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252 north bridge road raffles city shopping centre #B1-44f
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Telephone: (65) 6333-5886
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Restaurants » Japanese, Deli & Cafe
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Green tea has been an obsession of Singaporeans since the introduction of it being a product for health began some years ago. How good it really is? Nobody really knows, it can be a myth, such as milk being really a by product which was overstocked and hence the "Got Milk?" campaign or maybe it does have wonderful healing properties. The bottom line is, nobody lives long enough to really understand it, do we? Anyhow, sorry for rambling, i met up with LIC one night for his first ever food outing which he organized. And the following is what we had.
First off, thank you LIC for organizing the event. Though there is still room for improvement, the general idea was a success. Good stuff.
O Cha cha is a green tea concept cafe located in the basement of Raffles City shopping center. Given its prime location, the cafe itself is rather small with a definite emphasis on space maximization. Tables and chairs were the generic plastic version with a clean overall look, there were cushion seats as well but as usual, its in short supply.
Complimentary chips - Seaweed crackers, always a welcome sight. I suspect they are Calbee potato chips but i may be wrong.
Matcha Rocks ($4.95) - Chilled green tea with sugar will sum this up. Its light and too sweet for my tastes. Can't imagine paying a premium price for this actually.
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95) - Chilled green tea with sugar and milk. Now why didn't i think of this item myself? Anyway, it has a heavier taste compared to its prior cousin and is also too sweet as well.
Shiitake Mushroom soup - The shittake mushroom soup reminds me of renditions in Eden cafe with the exception that there's cream thrown into the mix. The result is a soup reminiscent of campbells but with more mushroom bits thrown in. To its merit, the soup was filled with mushroom bits however, to its detriment, it was too salty.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) - The size of this sandwich is rather consoling given the price. In fact, i'd gladly pay the money for it. The egg was done nicely and had a slight sweetness given off by the egg. Light and easily likable. Who can resist a simple egg sandwich? Not I says me.
Azuki Freezie ($6.90) - When i saw the drink, i was thinking: " oh my, another green tea?" But thankfully, this one was pretty good. Green tea with sugar/milk and crushed ice. Creativity never fails to amaze me. Either way, the drink was freezing cold and hit the spot for my sugar tooth this time around.
Salad With Orange Dressing - Something the boss added as a last minute item to the menu. Going for the same price, i'd normally rake in the praises for something free and healthy but would have to refrain from it this time. The salad itself is no contest, after all, how bad can salad be? The dressing is another story. Sour, saltish and totally unapalatable, it made me miss how normal salads should taste like. This is something no one should order....period.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90) - Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) - More sandwiches! The bread is the same, lightly toasted and buttered on the inside and soft on the outside. The only difference is in the stuffings which are basically wasabi laced tuna and smoked salmon. For what its worth, i liked them both. The wasabi with tuna is a no brainer winner because i simply love sniffing from the wasabi. The salmon was salty and smoked enough to leave a distinctive aftertaste which was enjoyable.
Macha Financier ($2.90) - The financier is simply a fancy name given to a simple dessert. It tastes like green tea tutu kueh with a crispy crust. There's a thin layer of sugar coated atop each financier to add to the taste but i didn't find anything noteworthy.
Macha Azuki ($4.90) - This dessert is significantly better then the Financier. Of particular mention is the red bean paste layer which made the otherwise green tea overloaded dessert bearable. Somehow, the red bean managed to contrast enough and add texture to the dessert for a more satisfying mouthful.
Macha Cotton ($2.90) - Another green tea cake dessert with an additional layer of whipped cream given. Nothing much else i can say apart from the cake being exceptionally fluffy and soft.
Macha Panna Cotta ($4.90) - By this dessert, i've had enough green tea to swear off it forever but still soldiered on to finish it. Smooth, soft and creamy with a balanced green tea taste, this turned out to be rather pleasant.
Macha Latte ($4.80) - Finally, the last item is a macha latte. Hot green tea with sugar and milk which surprisingly, turned out to be the best item i had that night simply because, its hot and served to wash everything down that came before it.
Too much of a good thing really does ruin the taste. Green tea taken by itself is decent but add all te additional stuff and it loses its purpose. The true green tea experience is one that borders on the art of serving and drinking. This version is more towards the younger fast food and Starbucks generation which probably likes the sugar in it. The sandwiches weren't half bad though.
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17 Jul 2008 at 1:08 am
31
Ladyironchef had a food gathering with a special sampler menu at Ochacha. We got to try nearly everything - in smaller portions.
