Dean & Deluca has finally reached the shores of Singapore 3 months ago, taking over a small but airy corner of Orchard Central. If unknown to you yet, they are a chain of upscale grocery stores first established in SoHo, then expanding to countries round the globe including Tokyo, Dubai, Taipei and Seoul.
There was a huge hype about it when it first opened. Despite only visiting the place about a few weeks after its opening, we were still greeted by a snaking queue and eventually managed to grab a table after an hour’s wait. The dining area was rather small, accommodating no more than 20 diners at one go. Next to the dining area is a stretch of retail area for specialty foods. Other than its size, I loved the clean and white space.
The menu offers breads, pastries, salads, burgers/sandwiches and their popular all day breakfast. I was taken aback by the so many choices I could make, but I picked a pastry, a savory item and a breakfast item.
The Sticky Bun ($3.4) was a great way to start the meal. Topped on a warm, cinnamon bun was nuts with a sticky sweet paste over it. Coupled with a Hot chocolate ($5.5) seemed like the perfect combination. Also, do not forget to try their coffee.
I saw the mac & cheese ($10) in the glass counter in an odd shape of a cuboid. For $10, it was a rather huge serving. Unfortunately, the cheese was too dry and insufficient to give mac and cheese its flavor. Hence it felt seemingly impossible to finish the entire block.
The most popular section of its menu would be the all day breakfast. Almost every table had either the french toast or pancakes as I made the observation almost immediately. I had the Berries and flapjacks ($18) which was a work of art. The pancakes were dense and very, very sweet, appearing to have been soaked in buttermilk. The mixed berries were added beautifully and even though my pancakes were not stacked neatly, I could not have asked for more. Others on the menu include caramelized french toast, eggs iberico and new york breakfast.
After a hearty meal, take a walk down the gourmet grocery section and you can expect to find sweets, chocolates, baking ingredients (like colored sugars), mugs and gift sets. Dean & Deluca remains on my bucket list and I will expect to find myself there again.
Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road
#04-22/23/24
1100 – 2200 daily
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 