Review: Tolido's Espresso Nook

After returning from Rome, we've been on a cappuccino hunt for something that comes remotely close and just by sheer luck (and a few disappointments) we stumbled upon Tolido's Expresso Nook, at the corner of Crawford Lane. 

Singapore is indeed on the verge of death by cappuccino in cafes - but my interpretation of that is death by 'bad' cappucino. There was a point of time we went for brunch every weekend until Nette got tired of the bad coffee, egg overdose and poser crowds. So we stopped and we really have been sticking to local food until Tolido's, where she even proactively requested to visit two weekends in a row. 

It's small and relatively new so the staff may get on your nerves just a little bit due to their inexperience...but they are saved by cappucino, served by an award-winning barista no less! 

The first time we were there it was full house, and they offered us a bar seat (which I honestly don't mind)...but the bar seat was inaccessible because a guy sitting at the edge of a table of 5 was blocking the whole bar area. Ok...so we waited about 5 mins for a table to clear, and once the waiter showed us to our table and we sat down he suddenly said "oh! The table is reserved I forgot...can you sit at the sofa instead?" Grumpy us without coffee...literally rolled our eyes and almost left. Thankfully the sofa turned out ok as we had a view of the entire cafe. 

Second time we sat outside instead, which was also nice. Just remember to get them to switch on the fan so you don't melt. 

Now for the food..prices are quite reasonable ($9.90-$16.90) and they offer a range of the usual all-day breakfast dishes, as well as pasta, rosti and waffles. Here are a few dishes we tried, all of which are pretty good!

Spend less on food and splurge on coffee! We always have at least 2 cuppas. The coffee beans are from Yahava, roasted by our good friends who imported the brand from Australia, so we may just be a little (just a little) biased here. But they were brewed to perfection by the crew at Tolido's. Whatever dissatisfaction we had went away with the first sip! I recommend the sea salt caramel latte or the good ol' cappucino!

They take reservations, or go early to grab a spot at a table of your choice!

Update: brought our pals there yesterday and got the thumbs up from them too!

Tolido's Espresso Nook

462 Crawford Lane

Happy Valentine's Day

I received cauliFLOWERS on Valentine's Day! It started off as a joke, but apparently people really dig it. Got 80 likes on my personal Facebook for this picture.

Well, personally flowers die, cauliflowers are a dish.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Vday too!

Exploring the Vatican City

Took a leisurely 30-minute walk from our apartment to the Vatican City. En route we passed the Castle of Angels which looked every bit as majestic as it sounded.

Rome city centre is separated from the Vatican City by the Tiber River. There are several bridges you can choose to cross to 'the other side' but the landscape at every bridge is equally beautiful. 

Finally we arrived! Perhaps we were quite early, plus January is kinda low-peak season for Italy, so the queues were practically non-existent. The only long queue was the one getting into St. Peter's Basilica - but that was because of security checks. Entrance to St. Peter's is free.

Before we went to Rome, we were actually thinking a lot about whether we should book Vatican tours online - there are tons. After going, I'd say if you're not really interested to hear the stories behind the architecture/works and are satisfied just walking around at your own pace and admiring works which stand out for you - tours are not necessary especially in low-peak season.

We decided to go straight for the dome at St. Peter's so we could get a bird's eye view of Rome. It costs 5 Euros to go up by stairs alone (500+ steps). You can also choose to pay 2 Euros extra per person to take an elevator up halfway (and climb 300+ steps). Of course we chose the latter LOL.

It was a leisurely but tiring climb as the passageways were so small and narrow! I really cannot imagine climbing up in summer time with hoards of people in front and behind you!

Finally we made it!

Pity about the graffiti everywhere.

Having a break before we climb down again.

Of course the next stop is inside St. Peter's Basilica. Majestic, grand, ohmygod how did they do this hundreds of years ago - I guess these are thoughts that will pop up in your mind. When we got back to Singapore we actually re-watched Angels and Demons hehe, and we were like Hey we were there! We ate there! We saw that!

To round off the day, of course we had to stop by the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We had actually bought fast pass tickets for 25 Euros each, but quickly found out it was an unnecessary step as there were no queues at all -_- Normal tickets cost 16 Euros for entrance to the museum. However I can imagine in summer when the tourists are out, getting a fast pass or "cut-the-queue" tickets would really be useful.

The museum itself (not including all the art pieces) I think is a work of art. Every single detail from the windows to the floors to the ceilings are decked out by the classical masters. I'm the first to profess I'm not exactly an arts buff, but you really wonder at the extremities of human creativity when you step into this sacred space.

No photos allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but of course we were looking out for the Creation of Adam the moment we stepped in haha (photo from wikipedia).