Right after my previous café visit to Tigerlily Patisserie in the Katong area, I planned my next café trip to the same area again – there is just lots to explore in this enclave.
Reaching slightly before 11am on a weekday, I had braced myself but still surprised to find most of the seats filled. Luckily, we managed to settle at the communal table where the centrepiece is situated, with adequate social distancing between patrons.
With no proper doors or windows, the café allows much natural light in in the day, casting light and shadows on the concrete floor, wooden upcycled furniture and plants. Interestingly enough, I also spotted parking lots for bicycles, a play area for kids and a community library for café-goers to deposit or borrow books. This fits in the owners’ vision to bring the local community together while serving F&B.
There are 2 main sections to the food menu – All Day Breakfast served from 9am onwards, and Mains, served from 11am onwards.
From the former, I just could not resist but order one of the most photographed dishes here – the Soft Scrambled Eggs & Ikura ($14). Even though I would have preferred the scrambled eggs to be creamier, fluffier and less watery, the combination of ikura, truffle cream, chives, sourdough with the eggs made a hearty and visually appealing breakfast dish.
While my Oat Latte ($6.50) was alright, but the Okumidori Matcha Latte ($7) left a greater impression. I later found out that Okumidori is a ceremonial grade matcha which is considered rare.
As we reached before 11am, the mains were not available yet but we were allowed to place advance orders for them which arrived promptly on our table at 11am.
We thought that our Beef Cheek Linguine ($24) was rather well-executed, especially with the tender braised beef cheek in beef jus.
I am not one who would usually go for vegetarian options on the menu, but the Miso Roasted Cauliflower Steak ($18) had caught my eye when I was doing prior research on the café. There was a play of different textures and flavors from its components (i.e. the crispy kale topped with a generous portion of cheese shavings, crunchy nuts and pomegranate seeds, smooth humus, roasted cauliflower, bittersweet espresso vinaigrette).
The menu also offers a couple of desserts (an affogato, a waffle and ice cream), and daily bakes such as tea cakes are displayed at the counter. We were too stuffed for them.
There has been a sprout of cafes recently, and I’m glad to have discovered one that is above average.
336 Tanjong Katong Road, Singapore 437109
Wed to Mon 8.30am – 6pm, closed on Tues
+65 8899 1143
Don’t end the crab feast without ordering 게장밥 (Fried Crab Roe Rice, KRW2000 each). Generously fried with bits of crab roe and stuffed into a shell, this was a mouth orgasm.
On the side, we had 메밀전 (Buckwheat Pancakes, 8,000KRW), which were savory, earthy and nutty at the same time.
Among the items we had – Chai Café Latte (6,500KRW), Black Bean Macaron (2,500KRW) Egg Tart (3,000KRW), and Gateau Au Chocolat (4,000KRW) – the Portuguese egg tart was so unexpectedly good, I was relieved that my friend and I each bought one for ourselves.
Have you not known about my obsession with all things white? My day-to-day wearables, the places I like to immerse myself in, my photo-editing style of always increasing exposure. For me, it is synonymous to cleanliness, to light, to minimalism. As opposed to the antonymous dirtiness, darkness and clutter. Three words that put my mind to unrest, that sometimes put me in fear.
In consistency with my white obsession, I therefore like daytime – mornings, especially. Mornings where the sun is unobstructed in a cloudless sea, where the most part of my room is naturally lit up through translucent curtains, where light and shadows are juxtaposed appropriately for a photo. Such mornings are days where I gain more drive and inspiration to live more fulfilling-ly (moment of shock as I realise that this word does not exist).
On such mornings, there are a few options:
Recently, one of such mornings was spent at Apartment Coffee. It was my third time at the white-washed, minimally-themed coffee house since its opening in late 2018. On usual afternoons, the space is packed comfortably with customers and conversations spill across everywhere. All the more I have to be pressed to reach as early as possible, best if at 9am when the closed sign is flipped.
Like the previous two visits, I had perched myself on the wooden high stool for the coffee bar counter and called for my usual order of White. I am always fond of the smoothly textured milk + espresso here, though those who prefer very strong and robust flavours may not. One day I will get the filter. Oh, no takeaways here unless you bring your own tumbler.
Whilst waiting for my coffee, I would swoop up my phone and camera for a good round of photo-taking. This time a few people got caught in my photos, for I arrived an hour past 9.
Interior-wise, I dare say this space is my best-loved. The white walls, ceaseless coffee bar, brown wooden stools and tables and large windows put together remind me of Scandinavian design. Due to its location and windows, sunlight enters and leaves, creating brief moments of contrasting light and shadows that I so love to admire.
Despite gloominess from that global health situation which I will not go on to elaborate on, the first quarter of 2020 has seen a pretty fair boom in new cafes in Singapore. This is after a lull in the previous 2 years that had more than slightly depleted my usual excitement in café-hopping.
Opened last November without much fanfare is Double Up Coffee, located along Jalan Klapa in an enclave that houses several other well-known cafes. Just recently, it started to gain attention from social media postings.
Stepping through the glass doors, I was first greeted by the concrete coffee counter, followed by another sitting area furnished with small stools and tables. The minimalist concrete-themed setting was predominant.
Small and simple, the menu is has 3 sections – Business (i.e. coffee), Pleasure (i.e. non-coffee) and Chow (i.e. pastries). Having always been more of an espresso person (vs. filter), I opted for the Spro with Soy Milk ($5.50), while my friend got herself the Iced Spro with Milk ($6). Spro here refers to espresso. Though my soy espresso was a tad limp, I loved the iced espresso with milk for its smoothness and non-acidic aftertaste. I later found out that beans here are sourced from Bearded Bella.
The sole pastry available that day was the Blueberry Crust ($5.50), which I thoroughly enjoyed for its lightness and flakiness.
Rather than a comfortable spot to do “work from home” whilst sipping caffeine, I see this spot as one where I can hold light conversations and, from time to time, empty my mind and daydream.
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 