Review: At Cafe Yasuragi, the gozen sets do the heavy lifting, while the sides need some work

Millenia Walk has always been the quieter, more understated sibling of the Marina Bay mall family — the kind of place you pass through, rather than make a destination of. Ironically, this makes it a pretty fitting home for a cafe built on patrons who want to slow down, catch up with friends, or settle in and get that presentation done.

Cafe Yasuragi — meaning peace or tranquillity in Japanese — opened earlier in March along the mall’s ground floor, just a short walk from Promenade MRT.

On paper, it reads like your standard work-friendly cafe: Reliable Wi-Fi, power outlets within reach, a sprawling drinks menu anchored by matcha and speciality coffee. Spend a little more time perusing the menu, and you’ll quickly realise it’s a bit more considered than that.

The backstory

Cafe Yasuragi is the latest concept from the team behind Cafe Shoko, a Japanese takeaway bowl spot that’s also located in Millenia Walk. If that name rings a bell, it’s probably because Shoko has quietly built a following in the area for its flame-grilled donburi bowls — hearty, no-fuss Japanese comfort food that’s earned its lunch crowd.

Cafe Yasuragi, in many ways, is the sit-down, slow-down counterpart to that.

Where Shoko is built for speed and practicality, Yasuragi is the team’s bid for something with more room to breathe. The concept centres on unhurried hospitality — a space that serves as a genuine retreat from the corporate bustle surrounding Marina Bay, rather than just another pit stop between meetings.

Our verdict

This philosophy of slowing down shows up in the cafe’s details. With a drinks menu that runs the gamut from Japanese-inspired sodas to fruit matchas (using Tsujiri matcha), to siphon coffee and even cocktails, it signals that the team is gunning for more than just the weekday remote-work WFH crowd.

While a quick glance at the menu might suggest a casual drink-and-pastry setup — think kouign amann, cruffins, almond croissants — the hot food menu goes beyond that.

In fact, diners can choose from several gozen (meaning “before noon”) sets and a handful of side accompaniments. The broths range from simple, yet comforting miso dashi, to full-on, savoury bone tonjiru (pork bone-miso) bases.

As for seating, there are indoor and outdoor options, but the indoor tables are naturally way more popular due to Singapore’s notoriously balmy weather. While there’s ample seating indoors, the tables are smaller than I’d like, only accommodating two drinks and two small plates (I had to request a table change because I’d ordered a full meal for two).

Also, power outlets are only available at the sofa seats (and limited in number), so charging your devices can be tricky, if you plan to stay for an extended period. I reckon it’s the cafe’s way of sending a discreet message that you’re welcome to be productive, as long as you don’t overstay your welcome.

Overall, it feels like a place that can easily satisfy both a tea-time hankering, and a proper sit-down meal. This bodes well for Cafe Yasuragi in terms of clientele, but it can also mean this place is constantly busy — and only gets busier on weekends, like when I dropped by.

What it’s good for

If you’ve been burned by cafes that promise a full meal but deliver overpriced small plates, Cafe Yasuragi’s gozen sets are worth paying attention to. Alternatively, you can create your own soup set (starting from S$6.90 for a broth and S$7.90 for a protein), comprising a soup base and protein, with optional rice and a side dish.

If not, the kaisen gozen (S$20.70) is the one to start with — a seafood-forward number starring salmon and Asari clams in a spiced broth, served bubbling hot at the table.

For something just north of S$20, the portion is genuinely generous, and the ingredient count rivals what you’d get at a full-fledged Japanese restaurant.

A small but thoughtful touch: You get a choice of five rice options, from white rice, to a house special tokusei takikomi gohan (Japanese rice cooked with a savoury medley of seasonal ingredients) that’s flavoured with mirin and worth ordering on its own merits.

Fair warning, though — even on the less spicy setting, the broth carries heat, so spice-averse diners should go in prepared.

The gyuniku suraisu gozen (S$19.70) is the one I’d definitely return for, though. The black garlic broth is deep and intensely savoury, and sliced shortblade beef — tender enough to need almost no effort — disappears into it beautifully.

The default truffle mushroom rice is the right call here; the aroma alone does a lot of the heavy lifting.

Between the two sets, this is the one that genuinely caught me off guard. You don’t typically walk into a work-friendly cafe at Millenia Walk expecting to leave this satisfied.

