My colleague and I decided to have a change from the usual hawker fare for lunch. With that, we ventured (slightly) further out from office by heading to The Tastemaker Store. And I don’t know why but I kept thinking the café was called The Toastmaker instead of The Tastemaker. But I digress. Ha.

It’s an estimated 10 minutes walk from Tiong Bahru MRT. I say, use Google map to navigate one’s way around. Although my colleague and I came by cab. From office, of course! =)

I noted that one can either walk past the cafe unknowingly or one will spot it immediately. With its huge glass shop front and black painted (external) walls, the café stands out from its neighbours. But with only a sticker on the glass, I almost walked past knowing that it’s a café but not realising it’s The Tastemaker Store.

And I really love the space! I like how everything from the lighting, furniture and little introduction of nature (think pots of greenery hung from the ceiling) came together harmoniously. I was so impressed that I told my colleague that if I ever renovate my room, this is what I (will) want to achieve.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2), we ordered:-

1) Yam cake, $3.80 (above) – With pieces of sausage and pumpkin within, their take on this local delight belonged more to the smooth category in terms of texture. It’s a personal preference that I prefer my yam cake ‘ugly’. You know… Not in a nice, rectangular shape. And with huge chunks of taro. We liked their homemade chilli paste which spiciness only kicked in after we swallowed. It was somehow addictive.

2) Lemon curd toast, $3 (above) – Served with clotted cream. We chose to go a-la carte instead of ordering the toast set which would have entitled us to additional 2 soft boiled eggs and Americano or tea at $5.80. And I really liked this. Bread was a soft and fluffy muffin, which complimented the tangy lemon curd. A must try, indeed!

3) Glutinous rice $3.80 – Served in a tin, this looked really similar to the yam cake with its similar colour and same topping of deep fried shallots and chilli. This was unfortunately very bland. In fact, we also noticed there was ‘spider web’ with every scoop we took. A sign that it had gone bad. I took our dish and enquired with the lady at the counter, who promptly took it to the kitchen to check. Within minutes, she came and was very apologetic. She asked if we would like to order something else or get a refund. We opted for the latter. Out of curiosity, my colleague further probed if it was normal to have the spider web which the lady replied she too was puzzled as this batch was delivered earlier in the morning. And what made me realised it’s definitely the supplier’s fault and never their intention to sell bad food was when I overheard another table order the glutinous rice (30 minutes after our incident). The young man took their order and returned shortly to inform that the rice was no longer unavailable due to problems with it. That earned my respect. I am glad they are honest owners who rather make a loss than to lose customers.

4) Curry chicken rice, $6.50 (above) – Cooked in-house, this comes with a plate of rice too. Generous portion of chicken thigh with a piece of tau pok (fried beancurd) and pieces of potato. Meat was flavourful and tender. Nice! And I think it’s in the recipe because similar to their homemade chilli sauce, the spiciness of the curry only kicked in after we swallowed.

5) Pizza 8″ (mushroom & cherry tomato), $5.80 (above)

6) Latte, $5 (above) – Slightly bitter.

I will definitely recommend checking The Tastemaker Store for their ambience and lemon curd toast. They also have the lemon curd flavour available for their waffle. So for waffle and lemon curd lovers, you’re in luck!

Service wise, I must say they are very genuine and sincere. The curry chicken rice was our second batch of order (oh yes, I am a glutton), so when we placed our order, we told the young chap (behind the counter) to leave out the rice. I mean, no use asking them to serve the rice and waste it if we knew our stomachs only have sufficient space for the meat right? =) The lady (whom I am presuming is the mother) saw us having our curry chicken without the rice, came up and asked if we would like to have some bread instead.