Baguette @ Vivocity

For many, the first thought that pops up whenever 'Vietnamese food' is mentioned is pho, or pipping hot Vietnamese glass noodles swimming in beef broth and basil leaves. But Chan Wei, the founder of Baguette, decided to bring in the idea of Viet deli food into the Singaporean palette in 2006, with the first branch of Baguette opening at Raffles City.

One brave day, the gungho Partner and I decided to give Baguette at Vivocity a shot, after years of strolling past it without a thought. We could do with something other than our usual Soup Spoon escapades.

Everything went *BANG*.

While their sandwiches looked pretty mundane (a.k.a. something you can easily whip up on a lazy Sunday afternoon), the flavours from the various fillings tease your taste buds when each time you take a bite. For the record, there's sliced red chili (please remove if you're not willing to risk your taste buds), the filling you chose (we had one mushroom and one tuna sandwich), pickled carrots and radish, fresh cucumber slices, a fresh parsley stalk and tangy Viet mayo. Currently, they offer 6-inch and a 4-inch versions of their sandwiches, so it's a good idea for those with smaller appetites to choose the 4-inch one, because each sandwich is packed to the max with filling.

 Oh, and do give their lemongrass tea a shot. Unlike the version at Thai Express, the sugar level of the lemongrass tea at Baguette has been adjusted to bring out the fragrance of the lemongrass tea.

Their cakes are pretty good too, especially the cheesecake and the Pulut Hitam cake (above). The Pulut Hitam cake is topped with sticky black glutinous rice that's not too sweet, and that complemented the soft cake layer in-between  really well.

We haven't tried the drip coffee, which is one of the highlights on the menu, so do be adventurous and pop me a comment on it!

Food aside, the prices were really reasonable. The last time we checked in at Baguette with two sets of 4-inch mushroom baguettes, two drinks and two slices of cake, the bill came up to about S$18, which was pretty reasonable considering the great service by the friendly service staff who would go out on a limb to explain the food items on the menu. The quaint cafe also has an alfresco area, as well as a cosy indoor sitting area suitable for dates or small gatherings.


Overall:
Ambience: 3.6/5
Food 3.7/5
Price: $
Service: Mediocre/Satisfactory/Good/Excellent

Eat where:
Baguette @ Vivocity
1 Harbourfront Walk, #01-163
Tel: 6493 1426
Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 10am-10pm (Last order at 9.30pm)

Other outlets:
Chevron House (#01-14)
Square2 @ Novena (#02-68/69)
International Plaza (#01-54)

Website: http://www.baguette.sg/index.html