Hatter Street cafe Singapore review: Lacking a touch of magic.

Despite desserts on the menu at Nakhon, we decided to try the acclaimed Hatter Street café just a few doors down. Decorated with whimsical artworks, objects and quotes, the café is every teenage girl’s fantasy café style that has taken the island by storm and just like Nakhon, can generate a long queue. 

Opened by Yvette who was trained at 3 Michelin star Bo Innovation, the website says the desserts push the boundaries of the “norm”, yet it also says the “Hatter Street’s culinary movement will be characterized by comfort food influenced by Asia culinary traditions versus the implementation of avant-garde techniques.”

A little bit contradictory, so which is it?

Unfortunately it is the latter and the cafe suffers because of this. Clearly the chef has talent to come from such an acclaimed kitchen but the desserts, whilst good, do not push the dessert scene onward.

Singaporeans will queue for a very long time to try these desserts and obviously the chef has capitalised on this without straining her or her staff with new techniques but this is why dessert places such as Awfully Chocolate and Twelve Cupcakes do fantastic business here. It all comes down to hype over mediocre products (I myself find Awfully Chocolate literally awful) and it is even more of a shame when a talented chef such as Yvette does not create a stir in the market.

Do not get me wrong, the waffle ($8.90) was crisp, warm and well made and perhaps the best in Singapore, whilst the salted caramel sauce was a little too salty lingering too long after each bite.

The chocolate cake too was light and mousse like without being grainy, not too sweet to allow the bitterness of chocolate to shine and overall good, if a little small.

So overall the desserts warrant a try but I just feel the chef could do so much more to open local eyes to new things rather than sticking to the basics.

Rating: 8/10

Expect to pay: ~$10-15 for a waffle and a drink

Would we go back: No

Any Freebies: No

212 Hougang Street 21, 

530212

Tel: 6988 4591

5 minutes walk from Kovan MRT.