My favorite bitch and I decided to visit Woodshed on Deepavali because we finally have a common free day, and we had some work to complete. Woodshed is known for its nice ambience, with free wifi and power points. This sounds like a dream come true for most students, right? Good atmosphere, free wifi and power points, what more can we ask for? Oh, maybe the quality of food. Hence, we’ve decided to make a trip down to check this place out.
Woodshed 204, is located at 204 Rangoon road, a 5-7 minutes walk from Farrer Park MRT station. Its location may be a bane for the cafe owners, as people who are looking for some where to grab a bite around the area, would go pass La Coffee, Old Hen Coffee, Jewel Cafe, Founder’s Bak Kut Teh, before reaching Woodshed. By then, they may have been drawn to their fellow counterparts along Rangoon Road. However, what distinguishes them from the rest, is also their location, in my opinion. Since they are located at the end of Rangoon Road, it feels quieter and more peaceful there. The interior of the cafe is much more spacious and exudes a more relaxing atmosphere than any of the mentioned cafes above. It is certainly a good place to be if you wanna chill, or get some work done.
The Ambience
The cafe has an inviting exterior, playing with the simple black-and-white contrast for the header and wooden borders, giving off clean and modern vibes. From the outside, you would be able to see that there are a couple of comfortable seats out in the front, where people are lounging while having their coffee. As you proceed into the cafe, you would be greeted with a relatively narrow passage where the cake display and coffee machine are, before the large cafe space bursts in front of your eyes. They have nice, big sofa seats for the big groups at the back of the cafe, and also comfortable wooden chairs for all the other diners. A bookshelf with magazines is also available, which would provide good entertainment for anyone while waiting for their orders.
As you can tell, I am not very good with my descriptions in words, so we shall let the pictures do the talking. This time I remembered to snap pictures of the cafe!
The exterior of the cafe. Such an exterior is indeed a draw for people like me, because I love how simple, yet stylish it is.
The wall paintings you can find around the cafe. Oh and I forgot to mention that this place has a couple of good looking paintings hung on its walls as well. We understand from one of its owners, Jackie (or Jacky), who used to be an artist manager, that it is from one of the artists he worked with.
Here are the comfortable seats and bookshelf I mentioned. A really spacious area, and the tables are well positioned as they are not too close together, giving diners the privacy they need. The large group tables are also placed at the back of the cafe, which was a good strategy to manage the noise levels of the cafe as we all know that it can get really loud with large groups of diners.
The Food
We were not very impressed with the service provided when we first arrived at the cafe, because the 3 cafe owners seemed to be pre-occupied with their own work. We actually had to help ourselves with the menu, and place our orders on our own as we were not able to get any of their attention despite sitting quite close to the counter. Besides, we had to get our own condiments and water, which by the way, were almost empty. With so much self-service involved, we felt that the 10% service charge that we have to pay was certainly not justified, at all. Hence, we started our dining experience really grouchily.
We ordered a Smoked salmon salad, Truffle Fries, Chocolate Tart and Rainbow Cake. Before coming to Woodshed, I was really excited to try their rainbow cake because its chocolate version look so good on my instagram feed all the time, however they only served the regular cream cheese version on that day, which made me a little sad. Hahaha!
Smoked Salmon Salad ($13.50+): As usual, I was a diner of little faith, and expected really small portions of smoked salmon in the salad, especially since we already had a not-so-good impression of the cafe. However, they proved me wrong by serving up generous portions of smoked salmon, which does not look like much in the picture, but were actually really huge slices when you unroll them. A simple dish that wouldn’t go wrong, rocket leaves with balsamic dressing and a good portion of smoked salmon definitely makes a happy diner.
Truffle Fries ($9+): A rather expensive price tag for truffle fries. However, we decided to go ahead to order it because I have seen reviews raving about how good their truffle fries were. We were definitely not disappointed. Even though the fries were glistening in oil, which may be quite a turn off to many others, the aroma of truffle was whiffing into our noses every second, and the taste of truffle was apparent in every fry we took. Besides, the portion was HUGE as well, and I think it’s definitely worth every cent we paid for it.
Chocolate Tart ($6.50+): We ordered a chocolate tart because we love crusts. This chocolate tart was well-balanced. The chocolate was rich, yet it was not too sweet. The crust was thick enough and it was really, a very satisfying dessert as it was not too filling and it definitely did satisfy our tart cravings!
Rainbow cake ($8.50+): Hmmm.. Since I’ve been on a quest for rainbow cakes, and have had quite a number of them, I guess this was rather average. What made it different from the rest was the hint of zest in its cream cheese. A delicate number, which makes it less boring to have it, especially if you have to finish the entire slice on your own. Not too bad of a rainbow cake!
This is the version I thought was a very artistic version of the rainbow cake, and I’m determined to take the subsequent pictures of my rainbow cake like this. Hahaha!
We hung around there for quite a while, and we were suddenly presented with a cup of latte, which took us by surprise. We then realized that the coffee was on the house, and Jackie, one of the 3 owners, was really excited to let us have a taste of his latte, as well as a special latte, that both of us failed to make a guess of its flavor. The aroma was just so familiar, yet we just can’t put a finger to the name, and it turned out to be a coconut flavored latte. Super cool! Jackie was also really friendly and he shared with us about the operations of the cafe, and answered some of our questions, which I thought was very sincere and nice of him to entertain us like this. The negative impression we had about their service was replaced by this nice little gesture from him, and I guess that’s what they mean by a little goes a long way.
Closing Remarks
The food at Woodshed may not stand out from the rest of the cafes, because they serve up a relatively simple and common fare. Jacky has introduced us to their signature dish of baked eggs in ham cups and waffles (!!!), which I would try the next time I visit them. The service may be slow, because they are quite short handed, however, I feel that the ambience of the cafe makes up for all the shortcomings that this relatively new cafe has. Besides, I haven’t had the chance to try out their signature dishes, and I will definitely be back to try and update this post with my thoughts!
They may have a lot to work on and develop, in terms of their food offerings and manpower, however, not all cafes give you the luxury of space like this to chill, and also free wifi and power points for your laptops and phones. It is certainly a place for me to go if I am looking for a cafe to hang out over a good cup of coffee and dessert, or if I have some work to do. Even though they may not have a great variety of food to offer, they have a good base to work upon and I see potential in the success of this cafe, as this area seems like the next Jalan Besar to be, with new cafes sprouting out every now and then. Oh before I forget, Woodshed opens till 11pm on weekends, and it’s definitely a place for you if you are looking for a late night hangout after dinner!
How to get there
204 Rangoon Road
S218451
5 minutes walk from Farrer park MRT exit B. Just walk straight down to the end of Rangoon Road.
Opening hours
Let me end off with a picture of me hard at work at taking pictures of the food.
[…] definitely a place you should look at if you wanna find somewhere quiet to mug at! Review here! Woodshed 204 204 Rangoon Rd, Singapore 218451 Tue – Thu: 12:00 pm – 10:00 pm Fri: […]