Soup: Shitake Mushroom Soup and Tomato Soup. I liked the tomato soup because it was very tangy, and full of chewy bits of vegatables, but I found it slightly too salty. The mushroom soup was thick and creamy, with lots and lots of shitake mushroom bits. However, there was a slight bitter after taste (prob due to the mushroom).
We had small shots (actual size much bigger) of the following: Matcha Rocks ($4.95) is slightly sweetened cold green tea, and there is really alot of green tea powder inside - there was a thick layer of sediment on the bottom of mine.
My favourite was the Ochacha Rocks ($4.95), which green tea with milk in good proportions such that neither the milk or green tea overpowers the other. People who like milk will enjoy this.
The Azuki Freezie ($6.50) is green tea, milk and azuki beans. I think of the azuki beans as a healthier alternative to the pearls in bubble tea, cos it gives you something to bite on while drinking. What I liked about the drinks was that they are not too sweet and thus taste very refreshing. I suppose that the more health conscious people who love their green tea and antioxidents will like it too.
The sandwiches we had: Sakura Egg ($4.80), Wasabi Tuna ($5.90) and Salmon Furikake ($5.90). I enjoyed the salmon furikake the most, perhaps because there was a interesting Jap twist to the usual boring smoked salmon sandwich in the form of the furikake powder (seaweed, sesame seeds, fish flakes etc). I wasn't very impressed by the sakura egg since I don't really like eating egg sandwiches, and there was just a sprinkling of sakura powder, which I couldn't really taste very well. I found the wasabi in the wasabi tuna sandwich too strong, and it kept going up my nose. As you can tell, I don't like wasabi (unless it's the freshly grated kind). If you are a wasabi fan, you'll probably like this since the wasabi is reall very strong. The bread was nicely toasted and it was very fresh and soft on the inside. I think that the salmon furikake is much more worth it than Delifrance's sandwiches for the same cafe style dining and pricing.
Onto the best part of the dinner: DESSERTS :) Matcha Financier ($2.90) is this quite thin, half cake half biscuit dessert which I think is very small (volume wise) for the price. It's based on a French recipe, and modified by adding the green tea powder. The good point about this is that it's very well made, with the crispiness on the bottom and sides, and the green tea taste is very strong. I'll eat this very willingly and happily if it were free, but not if I had to buy it for $2.90.
Green Tea Panna Cotta ($4.90) was served last, and a good thing too because it's really creamy and heavy. The consistency is more like mousse, and if I weren't so stuffed, I would have liked it better. Diminishing returns indeed.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90), which isgenerously sprinkled with lots of green tea powder. Green tea and azuki beans make a great combination for desserts! I really like the intense colour that the green tea gives the sponge layers.
My favourite dessert of the day was Matcha Cotton ($2.90) which is a Japanese style cotton cake but with green tea. It reminds me of the cotton cake at Tampopo, just that it has green tea and copious amounts of decadent fresh cream. The cake itself is very light and fluffy. I think it's quite worth the $2.90 pricing (even if it's mostly air, it appears big and impressions make a big difference ;) I will definitely come back to eat this:D The dinner ended on a pleasant note with the Ochacha Latte. It's the warm version of the Ochacha Rocks. By this time, I couldn't taste if it was sweet or unsweetened cos we just ate all the desserts, and there were many diminishing returns.
There's a variation of the Ochacha Latte called the Ochacha Silk, which comes with soyamilk instead of milk. I think that it's a very good idea since most Asians, especially Chinese are lactose intolerant.
Overall, I will recommend Ochacha for desserts, as well as a great place to sit and chill with a healthier, less sugary drink. AND you have to enjoy green tea - which is the whole idea of going to this place :)
Please do not attempt this place if you hate the concept of coffeebean/starbucks (expensive drinks). And if you really don't like green tea...
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Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!your first post!! more to come! : )
19 May 2008 at 2:38 am
May I know where did you derive that most Asians, especially Chinese, are lactose intolerent? :)
19 May 2008 at 11:13 am
hey! welcome to yebber! yap yap! i'm sure more to come!
19 May 2008 at 1:42 pm
301
First Visit 25th Feb
OChaCha, the matcha latte people
At OChaCha, they specialise in matcha, the premium green tea served in traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. O-Cha means green tea in Japanese and Cha is tea in Chinese, as tea orginates from the chinese. Hence OChaCha is the coming together of different cultures & they hope that there will be many coming together of friends over cups of matcha latte.
