REVIEW: Tian Guan Ci Fu or Heaven Official's Blessing X Aniplus cafe

I had seen the anime on Netflix and was looking forward to the pop-up cafe at Aniplus Cafe. They featured a Tian Guan Ci Fu-inspired cuisine, as well as decorations throughout the cafe and merchandise for sale. I bought a can badge and also pre-ordered the Acrylic memo board. Many merchandises were sold out already. Each person will also get a random coaster when you purchase their food. 

This pop-up will run until 28 August but check out their website for details such as reservation.

https://www.anipluscafe.com/heaven-officials-blessing/reserve-table/

Address: 8 Raffles Ave, The Esplanade Mall, #01, 13C Raffles Ave, Singapore 039802

Opening Hours: 12 pm to 9 pm daily

Overall, the sitting arrangement was quite spaced out and the atmosphere was quite chill. They had the anime and song mvs playing in the background. Ya’ll sing along silently without disturbing anyone. 

Tian Guan Ci Fu or Heaven Official's Blessing (Chinese: 天官赐福) was originally a Chinese novel written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Chinese: 墨香铜臭) and it was adapted into an anime by Bilibili and Funimation back in 2020. It was also released on Netflix in 2021. A second season was announced in 2021, but unsure when it will air. lol

The Maple Forest Yaki Soba, Hua Cheng, and Xie Lian-themed beverages were on the menu.

We ordered the following to try:

Maple Forest Yaki Soba 

Inspired by the scene where Xielian and Huacheng traveled through the maple forest together, sitting at the back of a wooden cart. Signature yakisoba with shredded chicken.

The yakisoba feels homely to me as I have cooked yakisoba at home before and it has the same wetter consistency that I made at home, though my friend thought this could be drier. There was a variety of vegetables in enoki mushrooms, purple cabbages, and carrots. I would say the portion is quite generous and they gave quite a bit of shredded chicken. There were some “maple leaves” on top but I wasn’t sure if it was for decoration or what so I left them on the side. The yakisoba lean more to the sweet and savory side and was quite nice imo. 

Huacheng

Drink based on the image color of Huacheng. Just cherry soba topped with vanilla ice cream and cherry. Really reminds me of him when the Color red. 

Lingwen

Drink based on the image color of Lingwen. I think this was lemon soda with blue pea water. Stir it and watch it change color. I guess it fits the character of Ling Wen as she turns out to be the villain. 😂 

We also had the Crown prince who was pleased the dessert which was essentially cheesecake with a scoop of ice cream.

Crown Prince who Pleased the Gods

A dessert plate with strawberry cheesecake and ice cream, inspired by one of the Four Famous Tales – the Crown Prince who Pleased the Gods.

This wasn’t very nice. The cheesecake was simply drizzled in strawberry sauce. Can’t go wrong with vanilla ice cream and I like that they have cookie crumble and cherry compote on the side. 

Menu

This was just beside the door! The backdrop was from season 1 of the anime where Hua Cheng led Xie Lian to walk in the bloody forest. They also have the Hua Cheng and Xie Lian standee where you can take pictures with. Guess who I chose to stand beside? 😂 

They even have a Xie Lian altar that seems fitting in the cafe. Comes with legit offerings. If you watch the anime, the drawing was drawn by Hua Cheng for Xie Lian’s shrine.