A part of the Papa Palheta speciality coffee experience, Loysel’s Toy is an unassuming cafe buried deep in the woods of Lavender. Situated next to Kallang Riverside Park, it enjoys a view of foliage and the occasional breeze. As it’s fairly small (I’d say maybe about 20 tables) and basically the only F&B joint on ground level in that entire area, Loysel’s Toy is nice and quiet, with a relaxed, hip vibe.

As I was previously working in that area, I’d been to Loysel’s maybe about 8 to 10 times, sometimes for food but usually for midday perk-me-ups.

The coffee is as one would expect of a gourmet variety – the Iced Latte ($5.50) was strong and provided a good kick – great for coffee lovers but maybe not so great for the masses who love flavoured coffee, as they don’t do that here. The most ‘fun’ flavour you can hope for is a mocha (for which by the way, the coffee taste comes through clearly as well).

And thankfully, this coffee joint has some good things to eat too. I had somewhat mixed feelings about the food though. On one hand, the Crabmeat Linguine ($15) was absolutely delicious, with nice sweet and savoury tomato sauce and big chunks of crabmeat and a smattering of herbs, but on the other, the Smoked Duck Salad ($10) while refreshing with chunks of fresh orange, was merely so-so and a pretty small portion as well. The portions for the salads I feel are not really sufficient as a meal – the Classic Caesar Salad ($9) in the next picture was also quite insubstantial. It would do fine as a starter though, coming with a well poached egg oozing with yolky goodness.

The Big Breakfast ($15) was quite enjoyable, but pretty normal really – the roasted tomato and sauteed mushrooms were yummy, but the bacon could be crispier. The tapioca chips added a different sort of flavour and texture to the dish though, which I quite liked.

The pastries were actually rather good – I had the giant Almond Crossiant (forgot the price but think it was around $4) with an iced Americano for afternoon tea and it was a pleasing treat. If you don’t have a sweet tooth there’s a chance you might not like this – but overall I was happy that it packed a good, almondy crunch that was slightly sweet on the tongue. And the Lemon Tart ($5) was tangy but not too tart, and surprisingly very delightful on the palate. Oh and if you’re not a fan of coffee, the old fashioned iced tea is very refreshing and nice – green tea with lemon and lime, complete with smashed ice.

I’ve heard that the sandwiches are pretty alright as well, though they apparently tend to lay on the bread a bit too much. Well, this place is worth a shot if you like coffee and chill places to hang out at – a word of caution though, I did say it is small – so it’s quite possible that a trip down might not yield results in the way of a nice comfortable seat in the air-conditioned interior or even the main outdoor ventilated area. Be prepared to wait or sit at the back of the cafe, which is a small area that doesn’t have any view whatsoever.

The people at HGW seem to be torn on their opinions of this place too.

Good coffee and decent food though, worth a shot!

Loysel’s Toy
66 Kampong Bugis, #01-02
Singapore 338987
Tel: +65 6292 2306
http://www.loyselstoy.com

Open from 9am to 6pm on Tuesday to Friday
9am to 7.30pm on weekends, and closed on Mondays