Unexpected discovery in Tanjong Pagar - Quarter to Three

After a less-than-satisfactory dinner, I was on the way to a cafe further down the stretch of shophouses along Tanjong Pagar Road with a friend when we chanced upon this little and cosy cafe named Quarter to Three. Noting how it seemed to be a good place to continue our chat (noisy and crowded cafes are not our cup of tea), we decided to give this place a shot instead. And it proved to be a good decision after all.

Due to the fact that the place is not big, the cafe can fill up pretty quickly. Sometime after our arrival, there was a big group of 10 but they had to split themselves up into two tables since there wasn't a table to accommodate everyone As such, if you are here with a smaller group, it will be easier for you to find seats and save yourself the agony of having to split the group.

We were seated just in front of the cake display fridge and it took us a fair bit of time to decide what we wanted to order. I counted at least 6 cakes in the regular size and another 6 in the "elevated" size (as in the cakes were taller than the usual type). Variety is definitely not an issue here and in fact, I felt like I was spoilt for choice.

The flavours also featured rather unique combinations not seen elsewhere (or so I think because I've not seen these flavours at another place) e.g. cherry and lemon cake or peanut butter brownie cheesecake. I also like the fact that they had some quirky names for their cakes e,g, Her Majesty for the red velvet cake and She's so heavy for the double chocolate cake. Usually, in cafes of this size, the selection of cakes is pretty limited but Quarter to Three defied my expectations in a good way. Perhaps due to the fact that it is also a bakery which supplies whole cakes for takeaway or business is brisk, they can afford to make so many types of cakes. However, it does seem like the offerings can differ from time to time so you may find some flavours not available at times. Besides cakes, there were also light bites and desserts in the menu so you'll probably need to come here multiple times to try everything.

My friend ordered the tiramisu in a jar and one mouthful was all it took to blow me away. I even bought one jar as takeaway because I couldn't resist the temptation after staring at it in the cake display for the whole evening. I'm quite particular about my tiramisu but it's been quite disappointing not to find anything with that perfect texture and dosage of liquor to satisfy my taste buds. Sometimes, the mascarpone cheese was too overwhelming. At times, there was too little of the liquor. On some occasions, the tiramisu was too soggy. Quarter to Three's version was everything I wish for in a tiramisu. Perhaps it might not be so for others but at least for me, it had the best texture, the right amount of liquor without being too underwhelming or overwhelming and best of all, the liquid chocolate poured into the jar and mixed with the tiramisu just before serving was literally the icing on the cake. I will definitely go back for more of this and try other cakes too.

As for me, I decided on the rainbow cake almost immediately because I've never eaten rainbow cake before and the colours were so welcoming. There were two versions i.e. the while cream version and the chocolate frosting. When it was served, I was quite surprised at how good it looked with the dripping chocolate sauce. Some cafes usually just place the cake on the plate but Quarter to Three actually bothered to draw something on the plate (no doubt simple as it looks) for which I think is worth commending. The texture of the sponge cakes which form the rainbow layers was just nice for me, not too dry and not too moist. However, if you just eat the cake on its own, it didn't really impress me. Maybe that's how rainbow cakes should taste like? On the other hand, when eaten together with the chocolate layers sandwiched between each layer of the cake, it accentuated the flavour and improved my view of this cake. The chocolate, although not overly sweet, does taste a bit rich so can be a bit overwhelming who prefer lighter flavours.

On the whole, Quarter to Three is a nice place to hang out and have some nice desserts. Note that they only accept cash and Nets and you must pay at the time of ordering. If you wish to find out more about them, you can go to their website or Facebook page. It would have been nice if they feature the range of cakes they have on their website which looks very bare and not very informational. I surely won't mind looking at photos of delicious cakes! Although I wasn't that impressed by the rainbow cake, the whole ambience and laid-back feel of the cafe plus the tiramisu which won me over means that I'll be back there again pretty soon.