P.S. Café

P.S. Café – 28B Harding Road, Tanglin Village (Dempsey)

It always strikes me as tragic when an eatery, fantastic on your previous visit, is commercialised into barely a shadow of its former self. This is especially true when the eatery in question had held as much promise as P.S. Cafe once did. However, frenzied franchising, too much hype and over-popularity have since severed its roots as a cosy, intimate chill-out place.

Our greeting at the door - if it can even be deemed one - was brusque and rude as a surly hostess barked at me to get in line when I inquired about a table for 3. When we were finally seated, we placed our orders only to have them lost - along with whoever took them - not once but twice. I can forgive one misplaced order on an admittedly brisk day but a waiter quizzing me on what I wanted for the third time and asking me to point out the pony-tailed waitress and shaven-pated waiter who each took my order once before sorely tests my patience. The food also took ages to come despite us ordering off the ready-to-serve cakestand. Furthermore – shortly after all that waiting - they shoved the exorbitant $46.75 bill at us when we weren't even nearly done with a muttered "Please pay, our cashier's closing." at 5pm, not exactly closing time. If I may, P.S. Cafe's pretty setting is the only thing left remotely laudable.

My Berry Chocolate Cheesecake ($13.90) was Ms Forgetful Waitress' hesitant recommendation when I asked for one. The initially pleasant amalgam grew swiftly cloying as the scant studding of tart berries was insufficient to counterbalance the twin heavyweights of a rich if mildly flavoured cheesecake atop a dense chocolate cake layer that was arguably even richer.

The Cheddar Crust Apple Pie ($12.90) fared little better with its barely-perceptible apple filling possessing neither tartness nor spice. Curiously, I detected no cheddar at all but was caught off guard by a sudden, fleeting yet intense note of jasmine at first bite. My dining companions' blank looks when I mentioned it led me to wonder if something had fallen into my morsel.

The only decent offering came in the form of Sticky Date Pudding with Lashings of Toffee Sauce ($12.90). The 'lashings' actually came as a massive moat surrounding the monolithic pudding. Appearances were deceiving though for the pudding was magically impervious to the buttery toffee sauce so you could decide just how much sauce you wanted in your mouthful. The moist pudding itself accurately captured that warm sugariness of dates. The only conceptual flaw was perching the ice cream atop the hot pudding so it melted rapidly.