Kurasu Singapore Cafe @ Waterloo – Specialty Coffee from Kyoto

Kurasu Singapore, Waterloo Centre is a place to enjoy specialty coffee from Kyoto Japan. They have moved from Odeon Tower to this relatively unknown space along Waterloo Street, where we went to explore the world of fine coffees.

I did not know of Waterloo Centre in Singapore until our visit to the Kurasu Singapore cafe. It is looks like a refurbished building for the arts. I did not see any “Waterloo Centre” signage, but there is a prominent “Artspace” sign on the frontage. If you are heading to Kurasu, it is easier to spot this sign. Some parts of the building seem to be under renovation.

The newish cafe faces some hoardings on the other side of the corridor. It was quite a messy area, but the Kurasu cafe was full when we arrived. Fortunately a group was about to leave and we were able to be their replacement.

Kurasu Singapore is an overseas outlet of Kurasu Japan. It opened in July 2017 at Odeon Tower. According to the website, they serve the same lineup of coffee as the Kyoto branch. Coffee is shipped fresh weekly on an express package, taking two days to reach Singapore from Kyoto.

The move to the new location at Waterloo seems quite recent as the space looked very new. Once inside the cafe, there was an atmosphere of calmness. The decor was clean and uncluttered. Quite zen and almost minimalist. People spoke in hushed tones. The preparation counter in the middle was the centre of attention. We can sense the enthusiasm for coffee culture as the barista and the folks at the counter seats exchanged views on the subject. Service was polite and very pleasant.

Kurasu Singapore Menu

Here are pictures of the Kurasu Singapore coffee menu as well as the very short food menu that only had two items. The focus on coffee is obvious.

Up till recently, coffee to us has been mostly of two kinds – the coffeeshop local coffee and the espresso kind. My companions have recently discovered other types such as cold brews and pour-overs. Intrigued by these things, I accompanied them to dip my toes into the world of fine coffee. Which was how I got to visit Kurasu Singapore.

Hand Drip Coffee

Avoiding the espresso coffee section of the menu, we focused on the hand drip coffees available. Like fine wine, the source of coffee beans is said to be important and different types of single origin beans were available. Being new to Kurasu we selected the Nicaragua, Fuyu Moe and House Blend ($7 each) which were described as light roast, dark roast and medium dark roast respectively.

According to the notes, the taste of the Dark House Blend is described as “rich dark chocolate and subtle orange peel” while the Nicaragua has the aroma of fresh fruits, flavors of apricot, orange and yellow peach, savory aftertaste like oolong tea.  Fuyu Moe has these flavour notes: Strawberries, Mandarins, Green apples, Pomegranates, Cacao.

It took around 15 minutes for the coffees to be prepared and served in colourful mugs. None of them had the rich familiar taste of expresso coffee. This type of coffee seems more delicate. Like wine tasting, the challenge was to see if I could detect the complex flavours mentioned in the notes. To my untrained palate, the Dark House Blend and Nicaragua tasted similar and quite uncoffee-like. There was a prominent grassy taste. It felt more like strong Chinese tea than coffee. The Fuyu Moe was the more pleasant coffee that we tried that day. It had a mild fruity sweetness on top of the light coffee flavour, but I was unable to detect the separate types of fruits in the description. It was the only one that I would want to try again.

Kurasu Singapore
261 Waterloo Street #01-24
Singapore 180261

Opening Hours: 10am – 6:30pm

Website

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