain old bananas.
For casual East-meet-West cuisine, Hoshino Coffee might just be the right place to get your fix.
Hoshino Coffee
Tel: 6338 3277
Opening Hours:
Daily - 11:30 - 21:00
#03-84
#03-84
68 Orchard Road
Plaza Singapura
Plaza Singapura