Nesuto – Tras Street

New to the Tras Street neighbourhood is Nesuto, a patisserie affiliated with Shuu; the same folks that had brought us those irresistibly oozy and incredibly filled choux puffs at KOKI Tamagoyaki in Raffles City.

Unlike Shuu where their choux puffs are sold alongside the tamagoyaki range at KOKI Tamagoyaki’s kiosk at Raffles City, Nesuto is a full-fledged patisserie with dine-in seating available. Decked out in dainty colours and elements, some of the walls are painted pastel pink while a feature wall is painted with a mural of flowers that is relaxing yet carrying a modern chic design for the interior of the cafe. We visited Nesuto during the soft launch; there are still quite a number of fittings that are not installed such as the POS system and temporary tables are used as they await the arrival of the actual tables to be used for the cafe. The soft launch menu features a variety of entremet cakes and sliced cakes, while Nesuto is only serving a list of tea blends by an:tea social alongside for beverages.

(Suzette)

Looking at the description of the cakes, we decided to share the Suzette. The Suzette is a cake that carries elements such as Vanilla Bavaroise, Ivoire 35% Grand Marnier Creameux, Orange Caramel and Santiago Tart. While the list of ingredients suggests a rather strong tasting cake, the flavours are surprisingly light here; while each of the element is still prominent, all of them come together harmoniously as something soothing rather than a cake with stark contrasts of its elements trying to outshine one another. The Orange Caramel and Ivoire 35% Grand Marnier Creameux gives off a mellow, tangy and a lightly alcoholic flavour, while the Vanilla Bavaroise helps to neutralise the flavours out with a hint of aroma of vanilla. At the same time, the Satntiago Tart lying beneath adds an interesting touch of almond to the other elements of the cake; the entire cake carries a smooth, consistent texture that despite its lightness, was a delight to have; perhaps even invoking a dreamy touch with every morsel.

(Blush Berry)

We also ordered the Blush Berry to share; an entremet that contains elements such as Greek Yogurt Mousse, Raspberry Compote, Ivoire 35% Blondie and Vanilla Puff Rice Crunch. The egg-shaped cake comes coated with a layer of white chocolate on the exterior; it delightfully cracks open as the fork touches the cake to reveal the greek yoghurt mousse within as it encases all the other elements inside. Unlike the Suzette, the Blush Berry carries multiple textures with more stark flavour contrasts. For instance, the raspberry compote was more of a jelly-like consistency, while the vanilla puff crunch certainly puts a crunch to the entire cake, though perhaps could be made less stiff so as to achieve a slightly more coherent consistency to the rest of the cake (it required a little bit more effort for us to slice into the Vanilla Punch Rice Crunch layer). Flavour-wise, the raspberry compote adds a zingy flavour to the entremet that gives the cake a little bit more contrast in comparison to the mousse and rice crunch layers; more for those who prefer cakes with a fruity touch especially with the use of berries.

(Dong Ding Tea)

According to the menu, both the Blush Berry and Suzette are best paired with the Dong Ding tea blend by an:tea social; a Taiwanese Oolong tea with a medium roast. The tea works well with both of the cakes; it provided a roasty, nutty and earthy tones with a clean finish that pretty cleansed the palate in between morsels of both cakes.

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Nesuto is in its soft launch phase during our visit, and it is pretty evident that some of the fittings have yet to be installed. That being said, the decor of Nesuto seems to be well-designed with the area in mind, providing a clean yet modern and chic setting that is bound to catch the attention of office ladies in the area, especially with the usage of pastel, floral and gold elements in its decor. The cakes do look the part, though there is still room for improvement for the texture of the cakes, in particular, to be more refined; the use of a white chocolate shell rather than a smooth ganache/glaze for the entremet was pretty fine with us but we are not sure if it would be something that others might agree to. Nesuto can also look into shaping their current line of cakes with a slightly different mould to create a different identity and character for every cake in the range; the current range sees quite a number of cakes with similar physical attributes being offered concurrently. That being said, Nesuto is a spot that has a potential to succeed; the cakes are pretty decent currently but would definitely do better with more focus placed on refining their recipes over time, as well as giving their cakes slightly more of an individual character that makes them unique to stand out from one another. Would be looking forward to the items that they would be rolling out in the future!

Nesuto
53 Tras Street
Singapore 078992

Web Page: http://www.dear-nesuto.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dear.nesuto/