Thanks to friends I seemed to be visiting some excellent coffee shops at the moment. I'm not sure 'lady that lunches' could ever be a tag you could call me, but certainly at the moment, once a week or fortnight, it could be 'lady that cafes'
AEIOU can be found just a few 100 metres from lavender MRT in an area that is beginning to rival Tiong Bahru in all that's 'hip n trendy' Yet another unusual cafe. This one at 111 king Georges Avenue could easily be passed by without realising it was a cafe, indeed the frontage still has the old sign stating Oriental, the name of the antique shop that was housed here in the 70s.
The frontage and indeed the inside resembles more of a bric a brac store, but this belies the extensive menu, with a vast array of unusual mixes of coffees and tea.
AEIOU was founded by two designers Dennis Lau and Joanna Fong. The place has many unusual design features such as the recycled light fittings. Much of the furniture is upcycled from other products, lending itself to eclectic relaxed atmosphere. On the walls are numerous paintings of SE Asia which can be bought as well as many of the 'bric a brac' items
We arrived at 10:00 just as it opened its doors, it really was too early for lunch so we stuck to drinks and cakes for this visit although as you can from the menu further down there are plenty of main meal choices.
The food and drinks differ from many of the other cafes in Singapore. The specialise in 'fruit' coffees, served in recycled glasses made from vodka bottles, all in keeping with the the feel of the place. They are keen to encourage the use of greens into recipes, even edible flowers. You can also buy herbs and salad seeds to try and 'grow your own' at home.
My choice was the blueberry smoothie served with 2 shots of espresso on the side. You add the coffee to the smoothie to taste. Slight trepidation over how this would work but it was delicious! The super food of the blueberry must of done me some good, with the super dose of caffeine from the expressos giving an extra umph! To accompany this I tried the unusual sounding avocado cheesecake. This was a hit, covered in crushed pistachios, it was light creamy and without the taste of avocado. Very surprising and very 'moreish.'
We were the only customers there on a Wednesday morning, for the 2 hours we chatted and some of the items on the menu were unavailable. However what we chose and ate was very good. Good service and no tax or GST!
111 King George's Ave
Jalan Besar
Singapore 208559
111 King George's Ave
Jalan Besar
Singapore 208559
Open Tuesday - Sunday 10:00-22:00
The food!
The extensive menu :)
