Saturday, February 22, 2014

Maison-Ikkoku at 20 Kandahar Street - The Ownership & Beginnings The Ambience

The Ownership & Beginnings 

Maison-Ikkoku is owned by two Singaporean couples (two husband and wife teams), one couple is into trading, the other couple is in the shipping industry. Rizuan comes on board as the key person to run the cafe as its Head Manager. 

Maison-Ikkuko started operations in 2011 September with a three level concept comprising a Cafe at Level GF, a semi al fresco Cocktail Bar headed by a Chief Mixologist Ethan Leslie Leong at Level 1F and a high end Boutique at level 2F. The brand "Maison-Ikkuko" was developed by the business owners, and has already been trademarked. 

Though the Business Owners are not from the F&B industry, they are very keen to invest in the F&B industry seeing that there are great opportunities for growth in this industry. The concept is a Japanese-French Fusion Cafe serving small bites, sandwiches, cakes, coffee with influences from Japanese and French Cuisine. 

Maison-Ikkuko literally means "House of the Moment" with Maison of French origin, Ikuko being of Japanese Manga origin. The cafe started with 4 men crew in September 2011. 


The Manager 


Rizuan brings with him 12 years' experience in F&B Operations, having worked with Coffee Bean &  Tea Leaf for about 6 to 7 years, and other Cafes, and Bars before coming on board to head Maison-Ikkuko. He handles Business Development, Marketing at Maison-Ikkuko with his junior Managers running the Operations. 

Rizuan was doing very well at Couple's Choice when he heard in the F&B industry that new cafe Maison-Ikkuko business owners are looking for someone to set up and run the cafe. It was because of the immense opportunities that Maison-Ikkuko owners offer to Rizuan that he finally decided to take the plunge to be one of the pioneer to kick start Maison-Ikkuko. Ridzuan loves it that the business owners allow him to run the cafe as if it were his own. 

The Ambience 

The Cafe is located at 20 Kandahar Street in the busy heart of Kampong Glam enclave. You'd definitely not be able to miss it with its outstanding pure white coat of paint on its exterior.  

The entrance is made of solid glass door and glass panels flushed to the floor. 
When you do get pass the glass door, you'd stepped into a cozy part rustic part industrial theme decor with hanging cupboards by the white brick walls at the right of the entrance glass door. Square wooden tables line the right side of the entrance. 


The left of the entrance hangs some of the leading magazines for diners to browse whilst waiting for their order.

The Baristas serve their coffee from this counter below. Maison-Ikkuko uses coffee beans roasted from Toby's Estate, although the cafe do roast a small amount of coffee beans for its own in-house use. The Boutique Cafe opening hours at Level 1 are as follows :
Mon-Thur: 9am~9pm 
Fri-Sat: 9am~11pm 
Sun: 9am~7pm  

The Cafe offers a menu of gastronomic delights which include an all day breakfast, gourmet sandwiches and specialty coffee.  

Some of the Must Try House Specials :  
Fresh weekly roasted specialty coffee brewed via 8 different brewing methods which include the Chemex, Coffee Syphon, Buono, Pourover, Woodneck, Eva Solo, Aeropress, Ice Drip & the ever popular espresso machine.  

Specialty coffee are painstakingly prepared by Baristas trained by Hiroshi Sawada of Tokyo's famed Streamer Coffee Company.   


MI Latte - Double shot latte served in a 12oz porcelain cup with EXTREME latte art. 
MI Musubi - Spam sushi on a bed of seasoned Japanese rice 
MI Pork Bun - Pork belly cuts with coriander wrapped in a steamed bun





Maison-Ikkuko proudly retails some of the best brands of Coffee Brewing/ Making Equipments at its Level GF cafe: Chemex, Coffee Syphon, Buono, Pourover, Woodneck, Eva Solo, Aeropress, Ice Drip.

The Cocktail Bar at Level 1F has not started for the day when I visited the cafe but I manage to capture some shots from the outside.
The Cocktail Bar houses Mixologist Ethan Leslie Leong who conducts the occasional Mixology & Cocktail Appreciation Workshops for keen diners. He never fails to surprise diners with his innovative, creative cocktail alcoholic art using fresh fruits & herbs. Table Reservations Hotline: 6294 0078  
Opening Hours :
Mondays to Saturdays : 6pm ~ Late.
Sunday Close  

Some of the Must Try are below 
-TINI (Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut, Banana, Black Forrest, Oranges, Mints, Hazelnut, White Russian, etc..)  
- COOLER (Mix Grapes, Black Forest, Cucumber, Basil, Rosemary, etc..)  
- MOJITO FAMILY (Mojito Sorbet, Ginger Mojito, Mix Fruits Mojito, Black Forest Mojito, Campari Mojito, Apple Mojito, etc..)  
- CAIPIRINHA / CAIPIROSKA ( With Vodka, with Cachaça, with light rum, with Grapes, with Honey, with Passion Fruits, etc...)  
- OLD FASHION (Scotch, Bourbon, Dark Rum, Cognac, Sazerac, Negroni, Manhattan, Rob Roy, etc..)  
- BERRIES (Goose Berries, Raspberries, Blue Berries, Strawberries, Black Berries, Cranberries, Red Currents, etc..)  
- FRUITY MARTINIS (Kiwi, Peaches, Pineapple, Red or Green Apple, William Pear, Apricots, etc..) - HERBS & SPICES (Ginger, Cucumber, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, Thymes, Cherry Tomatoes, Lemongrass, etc..)  
- CITRUS (Ruby Red Grapefruits, Orange, Lemon, Lime, Calamansi, etc..)  
- CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS (Brut, Strawberry, Calamansi, Rose, Black Berry, Peach, etc..)

On the third level is a Boutique that sells international menswear ranging from shirts, shoes, belts and other accessories. The Boutique opening hours (Level 3): 
Mon- Sat 11.00 am - 8.00pm 
Sun 11.00am - 7.00pm 

Some of the brands that the Clothing Boutique carry are below :
miansai - www.miansai.com 
orlebar brown - www.orlebarbrown.com 
kuro denim - www.kurodenim.com 
industry of all nations -www.industryofallnations.com 
Lad Musician - www.ladmusician.com 
Deluxe - www.deluxe.jp 
discovered - www.discovered.jp 
hobo - www.thathobo.com 
nuGgets - www.nuGget-s.com 
twins for peace - www.twinsforpeace.com 
teddyfish - www.teddyfish.fr 
publish - www.publishbrand.com



This is the bird's eye view from the third level of the cafe. 

Maison-Ikkuko is located on:
20 Kandahar Street, 
Singapore 198885. 
Tel : +65 6294 0078. 
Fax: +65 6294 2616 
Email : info@maison-ikkoku.net 
www.maison-ikkoku.net
www.facebook.com/maison.ikkoku.sg

Cafe Opening hours: 
Mon-Thur: 9am~9pm. 
Fri-Sat: 9am~11pm. 
Sun: 9am~7pm. 

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