Group Therapy Coffee

Group Therapy Coffee is a neighborhood cafe at Duxton Hill opened two years ago. If you did not pay extra attention, you might not be able to spot the cafe. It is located at the second level just beside Etna Italian restaurant.

The infamous sign

Upstairs

The stairway upstairs

Last weekend, my two friends and I went to Group Therapy Coffee for a brunch celebrating a friend's birthday. We had a reservation (reservation is only allowed 30 minutes prior to desired time), and still had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table. We ended up getting a table at the back of the restaurant, far from the window. Almost no view is available from our seats, which we did not look forward to while enjoying our brunch.

Nicer seating areas at the front of the restaurant

The three of us ordered the Poached Eggs ($15), Belgian Style Waffle ($9), and Croque Madame ($18). I opted out for the drinks but my two friends ordered the Cappuccino and Caramel Cappuccino. We shared the Pistachio & Cranberry Scone ($6) and Snickers Tart ($7) for dessert.

It takes a while for the food to arrive at our table. The main courses were served first. The Belgian Style Waffle is a clear winner. The outside was crispy and thin, and once you bite into the waffle, it is light, soft, and airy. It's hard to find waffle with such consistencies.

Belgian style waffle: maple syrup, butter

The Croque Madame is almost (not yet) a crowd pleaser. The French toast gave a nice texture once you bite into this sandwich. The ham is good, but I am definitely not a fan of the mayo. My friend did not like the egg as it was tad overcooked. The kettle chips were slightly bland and could have been crispier.

Croque Madame: smoked ham, melted cheese, bacon, mayo, French toast, sunnyside up, salad, kettle chips

The Poached Eggs is the house signature dish. The toast was good, the smoked salmon has a perfect level of salinity, the eggs were perfectly poached, but the hollandaise totally ruins this dish. I don't even think it could be called hollandaise. To me, it tasted more like a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream. It was too sour and fatty. I couldn't taste the sweetness from gruyere as it was all hidden by the sour hollandaise.

Poached eggs: thick toast, smoked salmon, gruyere, hollandaise

When we were halfway into our meals, the coffee was served. I do not drink coffee, hence I could not comment on how the coffee tasted like. Nevertheless, my coffee drinker friend commented that the cappuccino was slightly disappointing. The cream was not sweet enough. The caramel cappuccino, on the other hand, was slightly better.

Cappuccino

Finally our table was cleared and dessert was served. The Pistachio & Cranberry Scone was too dry, crumbly, and overbaked. The Snickers Tart, on the other hand, successfully resembled a Snicker bar, if not nicer. We loved the gooey chewy spongy white texture at the bottom, topped off with the caramel, chocolate, and nut mixture. The pie crust was fine too.

Pisctachio & cranberry scone, snickers tart

Snickers tart: vanilla nougat, caramel, peanuts, crumbly tart, milk chocolate

After all, we enjoyed our time at Group Therapy Coffee, whereby we can freely talk without too much of a noise from the surroundings. The ambient would have been much cozier if we were seated at the front of the restaurant. Nevertheless, the food might not be the main reason for us to return to Group Therapy Coffee.

The Engineer Chef