OChaCha quest for good tea brought them all over the world, they found that while tea is very much part of our eastern culture, it is not considered cool or hip. Yet tea is part of our heritage - tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor Shen Nong in the year 2700 B.C! What’s more, the health benefits of C-Cha are simply amazing. OChaCha is determined to make it fun and cool to drink O-Cha!
So OChaCha is all about marrying tradition and modern technology; of great tastes & healthy drinks; of simply being different. So be cool, be hip, be discerning, be kind to your body. Be one of the Matcha Latte People!
The new basement of Raffles City saw many additional of tenants to the place, one of which is OChaCha. My buddy & I were wandering around when we saw OChaCha, it was rather empty, but being kaypoh people, we ventured into the cafe and did not regret ever since.
A chat with the friendly female boss Miss Lee Yin Siau (or rather she call herself everybody’s boss) we find out that OChaCha just opened for business at Raffles City for two weeks only, thus the emptiness of the place.
After we got seated a while, customers start to come in, i guess its only human nature, people are afraid to go into a place that has no one, but starts to rush into the place when there is crowd.
My buddy made his orders while i did not have anything partly because i was full from my lunch at Tuckshop, and partly I must admit green tea does not appeals to me. Miss Lee chatted with us and explained her concept for OChaCha, which impressed me, and i decided to support her by ordering food to try out.
There are many types of different matcha, from the Matcha Latte Hot, to Matcha On the rock which is chilled latted as well as the ice-blended Matcha Freezzie. There is also two chocolate drinks for anti-matcha people. To go with these great drinks, there are also savoury sandwiches, quiches & pies, matcha slices, matcha cakes and many more.
OChaCha Mond ($5.35) This is the main character of the show. OChaCha matcha latte almond, there isn’t a very strong green tea taste, but the fragrance of the matcha is evident in the smell of it. I don’t really fancy drinking green tea, but after drinking it, i feel that its rather good, not like the usual green tea. Well, OChaCha is great news for non-green tea lovers like me.
Furitake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Furitake gives an added crunch to the taste. The Furitake Salmon Sandwich comes with fresh garden salad topped with Japanese citrus dressing & nori-flavoured chips. I like the bread, it was suprisingly soft when we make the bite into it. Even without any ingredient, i think the bread can be eaten on its own. Nevertheless, this makes a good meal for the Salmon lovers out there.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) I like this one! Sakura denbu perks up the dish. Similarly as of the other sandwich, there is salad greens and chips as sides. The Sakura Egg Sandwich may look ordinary, but eaten together, it is very yummy. Who says ordinary dish can’t be extraordinary in taste?
For sandwiches, there are only three different types of sandwiches, with the other being wasabi tuna sandwich. When asked why isn’t there more variety, Miss Lee simply replied, “we do what we are best at, Matcha! ” That certainly make a impression on me, the direction of OChaCha is not just to make money, they want to bring good tea to the public.
Spong Cotton ($2.90) This is on the house, courtesy of Miss Lee. However, being a free item should not affect the judgement of the food, the green tea spongcake was extremely soft, there is a layer of cream within the centre of the cake. I can’t have enough of the cake! A trip back to try the other cakes look to be high on the priority list.
Total Bill comes up to $15.05 (excluding the $2.90 for the spong cake). There is no GST or service charge, and the warm welcome by Miss Lee and her staff do shows that there is hope for the falling-standards of the service industry in Singapore.
Initially, i was skeptical about the place because I’m not a fan of green tea. Despite that, OChaCha won me over, and I must say my perception of green tea has been changed greatly. The next time in a cafe, rather than a cup of coffee or soft drink, drink OChaCha Matcha instead!
Both of us sat inside the cafe for roughly two hours, sipping matcha latte and savouring the sandwiches, OChaCha is a great place to hang out and chill with your friends. The next time you go to Raffles City, rather than the coffee cafes, give OChaCha a try!
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my geniune feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or bias. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” The Green Tea of Starbucks “
Second Visit 8th May
A friend and I went down to O Cha Cha last week after i got my DSLR, we went to discuss the menu with Ochacha’s boss Miss Lee Yin Siau.
From left anticlockwise, is Mr.Ochacha Mondo, on its right is our friend Miss Matcha Panna Cotta, and followed by Ochacha Rocks, and the top is Gyokuro.
Gyokuro uses the same tea leave made into Matcha, just that the whole tea leave is being use for Gyokuro which is evident inside the tea.
Say hello to Ochacha Rocks! He rocks all righty! There’s also Matcha Azuki at the left background of the picture!
And Miss Matcha Panna Cotta!
Please click here to see the pictures for my second visit
Third Visit 13th May ladyironchef’s Food Event Outing at Ochacha!
