I thought it sounded familiar and turns out Elixir Coffee and Wine, which I went for a tasting for had moved from Serene Centre, which I covered back in August 2019 when it was called Elixir Boutique Roasters. It was only a few years ago but felt strangely ancient - I guess that was the power of the pandemic with those 3 years feeling like a decade. In any case, when I told my friends I'm going to Holland Grove for a tasting, one of them was like, "what's there in Holland Grove other than big houses?" and I was equally mystified. I had initially thought it was at Holland Village and was surprised to find it was a bit of a way down the road near Jelita Cold Storage / Ulu Pandan instead.
Edit (July 2024): Elixir now only sells drinks and the food has been consolidated to Paradise Pizza, which is their new pizza-forward brand on the same premise! Read my review here.
Anyway, my Grab driver got lost trying to follow the GPS and we ended up at a Moonbeam Terrace when in fact the cafe by day and bistro by night's located opposite Henry Park Primary school and the driver needed to go on Holland Grove road instead! So if you are trying to get there by car, don't follow the GPS! It's actually a row of shops and the bistro at Park Suites, which I believe is a condo apartment complex. A pleasant park's just right outside.
Here are the menus. I appreciate their conciseness. The day time menu is from 8.30am to 3pm and has 6 types of tartines and 2 plates.
The lunch and dinner menu from noon is heavier, featuring 6 types of bites, 7 sourdough pizzas and 2 desserts.
There's also quite an extensive wine list, but here's the coffee and drinks menu. Their coffee here would be really good too, I can safely assume.
Upon walking in, you will see an impressive wall that upon closer look, is made with thousands of corks from bottles opened at Elixir. And at night, a special light display will show up, signaling its transition to a different music playlist on top of the drinks and food.
We started with a sweet pinot grigio from Italy which was also a rose colour (but not a rosé!). Very easy despite the forbidding colour and initial sweetness - I had a few glasses throughout and did not feel bad nor had a headache after!
We tried 3 tartines, all made using their house-made sourdough. The Stracciatella (S$20) saw a slice of their house-made sourdough bread topped with blistered tomatoes, pecorino and balsamic vinegar. The creaminess of the stracciatella cheese paired with the smoky sweetness of the tomatoes and the sharpness of the pecorino cheese was a perfect combination and I appreciate the arugula for that extra depth and freshness as well. That said, it was actually the plainest of the lot. 3.5/5
The Salumi (S$16) had Italian spicy sausage paste, or nduja, sumac onion, mint and dill on their house-made sourdough, and this dish was inspired by the shawarma, which I thought was really clever. I also enjoyed the Spanish red onions, sumac, mint, coriander, arugula and dill topping to balance out the strong nduja flavour. 4/5
The last of the tartines we tried was the Turkish Egg (S$16), which I think was everyone's favourite because of the garlic yoghurt which is unconventionally mixed with a homemade chilli crunch (inspired by Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp) and poached egg on their baked-to-order homemade sourdough flatbread. I also enjoyed the pops of sweetness from the pomegranate bits and the herb mixture with mint, coriander, arugula and dill. 4.5/5
Next we moved to the Lunch/Dinner menu, starting with some greens. The Salad (S$12) had a fresh crunchy mix of radicchio, wombok (Napa cabbage) and mint dressed in a tangy Italian white balsamic and topped with hazelnuts for an additional crunch. I really liked the choice of veggies in this salad, which wasn't that green but tasty. 4/5
Something that pairs very well with their wine list is the Tête de Moine (S$22), which is a Swiss semi-hard cheese served with poached apricot and fried walnuts. The name means “monk’s head” in French because the cheese's traditionally made by monks in Switzerland. The cheese has a creamy, nutty flavour and a slightly tangy finish and didn't make me feel too full, as cheeses often do. 4/5
Inspired by fried chicken, the Baby Octopus (S$18) is Executive Chef Victor Loy's version where baby octopus is fried until golden brown, dusted with a savoury powder and served with squid ink aioli and lemon. I liked this dish the best amongst all the starters because of how addictive it is, especially when you have drinks! 4.5/5
The last of the 4 side dishes we tried was the Burrata (S$24), where the creamy buffalo cheese is shipped from Molise in southeast-central Italy and surrounded by quick pickled cherry tomatoes. It was topped with an unexpected spicy dressing in the form of Chef’s house-made chilli crunch, which is so popular he had to bottle it up for sale! This was another hit at our table with the East Meets West flavours complimenting each other so well. 4.5/5
We learned that a lot of what happened when it comes to the dishes was just hours of R&D. We tried 3 pizzas and one of them was this Cali Cali (S$26), which is Chef's imagination of what happens when Italy meets California. Well, an eclectic mix, for sure! There was sausage, chopped kailan and brassica (cabbages) on fresh tomato sauce as well as dollops of guacamole on top for additional creaminess. The most impressive thing about this pizza and the other 2 was the sourdough base. It wasn't too overpoweringly sour but maintained a nice chewiness and fragrance. The leopard spots you see on each pizza also tells you how skillful the chefs are at baking them! This flavour though I think was my least favourite of the 3 only because my brain got a bit confused with all the veggies.
Next we tried the Not-carbonara (S$26) pizza, which is Elixir Coffee and Wine’s signature pizza bianco that is inspired by carbonara, on a sourdough base. Of course we had to video someone breaking the egg yolk on top and spreading it out before we tucked in to the rich creamy mornay sauced slices topped with ham, guanciale and pecorino cheese bits. While some people at the tasting felt like this was a bit too strong tasting, I personally LOVED the hits of saltiness and creaminess on the perfectly baked sourdough. The flavours were intense and just a wake-up-call to my tastebuds! If you love a good plate of super aged ham and creamy carbonara, try this. 5/5
I think the crowd favourite amongst the pizzas was Hot Mama (S$28), which had slices of Calabrese salami, a spicy and flavourful Italian sausage and onions and fennel on top. What's special about this is the use of Chef’s house-made chilli crunch again, which gave the pizza an additional kick that wasn't spicy as in hot, but more like fragrantly spiced, to me. I really liked this salty, spicy, slightly sweet, green and chewy combination because it activates almost every taste and texture profile! 4.5/5
We ended with both desserts - the olive oil drizzled Pistachio Cake (S$14) with chantilly creme fraiche and raspberries. Hmm to me, their desserts probably paled in comparison to the sourdough bread (which is like 65% of their menu). This was decent but not something I will crave. Save your quota for more wine and bread! 3/5
Same with the Ivory Custard (S$12) which had elderflower, rhubarb and pomegranate on top of custard. Very pretty dessert, but not really as satisfying as their savoury items. 3/5
Like I said, Chef had to bottle up and sell his Chilli Crunch (S$8.80) because its so good. We all got a jar to bring home and that makes me so happy because I can literally use it in anything and it will instantly taste 100x better. I wonder how it will taste with some ice cream...
Overall, I'm glad there is such an idyllic option for people living in that area to visit which offers good coffee, delicious food and drinks. Must try would be their pizzas, especially the Hot Mama or Carbonara! I would recommend you to check it out if you are a fan of all the above.
🙅 Thank you, next
🤷 Try if nearby ✔️
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Elixir Coffee and Wine
24 Holland Grove Rd, #01-18, Singapore 278803
Daily 8.30am to 10pm (11pm on Fridays and Saturdays)
Happy Hour 1 for 1 from 2-6pm and after 8pm for selected wines, beers and cocktails
Thank you Celeste and Elixir Coffee and Wine for the invite!
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