Lunch at Halcyon & Crane, new cafe at Paragon Orchard Singapore

Halcyon & Crane is a new cafe at Paragon Orchard, Singapore. This new restaurant by the people behind Birds of a Feather has taken over the space on level 3 Paragon that previously housed O’Coffee Club. On our last visit to Birds of a Feather, we were impressed by the attractive decor and good service, a big leap from the usual bare industrial look of new cafes in Singapore. We were curious to see how the new Halcyon & Crane cafe would be like.

Halcyon & Crane Paragon is sandwiched between 63 Celsius on level 4 and Paul Cafe on level 2. PS Cafe Paragon is also on level 3 a short distance away from Halcyon & Crane. The concentration of hip, trendy cafes in this corner of Paragon Orchard is good. Consumers can browse and decided which is most suitable for them. Although they are similar in some ways, they each have different personalities.

Halcyon & Crane Paragon is not as plush as Birds of a Feather, but it still has an interesting decor and the seats are more comfortable than many places.

Halcyon & Crane Menu

The Halcyon & Crane Menu does not contain a lot of items. What it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in creativity. We were glad to see that the items were not the typical fare found in many cafes. There were many interesting items that we were eager to try. We ended up ordering two small plates, two main courses and two desserts. Here are pictures of some of the pages from the Halcyon & Crane Menu.

The two small plates that we chose were the mushroom & pork scallion pancake (pictures above, $14) and braised daikon (picture below, $10). The pancake was very light. Paper thin and crisp, it was enjoyable as an appetizer. The daikon was more substantial. It reminded us of the radish in claypot stew dishes in Chinese restaurants. Quite saltish when eaten by itself, they paired very well with the noodles.

Main Courses

The chicken & mushroom capellini ($23) was bowl of noodles with chicken, mushroom and various vegetables. The capellini looked like mee sua to us. The taste was clean and light. Combining the braised daikon with this dish worked well for us.

Our other main course was miso red dates roasted salmon ($35). The salmon was no different from a typical grilled salmon dish. What made this dish memorable were the seasoning and flavouring used. With some sweetness and some curry flavour, everything on the plate blended well.

Desserts

For desserts, we tried the Tiramisu on Glass (above pictures, $15) and Coffee Cake (picture below, $14). The tiramisu was creamy and contained in the glass. The coffee cake was presented in a de-constructed way. It had a deep coffee flavour and was rather sweet. Both were good but we preferred the tiramisu.

We like the cappuccino ($6 each) at Halcyon & Crane Menu which was smooth, not too strong and without any sour taste. The Jasmine Mao Feng tea (picture below, $7) was refreshing.

Overall, lunch at Halcyon & Crane was enjoyable. The food was interesting, service was friendly and efficient and the atmosphere was comfortable. We thought that the prices were rather high.