A total of 20 people graced the event, with bloggers, readers of LIC’s blog, and their friends joining us for the green tea appreciation at Ochacha.
There was supposed to be more, about 15 more, but they all last minute had something on, anyway 20’s a big number, considering it’s LIC first time organising an event.
Dinner was supposed to start at 730pm, but you know Singaporeans tend to come late, so we actually started the ball rolling at 8pm.
Ochacha’s boss Miss lee arranged her cafe and gave us half the space, so thankful for that.
The menu is as follow :
Drinks: Matcha Rocks, Azuki Freezie, Ochacha Rocks, Ochacha latte or ochacha silk (3 cold and choice of 1 warm)
Soup: Shiitake Mushroom or tomato soup
Sandwiches: Sakura Egg, Wasabi Tuna, Furikake Salmon
Desserts: Matcha Cotton, Matcha Azuki, Financier, Matcha Panna Cotta
Its $17.50 per person to try the wide range of items in this menu. For all the food i’ll be putting the normal price beside it.
And apparently our ladies like green tea more than guys, hence the bigger differential in the numbers.
Complimentary chips
The chips were on the house, for our hungry guests before everyone turned up
Salad The salad was also not included in our original menu. Miss lee thought that it will be better if there are some greens to go along with.
From left to right: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie
Matcha Rocks ($4.95) Chilled Matcha with sugar (no milk). I think most people preferred the Matcha Rocks one to Ochacha rocks which has milk
Ochacha Rocks ($4.95) Chilled Matcha Latte. The Ochacha rocks is the middle one, coming with milk, its a lighter shade of green than the Matcha Rocks
Azuki Freezie ($6.50) Ice blended matcha with azuki (Jap red beans). I believe the Azuki Freezie won quite a number of fan tonight, it stood out with the matcha taste on ice blend.
Please be reminded that what you are seeing are shooters, not the actual size of the drinks. The prices indicated are for the normal size.
Shiitake Mushroom soup I think quite a number of people found the shiitake mushroom soup to be a tad too salty for their tastebuds.
Tomato soup The tomato soup is more on the sweet and soup side. It really depends whether you are a fan of tomato and soup or not. I’m not a soup person though.
Sakura Egg Sandwich ($4.80) The sakura egg sandwich is still my favourite among the three sandwiches at Ochacha. See here for the picture of the normal size sandwich on my last visit.
Wasabi Tuna Sandwich ($5,90) Wasabi (spicy!!) tuna mayo fills up the delicious bread. This is my first time trying this, on the previous visit i had only the egg and the salmon ones.
For the wasabi tuna sandwich, i like tuna, but i don’t like wasabi.
Furikake Salmon Sandwich ($5.90) Smoked salmon with Japanese seaweed. I had the Furikake Salmon sandwich on my previous visit too.
The Japanese seaweed added the salty aspect to flavor the salmon, but i found it to be a tad on the salty side.
Matcha Financier ($2.90) French cake named after its shape like gold bar. The Matcha Financier did not disappoint, but then again i could be bias as i’m totally a dessert person.
Matcha Azuki ($4.90) Layered matcha cake with azuki beans & cream. The Matcha Azuki totally rock my world, the usage of azuki red beans gave the matcha cake a sweet twist.
I had this on my second visit too!
Matcha Cotton ($2.90) Fluffy Japanese souffle cake with fresh cream in the center. The extremly soft sponge matcha cake simply melts in the mouth!
Matcha Panna Cotta ($4.90) Italian creamy dessert with matcha flavor. This dessert had mixed reviews, some didn’t like it and found it to be too soft for a panna cotta, while others adored it and find the soft texture, coupled with the matcha flavor a delight to have.
Again this shows that taste is subjective, what some might like, others might not like.
Ochacha Latte ($4.80) or Ochacha Silk ($4.80) Hot matcha latte & soy milk with matcha. We had the choice of either one for our warm green tea.
Total Bill was $350 for 20 people ($17.50 fixed price for each person). For $17.50, i think its definitely a very good price as we got to try out a whole wide range of green tea, sandwiches and desserts.
Please click here to see ALL the pictures taken during LIC food outing on the third visit
See you all at the next LIC food outing, it’ll be soon : )
- 7 more comments »
Login to add your comment. Or, Register for an account now. It's free!Gotta try out the food there soon!
25 Feb 2008 at 9:34 pm
hahah! u never go my blog leave comment one : ((
25 Feb 2008 at 9:49 pm
Looks like there's alot of things waiting for me at Raffles City!
25 Feb 2008 at 11:14 pm