When selfish became good at The Selfish Gene Cafe
PUBLISHED January 26th, 2012 12:25 pm | UPDATED February 28th, 2021 06:50 am
There seems to be so many cool little cafes popping up all over Singapore, the latest of which is a very new three and a half weeks old outfit by the name of Selfish Gene Cafe, in Tanjong Pagar. We discovered this gem on a scour of the area which is already bursting full of fab finds and my goodness are we glad we did!
This is a great spot, light and fresh feeling. But why is it called the Selfish Gene Cafe? Well, quite simply because the owner Gene is selfish and will not serve the food he wouldn’t eat. Moreover after what felt like an incessant search for the perfect cafe which left Gene feeling rather dismayed, he decided to open his own. Hurrah for us!
Now we popped in for a spot of afternoon tea, coffee and cake but this is also a great spot for lunch – a hot tip, the roast beef sandwich sells out quick so get there early to avoid disappointment. But now on to what we treated our taste buds with on this particular occasion.
Starting out with the coffee and tea, we loved the Long Black ($4) which was a perfect combination of well roasted and mellow. For those who have already had too much caffeine for the day, try opting for one of the teas like the Rosebud Tea ($5), made with whole rosebuds it’s a light, fragrant and very soothing brew.
Time to get stuck into the homebaked goods. Oh by the way did we mention that they have their own pastry chef? How much are we loving that! Anyway the Lemon Merringue Tart ($5.80) was a winning combination of buttery shortbread crust (though perhaps just a tad bit thick), creamy lemon filling and finished off with, well a Merringue. Lovely, tart (excuse the pun!) and tangy.
The Panacotta ($6.80) was beautifully light, creamy and silky-smooth, flavoured with vanilla and served with berry coulis and fresh fruits – just how we love it.
But for us the baby that stole the show here  was the Banana Cake ($5.80). Seriously this is a complete tastebud adventure and a very suprising “WOW!”.
Served with peanut drizzle it’s an amazing combination of savoury and sweet which bounces from one set of tastbuds to the other like they’ve having an aerobics session in there. You can definitely tell the folks at Selfish Gene have been working on this to create something different and that they certainly have. One word: LOVE.
This is a very homely yet well conceived and executed place, right down to the portion sizes. And no GST or Service Charge. Selfish Gene….we’re going to be selfish and come back for more…and more.
