PARIS: Telescope cafe

Call them what you like - patisseries, boulangeries, cafes - they are so common in Paris that visiting one would be as cliche as visiting the Eiffel Tower. The Parisians seem to know this all too well and an unsuspecting tourist may end up paying an exorbitant amount for tasteless coffee or a skimpy crepe. Telescope cafe seems to defy all norms when it comes to the cafes that populate central Paris. 

After a morning of cycling around Paris with a tour guide who was amusingly enthusiastic about her food, we were bestowed with a sacred list of restaurants, cafes and streets compiled every year by the tour guides. These were their favourite haunts and completely unsponsored so we knew we'd struck gold when we sat down at the top cafe on the list - complete with the sub-header "best coffee in Paris'. 

We were too full to eat, but the cappuccino I ordered was indeed the best I'd had so far in Paris. (Though admittedly I still prefer and remain loyal to Monmouth coffee in London.) Telescope cafe is nestled along such an odd little street in the middle of nowhere that I marveled at how anybody had discovered it at all. 

I wasn't the only food reviewer there that day - a food photographer and a journalist, both japanese, were busy at work while we sipped our coffee. 

Telescope Cafe
5 rue Villedo 
75001 Paris

SINGAPORE: Carpenter & Cook

The cafe culture that once seemed natural only in Europe has slowly but surely pervaded Singapore's thriving food scene. Maybe its psychological or maybe caffeine releases endorphins, but I genuinely feel like a brighter and more motivated person after a good cup of rich and flavourful coffee. 

The concept of a cafe with a vintage themed interior has been done all too often - but with good reason. There's something pleasantly surreal about unique cafe interiors. The ones I visit most (i.e. Fork in London, K.ki and Forty Hands) are neither modern nor posh, aren't trying too hard to impress, but are just tastefully comfortable. 

People don't visit cafes solely for the food. They visit for one of two things: the coffee or the atmosphere. Carpenter & Cook has done a fantastic job with its interior and it's no wonder that it's crowded all the way until evening. Nonetheless, their cappuccino was much too strong for me. It's the kind that leaves me so hyped up on caffeine that I end up feeling jumpy for the next 5 hours. I'd recommend going for the pastries (all handmade) and for the pleasure of indulging yourself in an English-themed vintage atmosphere. 

Carpenter & Cook

Chun Tin Road/Beauty World area at
19 Lorong Kilat, #01-06, Singapore 598120

Operating hours are:
Tuesdays - Fridays: 12pm - 10pm
Saturdays: 10am - 10pm
Sundays: 10am - 7pm
Closed on Mondays

LONDON: Nobu

My European summer was a riot of colour - from glaringly beautiful blue skies to the sudden proliferation of baby blue chinos; the soft pastels of macaroons to the sandy peach tinge that the streets of both Bath and Paris are doused in. I'd have expected the thrill of living in London to have expired by now but all this time overseas seems to have had the opposite effect. With my second year of university drawing to a premature close, I have only so much time left to immerse myself in all this Londoness as an (almost) completely burdenless human being. While some may experience a new city by soaking up the sights and sounds along the streets, I believe the best way to truly appreciate a city is through the taste buds. 

If I had to describe Nobu's food in a line, it'd probably be: "you get what you pay for". I've probably had one of the best few meals of my life at Nobu. With that thought in mind, the prices don't seem all that exorbitant. We each had £80 meal that gets you 7 courses picked by the chef, one of which was -and I made absolutely sure of this - the black miso cod. Despite the first two courses being slightly over-salted, the salt content was reduced substantially after we spoke to our waitress. I've probably mentioned this before, but when you get food quality this good, quantity is negligible when it comes to satisfaction. (Not that this stopped us from ordering an extra dessert each after our 7 courses.) 

Nobu
19 Old Park Lane
+44 2074474747