The Affogato Bar: Tis' the season to be jolly... with the aid of chocolate.


Affogato Bar is Asia's first cafe that specialises in affogatos. As someone who is a lover of both coffee and ice cream, I've had affogatos a couple of times before straying away, since realising that the ice cream often melted into the coffee too quickly and both elements could not be tasted distinctly on its own. While I was slightly sceptical about how an entire cafe can be bourne out of a single dessert, I was even more hopeful that the cafe could change my mind about Affogatos.

The Affogato Bar released 3 special Affogatos for the Christmas season - Lady Claret, Firewood and Toasted Smores. After a series of careful consideration, we eventually opted for Lady Claret and Toasted Smores.


Lady Claret is constructed with kahlua mousse, biscut cuillere, cherry compote, homemade cherry bianca ice cream and rum infused Prima Tazza. The espresso shot is served separately which allows diners the liberty to decide the amount of espresso they want in their dessert. The combination of espresso and rum went surprisingly well, the bitterness from the coffee complemented the slight spiciness from the rum. The Cherry compote adds a nice tinge of tartness in contrast to the sweetness of the ice cream. The mousse quickly soaks in the goodness of the rum and espresso mixture. Savouring the mousse was an absolute delight with inherent flavors presenting themselves in layers.

Toasted Smores is an elevated version of the usual Smores, comprising of a brownie stack, chocolate ganache, graham cracker, toasted marshmallow and topped with smokey road ice cream. The marshmallow was served freshly toasted, cutting through it presented a satisfying goodness. The brownie stack was slightly crusted on the outside, extremely moist and rich on the inside. Although graham cracker was tucked under the brownie stack, it was not soggy and added a good crunch to the overall composition. The smokey road ice cream was decadent and had tiny marshmallows hidden within. Having a scoop of it and I just expected chocolate flavours only to uncover the delightful existence of marshmallows within. The espresso shot helped to balance out the sweetness from the combination of all the chocolate based components. Although this dish was a tad of a chocolate overload for me, I would dare say that die-hard chocolate fans will enjoy this one.

While log cakes are undeniably one of the icons of Christmas, the Christmas Affogatos at Affogato Bar are the epitome of home styled desserts that are elevated to great heights. I would dare say that they have no only achieved their objective of having diners feel like they are "Home for Christmas", but also successfully rid my scepticism of Affogatos. If all affogatos could taste this good, then I would not hesitate to have them.

The Affogato Bar
501 Bukit Timah Road
#01-4B
Cluny Court
S(259760)

Words and photos by Belinda Yong who wishes that every time of the day is food o' clock. She loves trying new cuisines and creations,  and prays hard for a higher metabolism.

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