Critic Reviews
AmbienceExperience
81.Score
A quaint café situated at the shop houses along Bukit Pasoh Road. A café by day and bar by night, The Reading Room is a place where bookworms and boozehounds can co-exist in harmony. During the day patrons are free to read (and buy) the books on display, surf the free wifi and enjoy the extensive cafe food and drinks menu. At night, lights are dimmed and candles lit, turning the place into a bar where people can still eat and drink around books.
KNOWN FOR
Norwegian Royale, Smashed Banana Pancakes
ADDRESS
19 Bukit Pasoh Road
#01-01
Singapore 089833
PHONE
+65 62209019
PRICE
~$30/pax
~$30/pax
Monday to Wednesday: 11:00am – 11:30pm
Thursday to Saturday: 11:00am – 01:30am
Sunday: 11:00am – 11:30pm
Weekend Brunch: 11:00am – 05:00pm
LATEST PHOTOS TAKEN HERE
I decided to come back here on this lazy afternoon where I could lose myself in the comfort of fictional novels, coffee and an afternoon snack … For beverage, I had the Himalayan Salt Coffee, an exquisite flavour that contains very subtle savoury hints amongst the aroma of this light coffee; pretty smooth with good notes and flavour … The Tiramisu was well-moistened, with intense bursts of liqueur and coffee flavours mingling well like a dream; every mouthful was a light tease upon the palate, allowing the taste to seep deep into the senses easily … Still reading, yet the skies were getting darker. The cafe dims its lights at this point, and candles are lit, instantly transforming this cafe into a romantic lounge for chilling out in. Read full review. +
As we walked further into the cafe, we found shelves of books lined the perimeter of the wall. Indeed, it was a reading room. As comfortable as it could be, only cushy arm chairs filled the space … Kro-battered Fish & Chips is one of the signature dish at The Reading Room. Using the freshest Halibut, a deep ocean fish, the thick generous slice of fillet is fully packed with fish flavour. If you like the Salmon, this is probably for you. And I must mention the fries, perfect ration of exterior crisp to interior potato … coffee beans were Italy roasted, providing a perfect cup of Italian Cappuccino … Food served at The Reading Room was a meal of comfort, down-to earth that filled the stomach. Nothing showy or fancy. A good place to chillax with a drink after meal too. Read full review. +
The Norwegian Royale which is available for brunch is hugemongous. The generous portion of smoked salmon, rich creamy scrambled eggs and arugula resting on their famous french toast. If I am not wrong the french toast is a brioche hence it was really soft in texture. The creamy scrambled egg is well executed, cooked using french butter instead of milk. It is a dish that will brightens up anyone’s day. A little advice is that you have to eat this quickly or the french toast will become a bit soggy because of the runny scrambled egg sitting on top of it … While it can’t be compared to top restaurants, the food here is hearty and honest. This itself already is way better than a lot of cafes that uses chef microwave to simply heat up and serve. Read full review. +
And… I love it!, the concept, and decor, although the chairs are a little low to eat properly … There is nothing extraordinary about the food, just wholesome, sincere, comfort food… All sauces are homemade, and ingredients are fresh, not frozen … The French-styled minute steak is a New Zealand striploin that came thin, medium-rare, and topped with homemade butter tinged with cumin and curry. The side, handcut fries from Holland–so it was Dutch fries, not French fries–tasted almost like sweet potato. The chicken schnitzel was what we Singaporeans call chicken cutlet. Piping hot; a thin, crispy batter. Both mains were not bad … But as a whole, the cosy cafe with soothing jazz, and comfort food priced reasonably are a winning formula. Read full review. +
The food menu is here also made from a book cover. Besides this interesting and unique concept of a book cafe, The Reading Room also offers some very honest, simple yet wholesome, comfort food for everyone to enjoy … Aussie Lot Burger: This was our favourite dish of the night, beef patty was cooked to a juicy medium rare accompanied by home made fries from Holland. Yes, fries are imported from Holland and they are sweeter as compared to USA potatoes … Home made Tiramisu: This was subtly sweet with intense notes of coffee beautifully blended with mascarpone cheese and topped with whipped cream. It totally blew us away that we finished all of it. Read full review. +
Here, patrons are encouraged to hang one’s hat up, dwell and rest within the oasis of books. Reading is optional, one can also exploit the free wifi and enjoy the lackadaisical afternoon … The Crumble Cheesecake sourced from Gobi Desserts, an absolute pleasure to demolish, it’s sweet, slightly savoury crumb topping complimenting the creamy innards of the cheesecake. Shame about the soggy base, otherwise, a real tight effort with the balance of flavors. Another solid discovery is the Homemade Tiramisu, despite it’s non-alcoholic nature … The Reading Room has a facade that is so unassuming, you can mistake the restaurant for a residence, which is exactly the feel the owner is trying to convey. Unlike the usual hipster haunts nowadays, this is the place you would go to stare into space and not to be seen by others. A hidden gem for the socially inept such as I am. Read full review. +
The walls are lined with floor to almost ceiling bookshelves, giving it a serious yet at the same time relaxing feel. But unlike a real library reading room, you are allowed to talk freely without garnering the disapproving glares from your fellow patrons … I ordered the Kro-battered fish fingers which was served piping hot. The light, yeasty and crisp batter was a bit oily. The fish meat was soft and disintegrated when I cut it with the fork. Think this would go very well with beer. But the peach fizz that I got did a good job to refresh the palate … Although the food and drinks were nothing to shout about (standard cafe grub), The Reading Room is quite a decent cafe to hang out and have a date… Read full review. +
Book cafes are one of the most under-appreciated cafes in Singapore and that makes The Reading Room really worth a mention … Even though this place isn’t a place for specialty coffee, my caffeine craving insisted I have a Cafe Latte. It was slightly too thin for my liking and the coffee taste was too faint … Out of the three mains we ordered, the most impressive has to be their Aussie Burger with the Lot. The lot was indeed a crowd, sweet onion, fried egg, grilled pineapple, tomato and bacon – everything that would make a burger perfect. The medium-well done beef was very juicy and tender. Every bite was delightful … On the whole, I was very impressed with the interior of the cafe and I loved how they have created such a nice ambience with towering bookshelves and interesting knick knacks. Read full review. +
…a space where bookworms and boozehounds can co-exist in harmony. It’s The Reading Room, an atmospheric café by day and bar by night, located along Bukit Pasoh Road … We had a passable smoked salmon Panini, though we’ve seen less tired rocket leaves adorning the back rows of supermarket chillers. The bruschetta, crowned by a tangy dollop of chopped tomatoes, onions, herbs and shaved Parmesan, was the appetite-whetting winner of the meal … The Reading Room scores full points for atmosphere and thoughtful kitsch, and is an ideal locale to linger over coffee and some intellectual natter. But we advise against stepping in with a raring appetite. Read full review. +