Whether you’re up for a caffeine jolt or on the edge of hanger for a full meal, consider driving some dollars toward up-and-coming cafes that opened during this calamitous year and have pulled through.
Skip your regular haunt and refill thirst levels and sad empty stomachs at these places with food that hopefully tastes as good as it looks.
Flipper’s Singapore
You can now have those famous Japanese cloud-like pancakes by Flipper’s at Ngee Ann City on Orchard Road. It opened last month.
Known as Kiseki pancakes, their soft batter is made using a secret recipe that includes eggs and wheat flour from Japan. It takes nearly 30 minutes to whip up a serving of golden brown pancakes with the right amount of fluffiness and texture.
This is the brand’s first Southeast Asian venture after opening in cities like New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul.
There are six different types of pancakes on its menu that are priced from S$16.80 per plate.
The menu consists of six pancakes with flavors like their Kiseki Pancake Matcha that comes with matcha pancakes topped with green tea-scented cream and azuki bean paste, the Kiseki Pancake Hazelnut Chocolate with caramelized banana and Valrhona chocolate-infused cream, and the Eggs Benedict Souffle Pancakes served with two souffle pancakes, poached eggs, smoked salmon, prawns and avocado.
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Flipper’s Singapore
391A Orchard Rd, Ngee Ann City #B1-56
10:30am-9:30pm daily
Haute & Cauld
Haute & Cauld, pronounced hot and cold, is a new ice cream spot that opened this month in Bedok. Satisfy your late-morning ice cream cravings or late-night sweet tooth – it’s open till 2am daily.
Their range of flavors, all starting from S$3.80 for a scoop, includes green tea, cornflakes, Horlicks, Milo, banana chocolate, Nutella, blueberry, strawberry, mint and pink panther. Indulge them with waffles that come in three different flavors – red velvet, charcoal and buttermilk, and drizzled with either Nutella or cream cheese.
The mood takes a turn at night when the cozy 20-seater space is bathed in neon lights. Seems like this cafe is the new chill spot since they had to announce a day’s break only weeks after it opened due to overwhelming business.
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Haute & Cauld
740 Bedok Reservoir Rd, #01-3179
11am-2am daily
East Coast Commune
Cafe and bistro East Coast Commune located along the coastline of East Coast Park opened its doors last month to hungry and thirsty park-goers.
The high-ceilinged space is decorated with rattan and wood furniture, with several potted plants bringing some nature indoors. Its menu offers a selection of sandwiches, brunch favorites, waffles, cold-pressed juices, and coffee.
From the selection of sourdough sandwiches, diners can choose the chicken breast with roasted peppers, spinach, mustard mayonnaise; smoked Barramundi with Ponzu Kangkong, garlic chive cream cheese, and pickled shallots; or go with a vegan option that comes with tempeh, or fermented soy beans, chili jam, mushrooms and greens.
They also have sourdough waffles that come in nutty banana, butterscotch banana and coconut flakes, or savor them with fried chicken and chili-pickled radishes.
Wash it down with drinks like iced hojicha latte, oat masala chai, or kombucha.
FIND IT
East Coast Commune
1000 East Coast Parkway, Marine Cove #01-03
9am-6pm daily
Glass Roasters
Glass Roasters, a tiny eight-seater cafe, opened in September on Faber Drive. Their claim to fame is being much more than your friendly neighborhood coffee shop.
The space is covered in white tiles with raw concrete ceilings and art hanging on the walls. Once you step in, you are met with the barista station on the left and a seating area that has stools doubling up as tables next to benches.
Though its menu changes every now and then, the cafe serves morning necessities or late-afternoon fixes with black-and-white coffees that start at S$4.50 per cup and teas from S$6. Lactose options including oat milk or soy are available.
