Kopi O Kaya
My friend and I embarked on a bit of an adventure to find this unusual tea shop, tucked away in the corner entrance of what was formerly known as Orchard Point – or Orchard OG, as some people call it. The shop offers a unique concept: tea served as frozen cubes suspended in cold milk, accompanied by a selection of Chinese pastries. Originating from Yunnan, this tea and pastry establishment is arguably unlike any other in Singapore. We both chose the S$5.90 tea set, which included a choice of iced tea and pastry. We opted for Hong Kong-style milk tea (港式奶茶) and a rose-pine nut pastry (玫瑰花宋仁酥). The milk tea arrived as a solid cube of frozen Chinese oolong tea submerged in cold milk. My friend remarkably finished all the milk before the ice had completely melted. Even then, we both found the resulting diluted tea acceptable; the tea flavour remained discernible and wasn't excessively weak. After twenty minutes, a significant portion of the tea ice cube remained unmelted, leading us to speculate, perhaps jokingly, about the possibility of artificial ice being used. However, the rose-pine nut pastry was a considerable disappointment. The pastry crust was overly thick, containing a disappointingly small and sparse filling. The pastry itself was also rather small. While pleasantly mild in sweetness, the rose flavour was disappointingly subtle. Unless a compelling offer, such as a buy-one-get-one-free promotion, is introduced, it's unlikely that my friend and I will revisit this establishment.
