Cafe Nesuto (ION Orchard)

Have been noticing Cafe Nesuto being under renovations during our recent trips to ION Orchard — these folks had finally managed to open their doors before the month of August ended in 2025. For those whom find the name “Nesuto” familiar; yes, Cafe Nesuto is an establishment that is opened by the same folks behind Nesuto that operates at both Tras Street and Jewel Changi Airport. Cafe Nesuto takes over the former space occupied by The Marmalade Pantry’s dine-in space located along the shopping aisles of ION Orchard at level four — the space being decked in furniture and fittings that features a mix of contemporary with a slightly quaint touch that melds together fairly well; strong contrast of colours helps to create a bold but welcoming look that is still pretty easy to the eyes as well. Dining tables at Cafe Nesuto are configured in a manner that is suited for groups visiting the establishment in pairs or in groups of four (4) pax. Nesuto has always been a brand more associated for its sliced cakes and Cafe Nesuto seems to be an expansion of what Nesuto is all about — Cafe Nesuto does serves up hot food that is sectioned into categories comprising of Mains, Brunch, Small Plates and Soups; they also do offer an entire line-up of Dessert + Bakes which includes the range of sliced cakes that Nesuto serves up. For beverages, Cafe Nesuto serves up espresso-based specialty coffee, tea and chilled drinks — also available will be a selection of wines / sparkling wines as well.

One of the items that seems to be newly-introduced at Cafe Nesuto and is also labelled as an item that is an ION Orchard exclusive dish would be that of the Chicken Open-Face Pie. This is an item which is listed on the Small Plates section of the menu, and the item is described to come with elements such as braised chicken, Genmai, rich potato cream sauce and a homemade flaky pie crust. Considering how this is categorised under the Small Plates section of the menu, the Chicken Open-Face Pie is sized in a way that is smaller than that of a usual chicken pot pie; works well for those looking for a savoury light bite in general Digging into the Chicken Open-Face Pie, the braised chicken here does seem to have been shredded and piled atop the rich potato cream sauce for easy eating. It does help that the open-face pie does come filled with a good amount of rich potato cream sauce beneath; this adds the moisture that the chicken chunks needed — adds a creamy and somewhat earthy note that helps to bring the braised chicken to the crusty and buttery homemade flaky pie crust that surprisingly held up the entire pie very well without soaking up all of the moisture of the elements that comes over the top. The addition of Genmai is akin to including Rice Krispies that gives the dish a little bit of a crispy crunch; the Genmai carrying an even more evident grainy note that cuts through the creaminess and buttery notes of the Chicken Open-Face Pie.

We also managed to go for the Cauliflower Noisette Risotto; an item that is listed on the Mains section of the menu. The menu describes the dish to feature elements such as roasted cauliflower, brown butter hazelnuts and Parmesan cheese. This was a pretty well-executed Risotto dish in a way that Risotto was executed in a way that it isn’t overly wet; all that whilst still being sufficiently moist while the grains still carried a bit of bite. The roasted cauliflower adds an additional crunch factor to the dish, though it was the addition of the brown butter hazelnuts that provided not just an element of crunch, but also a depth of nuttiness and savouriness that further enhances the flavours of the Cauliflower Noisette Risotto that would otherwise be a little bit more on the creamier side of things. The addition of Parmesan cheese that is shaved over the top adds another dimension of savouriness to the dish, bringing out the flavours of the Cauliflower Noisette Risotto even further.

We ended off our meal at Cafe Nesuto with the Banana Cream Pie Soft Serve Parfait from the Dessert & Bakes section of the menu — Cafe Nesuto describes the item to feature elements such as fresh bananas, Miso caramel, chocolate streusel, pie sticks and “Narita Dream Farm” soft serve; the Banana Cream Pie Soft Serve Parfait is also served in a tall cup. A rather simple parfait, we did feel that the Banana Cream Pie Soft Serve Parfait was a bit of a missed opportunity to use elements such as that of banana pudding which had recently become quite viral recently especially with its use within beverage items. Otherwise, the “Narita Dream Farm” soft serve is essentially a milk-flavoured soft serve that wasn’t too sweet, while the chocolate streusel was akin to that of dehydrated brownies that carried quite a prominent hint of chocolate to the dessert; the use of Miso Caramel over Salted Caramel does provide for a flavour typical of Salted Caramel but with an added note of bean-y earthiness that one would typically find in Miso that gave more depth of flavours — the pie sticks providing a light crunch whilst dusted in sugar crystals that further adds on to its textures while the stick itself replicated that of pie pastry in the usual banana cream pie that this deconstructed dessert is being based on. The Bananas do come fresh and ripe; delivered a good sweetness, though we are not sure if it could be Brulee-d for a more enhanced impact for the dessert in general.

We paired everything up with the usual cuppa; the Flat White. The Flat White here does come very well-pulled; the cuppa being smooth and creamy whilst was one that came with a medium body and an earthy and nutty flavour profile — one that would do well as a perk-me-up in general. It sure has been a long time coming for the folks at Nesuto. These folks had certainly come a long way since their days as the now-defunct KOKI Tamagoyaki within the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre; there is also that period of time that they had ventured into serving up handmade pasta through their now-defunct ChiChi concept at Amoy Street. The opening of Cafe Nesuto does feel like the return of these folks to the cafehopping scene where they serve up hot food; Nesuto being their most successful venture thus far but also one that is operated more of a patisserie specialising in their various cake offerings. Prices of their hot food items from the Mains and Brunch section of the menu range from $12 to $38; the lower-priced items generally from the Brunch section of the menu with the priciest dish being the 24hrs Braised Beef Short Ribs from the Mains section of the menu. Yet another choice to consider dining at when around ION Orchard.