Maccha House is a Japanese cafe chain that specialises in green tea beverages and desserts, with several one dish meals offered for customers who want something more substantial. Hot beverages are priced from $3.40 while iced beverages, which has an upsized/large option, are priced from $3.90. Prices are lower than its competitors like Tsujiri and NaNa's.
Tsujiri operates takeaway kiosk at 313 Somerset that uses disposable cups but Maccha House has seats and proper tableware for their drinks and desserts. The vibe here is casual but we prefer the Orchard Central outlet which has nicer ambience and more spacious seating capacity.

We ordered the traditional matcha ($3.90) and the signature matcha parfait ($10.90). The former was great value. A bowl with a generous amount of good quality Kyoto green tea powder is served with a small pot of hot water for you to prepare your own beverage, and a bamboo bristle stirrer is provided for you to whisk the powdered matcha till it is well blended and dissolved. Full bodied matcha flavour with the sheerest hint of bitter ~ an acquired taste that needs getting used to. The beverage was accompanied by a saucer holding two baby mochi floating in maple syrup, to lift the bitter edge of the matcha. The concentrated green tea was so good that we ordered a second serving after we had finished our parfait.

The signature green tea parfait was topped by a generous twirl of matcha gelato and two pieces of velvety matcha flavour nama chocolate. It was divine; we should have skipped dinner so that we could each have a glass of this delightful parfait to ourselves. My colleague and I prefer the matcha parfait here to the version served at Nana's Green Tea Cafe. The latter's version of matcha parfait is over the top, so heavy that it leads to sugar overload and a 'jelak' feeling (Malay for overloaded). Nana's version which costs $13.90 has two tiny scoops of ice cream, three pieces of nama chocolate and lots of whipped cream and green syrup. Maccha House's version is less fattening, but without giving any less pleasure, as the dessert artisan here had a very light hand with the cream and syrup.

Service was prompt. It is a pleasant place to relax and chat, without free wifi to draw you away from your companions to your mobile devices.

Burger King at ARC is a great place for a reinvigorating coffee break. Their semi permanent $1.50 offer for a big cup of Cappucino brewed from Seattle's Best Coffee's beans and Farmhouse fresh milk is the BEST value cuppa one can get in the whole of SG, easily twice the volume of the miserable tiny styrofoam cup of kopi at YaKun, at a cheaper price, in a nicer aircon environment and with good quality fresh milk instead of canned condensed milk. Paier it with their Sundae Pie from Hershey's and I got both my caffeine fix and dessert fix for just $4.30. Who needs a trip to expensive Swensens? The sundae pie is a glorious concoction of choc ice cream, meringue, dark Hershey's choc fudge cake on a chocolate biscuit base. Indulgence on a budget!

I've tried Awfully Chocolate's famous Banana Chocolate Cake but found it to be slightly overrated; I prefer the rich Chocoate Fudge Cake from Lana's Cake Shop in Greenwood Avenue. My lunchmate insisted I try Awfully Chocolate's HEI ice cream & I'm glad I went along. All chocolate ice cream should always taste like HEI. This is dark chocolate ice cream for adults. I liked the intense, robust & slightly bitter tinge of the cocoa flavour. Every mouthful of the slightly sticky & bittersweet HEI ice cream was sheer bliss for a chocoholic like me. The ice cream was pricey, but it did its job of lifting my spirits instantly.

I was wary about trying Milk Cow's Korean soft serve ice cream after a sickly sweet encounter with a similar product, Honey Creme, but went along with my friends who insisted that I give their favorite new dessert stall a chance.

Everything looked tempting but I avoided the honeycomb topping this time and opted for Snow Drop $5.90 which was a cup of their signature ice cream made of organic whole milk topped by a mound of candy floss. Can choose jelly beans or M&M to go with the ice cream and I opted for the latter. The ice cream tastes divine - it was  very smooth and every mouthful was full of the wholesome, rich and full bodied taste of full cream, fresh milk. This is a great way to meet my daily calcium quota. I liked that Milk Cow's soft serve was only faintly sweet so I can finish the whole cup without feeling guilty about consuming too many calories. It's very filling and perfect on a hot day.

Milk Cow is not for the lactose intolerant as every twirl of the ice cream is power packed with the goodness of dairy milk. It's either a love it or hate it experience depending on whether you like or dislike fresh milk. Honey Creme's version contains more sugar and lacks the smooth, creamy taste of Milk Cow's soft serve. I would rate Honey Cream 3.25/5 and Milk Cow 5/5 on taste.

Maccha House is a Japanese cafe chain that specialises in green tea beverages and desserts, with several one dish meals offered for customers who want something more substantial. Hot beverages are priced from $3.40 while iced beverages, which has an upsized/large option, are priced from $3.90. Prices are lower than its competitors like Tsijuri and NaNa's.

Tsijuri operates takeaway kiosk that uses disposable cups but Maccha House has seats and proper tableware for their drinks and desserts. The vibe here is casual but we prefer the Orchard Central outlet which has nicer ambience and more spacious seating capacity.

We ordered the traditional matcha ($3.90) and the signature matcha parfait ($10.90). The former was great value. A bowl with a generous amount of good quality Kyoto green tea powder is served with a small pot of hot water for you to prepare your own beverage, and a bamboo bristle stirrer is provided for you to whisk the powdered matcha till it is well blended and dissolved. Full bodied matcha flavour with the sheerest hint of bitter ~ an acquired taste that needs getting used to. The beverage was accompanied by a saucer holding some two baby mochi floating in maple syrup, to lift the bitter edge of the matcha. The concentrated green tea was so good that we ordered a second serving after we had finished our parfait.

The signature green tea parfait was topped by a generous twirl of matcha gelato and two pieces of velvety matcha flavour nama chocolate. It was divine; we should have skipped dinner so that we could each have a glass of this delightful parfait to ourselves. My colleague and I prefer the matcha parfait here to the version served at Nana's Green Tea Cafe. The latter's version of matcha parfait is over the top, so heavy that it leads to sugar overload and a 'jelak' feeling (Malay for overloaded). Nana's version which costs $13.90 has two tiny scoops of ice cream, three pieces of nama chocolate and lots of whipped cream and green syrup. Maccha House's version is less fattening, but without giving any less pleasure, as the dessert artisan here had a very light hand with the cream and syrup.

Service was prompt. It is a pleasant place to relax and chat, without free wifi to draw you to away from your companions to your mobile devices.