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Glass Roasters
108 Faber Drive
9am-10pm, Monday to Tuesday; 9am-10:30pm Friday to Sunday, closed Wednesday
Pivot
Since it opened less than a month ago, Pivot cafe on Canal Road has become an ideal spot for the Raffles Place lunch crowd to drop in for a cup o’ joe or dessert.
On top of caffeinated drinks that include espressos, double macchiatos and Japanese and Chinese teas Hojicha and Pu’er, the cafe also serves a selection of cakes and sandwiches.
Cakes include the Oh! Gee Cha sponge cake infused with the Japanese burnt tea Hojicha that has Hojicha genoise, Hojicha mousse and apple compote; the Fields of Yellow cheesecake made with a digestive biscuit base and kinako, or roasted soybean, powder; and the Limon Law cake made with sweet shortcrust biscuit, lemon curd and meringue.
Not up for something sweet? Go for the savory Tamago Sando sandwich made with Japanese milk bread known as shokupan, homemade egg mayo and sous vide egg.
FIND IT
Pivot
10 North Canal Road
7:30am-6pm, Monday to Friday; 9:30am to 5pm Saturday; closed Sunday
Tanamera Coffee
Tanamera Coffee, a coffee chain with close to 20 outlets in Indonesia, opened its first overseas outlet this month at the Change Alley Mall.
Decked out in trademark red and black, the cafe joins others serving the Raffles Place crowd. Their selection of coffees uses beans imported from Indonesia, ranging from Sumatra’s Mandailing coffee to the famed Toraja coffee from Sulawesi island. Drinks include espressos, americanos, lattes, cappuccinos and mochas from S$4 a cup.
They also serve up Indonesian food such as Indonesian oxtail soup that’s braised 12 hours and served with rice and green sambal; lemongrass chicken served with garlic rice; fried beef ribs with sambal or green chili; and sides including deep-fried banana or soybean fritters.
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Tanamera Coffee
30 Raffles Place, #01-12/13
8am-8pm, Monday to Friday; 9am-3pm Saturday; closed Sunday
Jurassic World Cafe
It seems like the dinosaur craze which has been blowing up recently is not slowing down. A pop-up cafe that opened earlier this month lets dino lovers eat food inspired by the Jurassic World movie franchise while surrounded by dinosaurs and a killer panoramic view of Singapore’s central district.
Located on the Ion shopping mall’s 56th story observation deck, the Jurassic World Cafe is open till Jan. 3 and offers meat-heavy meals such as the Jurassic World beef burger, Christmas meat platter with pork ribs, and honey chicken wings and a spicy pork curry rice dish plated to look like a volcano with the curry as lava spewing out of the caldera-shaped rice.
If you have the appetite of a dinosaur, you can move on to desserts like the Fossil Excavation Cake made with sponge cake layered with cream, sprinkled with crushed cocoa biscuits to resemble dirt with a side of strawberries and vanilla ice cream; the Geologic Parfait layered with chocolate cream; Lava Cookies stuffed with chocolate filling and a Lava Flow cake bursting with chocolate filling and vanilla ice cream on the side.
FIND IT
Jurassic World Cafe
2 Orchard Turn, Ion Sky Level 56
11am-10pm daily
Ratio Cafe and Lounge
Want your beverages whipped up by robots? Robotic cafe Ratio opened its doors this month at The Centerpoint Mall to introduce its high-tech cafe experience to Singapore.
The cyborgs are baristas by day and bartenders by night, programmed to make more than 50 coffees and cocktails. They brew coffees including a traditional Nanyang-style coffee from S$1 a cup, as well as lattes in pandan, banana, and coconut flavours at S$5 a cup, and more complex drinks including a Tom Yum Martini made with Tom Yum-flavored vodka. Other cocktails include a Spicy Watermelon Cooler made with chili gin and watermelon juice, and a Longan Red Date Gimlet made with gin and longan red date sugar.
FIND IT
Ratio Cafe and Lounge
176 Orchard Rd, #05-06 Centrepoint
8am-10pm weekdays; closed weekends
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