The Book Café for book lovers & the rest of us

Happiness can simply mean a good book with a cup of coffee. The Book Café is a book-themed café that will serve up a healthy dose of happiness for those who enjoy a good read with coffee. For those of us who find food a more direct path to happiness, The Book Café has a fairly extensive menu for all times of the day.

The Book Café

The Book Café occupies the ground floor of a commercial building at the junction of Marin Road and Mohamed Sultan Road. It looks inviting from the outside and there is a cosy atmosphere inside. The Book Café shows that a cafe need not have to be in an old shophouse or have a riverside or lush garden location to create a space where you feel like kicking back and relax while the busy world outside goes about its business.

There are 3 sections in The Book Café. There are tables along the naturally ventilated corridor in front of the shopfront. Inside the air-conditioned area, there is a section with regular dining tables and a lounge area with sofas.

Magazine racks and bookshelves are key elements of the interior decoration. Patrons can actually find many local and foreign books, magazines and newspapers in the cafe.

The Book Café Menu

While there are many people who actually go to the cafe to read, whether reading a book or an electronic screen, The Book Café has a fairly extensive menu for those who need more than just nourishment for the mind. There are all day breakfast items, pasta and sandwiches and a few Asian dishes. Below are photos of the menu board and a couple of pages from the menu.

There are also attractively priced Set Meal Selections. The current deals are as follows:
Lunch Set (*Weekdays only, except PH, from 12pm to 2pm)
Choice of any 1 item from: SALADS or SANDWICH or PASTA or ASIAN
Serve with either soup of your choice or dessert of the day & ends with a choice of coffee or tea

Dinner Set (Daily from 7pm to 9pm)
Choice of any 1 item from: PASTA or ASIAN or PLATS
Serve with Soup of your choice and ends with dessert of the day with a choice of coffee/tea or a glass of wine

Brunch at The Book Café

We visited The Book Café on a recent weekend for brunch. Our orders were Pancakes Eggs & Bacon ($12.95), Chicken Avocado with Mango Chutney Sandwich ($16), Eggs Benedict ($16.95) and Long Black ($4.80 each). Service charge and GST would be added to the bill.

Service was friendly and efficient. Water was offered and served as soon as our orders were taken. Food was served after a short wait.

The Pancakes Eggs & Bacon looked simple. We liked the soft and creamy scrambled eggs and the crisp and flavourful bacon. The pancakes were ordinary.

The Chicken Avocado with Mango Chutney Sandwich was quite a huge sandwich and was served with salad. The mango chutney flavour was hardly discinible. However, the contrast of textural elements provided by the creamy avocado, juicy tomato slices and the crunchy lettuce added to the enjoyment of the sandwich.

Eggs Benedict at The Book Café looked good and was the best dish of the meal. The poached eggs on ham and muffins were served with potato rosti. The Swiss version of potato pancake was sauteed till and crisp and golden. It was delecious and almost stole the show from the luscious poached eggs.

The coffee at The Book Café was good.

The Book Café has been around since 2000 and it is still well patronised. The reason for its popularity is simply this – whether you want a relaxing hangout spot, a good cup of coffee or a satisfying meal early in the morning or late in the evening, The Book Café can deliver on all these fronts and more.

The Book Café
01-02, Seng Kee Building,
20 Martin Road
Singapore 239070

Tel: +65 6887 5430

Opening Hours:
Sunday to Thursday: 8:30am to 10:30pm
Friday & Saturday: 8:30am to 12:30 midnight

Website

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog

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