The season of love is upcoming and we’ve been preparing for it since last year.

Our chefs and I have been working at coming up with something unique and no less delicious for this Valentine’s and you can have a look at our special 5-course set for $79.90++ per couple.

We usually feature only images of the mains on the promo page, so that wouldn’t do justice to the dessert just getting a text label. Hence, as this post is aptly titled, we’re gonna show you the sweetest part of the meal to round up an evening with your loved one! (the evening at our restaurant that is, we’re sure some die-hard romantics out there would adjourn to the seaside or kent ridge park just nearby…)

Anyway, here’s something to feast your eyes on…

…and your taste buds if you pop by on 14th Feb!
This was an informal shot taken during the dessert trial session… minutes before being gobbled up by our poor guinea pigs rounded up from the EB family… ah, the chores of working here… haha! =)

Hazelnut Mousse Cake with Berryfruit Sorbet

It’s a delectably smooth chocolate hazelnut mousse topped with a velvety layer of chocolate ganache, accompanied by a tulip-shaped dollop of tangy Berryfruit sorbet ice cream

Drool-worthy? You decide… (drop us a comment yeah)

Interestingly, our new supervisor asked me if I’ve had professional training from Shatec. Well, everyone who knows me probably would’ve heard this; the answer’s always the same: “I’ve been cooking and baking this I was this height!” (putting my hand flat out at a level just below the table-top)

Ok, back to preparing for the big day!

Yes, we know its been a long looooong time but it’s back now!

To all fans of our Melva Focaccia sandwich, we’re glad to announce that after a long leave of absence, our lil’l breaded friend has popped back onto the menu

(ok, actually he’s been back since the later part of last year, but we realized we didn’t make a loud enough shout-out then. So as promised - and requested by many fans -, we’re here to make sure the message gets to everyone… well, hopefully, so help spread the word)

For the full story of where Melva went… read on…

One fine day, the guys who send us our truckloads of nice round and chubby Focaccia buns decided that they’ve had enough baking for a while… so without a companion, off to holiday Melva went (…perhaps to search for his friend in Greece or Italy… buon appetito!)

So, we had to search for other guys with hats like these to knead us a new bun! Actually, the search didn’t take long but getting the guys to make Melva a new companion with just the right amount of chubbiness, the right flavor and to come in the right shape took months.

Thankfully, now Melva’s got a great new companion and even a few more, Striploin Swizzle from New Zealand and Rouge Deluxe from Norway!

So that ends our little story and do check out our new Sandwich offerings here!

Happie Burfdae Eve!

Hope you had a fun time with us at EB! It was a pleasure hosting your party and hope to see you and your friends again soon!

Came across your profile at Friendster

Do post some of your party pics at our picture gallery!

Yeah… I still remember the almost weekly recipe testing session we had. We were trying out almost any tea recipe we could get our hands on as well as inventing some of our very own to experiment with. Eventually some of these recipes found their way into our menu, some didn’t, but well we had a whole lot of fun messing up the kitchen while conceptualising and finetuning the idea for the restaurant at the same time. And of course at the end of each session, what better way to end than to have our special brew of premium chinese tea to round up the day! There’s lots more that we went through just to get to the menu that we present to customers now but definitely, we kept most of the old drinks (they remain favourites till now!) and we’re still constantly experimenting and recreating new drinks. (like lingerin’ angel and summer peach - both added not long ago, but are now among the favourites!)

And of course not forgetting the food! Most people have the idea that tea is only meant for drinking but why not try cooking with tea? That is how we came out with the brainwave of tea-infused cuisine. Since we already love drinking tea, why not put it into food as well? We started with the idea of bite-sized easy to eat kind of fingerfood and appetizers(those you can pick up easily with a pair of chopsticks) to go with our tea. But as you can see, its now expanded to include a whole range of main courses as well. The process was not smooth sailing definitely, and many a times we had to meet up with our kitchen pros! Dish by dish, each was slowly perfected then implemented! One of my personal favourites is still the grilled tofu steak with its fragrant aroma of jasmine tea! (for those who’ve had this before, i’m sure you’re nodding your head in agreement right now:D)

Do you have your own favourite tea recipe to share? or a favourite drink or dish to proclaim:)? Do drop us a tag!

Something we’re all extremely accustomed to when meeting someone for the first time, is to shake, greet and introduce ourselves - but of course you knew that! However, there’s more… it’s never complete and a conversation can never start until someone asks: “So, whadya do?”

Seems like it’s such an instinctive part of us to need to know the famous Ws; who’s the new face we just met? which school did he study in? where’s she working at now? what music do you like? So as it is, EB has been around for about 2 and a 1/2 years till today and much as we’ve made our lil’l handshakes with many out there, it seems our humble little story of how we came about has faded down memory lane…

It all conceived with a little spark that got things brewing in our minds. A good buddy of mine and I were exchanging ideas one day in early 2003 and the topic landed on tea, a drink we both enjoyed. At that point, what crossed our minds was not just the health benefits and history of this drink but also an opportunity to introduce it to others in a way never or hardly done so before.

We knew introducing tea solely in it’s traditional form wouldn’t garner much following since the idea only conjures images of an older generation brewing the drink with old tea pots or Victorian ladies sipping afternoon tea. Hence, we came up with an idea to build a lifestyle lounge concept around it.

This was when my 4 partners and I came together and brainstormed on how to make our idea into reality. We all used to be classmates from the same alma mater where entrepreneurship was an idea preached about and advocated even during the school assemblies. Probably seems that’s why we all gravitated towards the same direction.

…after a year plus of planning, recipe testing and messing around my home kitchen every weekend in between work or studies, we finally conceptualized the idea into a soon-to-be-reality, Essential Brew! (Actually, that wasn’t our original name but I’ll save that for another day) =)

We then set out to achieve a few simple goals: To introduce the wonders of Tea, sharing the knowledge and enjoyment of it, by offering an easy approach to appreciate the drink through our modern blends and cozy concept. To offer only good quality products, and delighting our patrons through warm and friendly service.

Essential Brew opened its doors on 6th July 2004, without any fanfare or ribbon cutting ceremonies, but just by warmly welcoming our very first customers who happened to chance by our place along with loved ones and friends who came to support.

Welcome to Essential Brew’s blog!

We’ll be sharing on the latest happenings, promotions, launch parties and a bit more into who we are!

So, pop by every once in a while to find out what’s brewing in our lil’l cozy tea place @ Holland Village