On the drinks front, skip past the signature banana matcha latte (S$7.90) for now and go straight for the gurei no hito (S$7.90) — a cold-brew built on earl grey, peach, and grapefruit. It’s the kind of drink where each sip tastes slightly different from the last, the cold-brew backbone grounding the tangy, citrusy notes just enough so nothing overwhelms.

On a hot afternoon, it’s the perfect order. One thing worth noting: Cafe Yasuragi doesn’t charge extra for milk alternatives — soy, oat, and regular milk are all offered at no additional cost across the drinks menu, which, given how normalised surcharges have become, is a genuinely refreshing policy.

A sweet treat is a must here, of which you have to save room for the passion fruit curd cruffin (S$5.50). It arrives crackly and golden, with a passion fruit curd filling that leans into mild, rounded sweetness, rather than the sharp tartness the fruit can sometimes veer into. 

The texture is velvety, custard-adjacent, and the cruffin’s laminated layers hold up well against it. It’s the kind of pastry that makes you wish you’d ordered a second coffee to go alongside it.

What it could improve on

The signature banana matcha latte (S$7.90) is billed as an acclaimed favourite on the menu, which, admittedly, sets expectations. For a drink that’s become something of a signature here, it didn’t quite land for me.

There’s banana puree at the base, and a mini wooden spoon holding a slice of torched banana on top, but its influence on the overall flavour is more of a whisper than a statement; it didn’t meaningfully deepen or elevate the matcha in the way you’d hope.

If matcha is your thing, you’d be better served by one of the cleaner, less embellished options on the menu.

The sides menu, meanwhile, is worth approaching with tempered expectations. I ordered the yaki gyoza (pan-fried dumplings, S$7.90), genuinely curious about whether the appetisers here were worth adding to an already solid meal.

The short answer is: Not really — at least not when you’re eating alongside the gozen sets. The gyoza itself is competently done; the minced pork and vegetable filling is well-seasoned, the skin is crisp without being greasy, and it holds up fine as a standalone snack.

However, next to the generosity and depth of the gozen, it fades into the background rather quickly. Even the accompanying dipping sauce, made with ginger, vinegar, and soya sauce, couldn’t save this side dish from disappointment.

The rest of the sides menu — truffle and shaved cheese fries, Caesar salad, fried shishamo (saltwater smelt) — reads similarly pedestrian for a cafe that’s otherwise doing more interesting things in the kitchen.

If you’re coming for the hot food, put your energy (and stomach space) there instead.

For the sweets, the matcha & sakura burnt cheesecake (S$8.90) seems to have earned its fanbase — I nearly missed out on the last slice — but I left unconvinced. The texture is rich and properly creamy, with a satisfyingly caramelised crust, but the matcha and sakura flavours don’t assert themselves enough to justify the premium.

When the best thing you can say about a flavoured cheesecake is that the base is good, it might be time to rethink the topping ratios.

On this note, the pastry selection elsewhere on the counter is strong enough that you’d do better channelling your dessert budget there.

Additionally, the one service quirk worth flagging: Dishes arrive all at once, regardless of category. On a table already handling two gozen sets, a side of gyoza, and a round of drinks, adding pastries to the mix can make for a crowded table and a logistical headache.

More practically, if you’ve asked for your pastries to be lightly warmed, expect them to be sitting at room temperature by the time you get to them, which, if you’re anything like me, takes the shine off what should be a highlight.

A simple note to the server to stagger dessert service helps, but ideally, it shouldn’t require one (at least to me).

Cafe Yasuragi is a stronger all-rounder than its work-friendly cafe label might suggest — come for the laptop-friendly setup if you must, but stay for the gozen sets, which genuinely punch above their price point.

The drinks menu is expansive enough to warrant some exploration, though not every signature lives up to the billing. Weekends might test your patience for a seat, so if you’re not in a rush, a weekday visit gives you the full, unhurried experience the name promises. 

For a cafe that’s still finding its footing in some areas, there’s enough here to warrant a return.

Our quick takes

Is it conducive to conversation? It can get a little noisy, especially when larger groups are present. The higher ceilings mean there’s obvious echo, and this might not be the spot if you’re looking to hold intimate meetings — especially on weekends.

Is a reservation necessary? Only walk-ins are welcome here. However, if you wish to guarantee a quick seat, a visit during non-peak hours on a weekday is recommended.

How to get there? Cafe Yasuragi is a two-minute walk from Promenade MRT Exit C.

HungryGoWhere paid for its meal at this restaurant for this review.

For the latest eats, read our story on Cafe Fufu, a quaint HDB cafe in Redhill, and our guide to cafes in Penang you shouldn’t miss.