[Cafe Visit] The Little Prince Cafe, Somme Road, Singapore

Earlier this year, I came across an article about hipster cafes in Singapore, listing these obscure cafes that I'm currently on the lookout for now.

One particular cafe caught my attention: A themed cafe based on the novel, 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It was one of my favourite books growing up, and my curiosity was stoked -- I knew I had to check it out some day.

Over the first weekend in July, I flew down for the RADWIMPS concert at TAB along Orchard Road (more on that here!). I arrived in Singapore bright and early at 10.50am Saturday morning, and had a few hours to kill before the concert was supposed to start at 7.30pm. After I dropped off my suitcase at my backpackers' hostel, I set off on a tiny expedition to find the Little Prince Cafe along Somme Road.

A little Google Mapping took me to Farrer Park MRT station, which connected to City Square Mall, from where it was a simple 9-minute walk to Somme Road:

The Little Prince Cafe was so small and quaint and along such a quiet, sleepy road overlooking a tiny park, it was hard to spot at first. I had to really look out for the famous Saint-Exupery illustration of a boa constrictor decal-ed on the shop window:

It was literally a hole-in-the-wall cafe; the cafe itself took up a tiny alcove, underneath residential apartment blocks. The menu was very simple -- pies, sandwiches, cakes, and a drink menu illustrated in watercolour drawings hanging over the counter.

  

Mocha and avacado cake~

I ordered the avacado cake and a hot mocha, and took in my surroundings: Various translations and adaptations of the book were displayed on the walls and sat on shelves for customers to thumb through. My favourites were the pop-up editions of the books, in English and Japanese, and a spinning-wheel picture-book in the original French.

The walls were painted with creative murals: recreations of Saint-Exupery's original illustrations, and a very clever painting of a staircase leading to an imaginary upper storey -- it took a long time for me to convince myself that I wouldn't be able to go "upstairs" to explore. Even the tables had been "graffiti-ed" with constellations and quotes from the books.

Painted staircase leading to an imaginary upper storey ...

The Little Prince being carried into space by a flock of passing birds.

Memorabilia by the cash register. Can you spot the boa constrictor plushie? :)

There were clever little bits of merchandise and memorabilia that fans of the book would appreciate, like plushies, paper models, even a glass rose in a paper box by the cash register.

I regret not ordering the 'rose latte' -- I only spotted it on the menu after ordering my mocha, but I might save that for my next trip! :)

It's a great place to spend a lazy weekend afternoon with one or two friends (not for big parties, considering the small size of the place), or for solo visits -- bring a book to catch up on some peaceful reading, with coffee!

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For more info:
- The Little Prince Cafe on Facebook
- The Little Prince Cafe Website

Address:
62 Somme Road, #01-03
Singapore 207877

Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat: 12:00 - 21:00
Sun: 12:00 - 18:00