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Dear Coffee Lovers,
I visited Singapore last month, with my family. And I must
say that Singapore is still a charming city. Much has since I last visted the city four
years ago. The city's coffee culture is a very pleasant surprise . It is well developed,
chic, trendy and many of them are just like what you'd expect in Seattle. In fact, Hong
Kong is nowhere near that level so much so I felt a tinge of regret at leaving the city
for "home".
Most of the places that I visited are coffee-chain type of
operation, which are largely located in busy shopping areas, particularly Orchard Road.
Though my stay was short, from what I could gather, it seems that the two largest local
chains are Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and The Coffee Club.
My favourite is Burke's Coffee, and to top it off
with cheescake, try it at Seattle Coffee Company.
Looking forward to hearing from you folks on any
new updates to the coffee scene in Singapore.
Cheers and may you have many happy lattes,
Miku Sippy, Hong Kong,
28 August 99 and 3 March 2000
Back to Hong Kong
Listing
Burkes's Coffee
E E E E E
$ $ $
One of the best Korner in Singapore
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Basement #B1-02, Republic
Plaza, 9 Raffles Place
#01-37, Change Alley, 30 Raffles Place
#B1-15, Raffles City Shopping Centre, 252 North Bridge Road
#01-01/02/03, Pacific Plaza, 9 Scotts Road
#02-105A, Marina Square, 6 Raffles Boulevard
A really excellent concept.
As one of the more established outfit, it setup by three guys and a lady, who
returned from Seattle five years ago, they put in their life savings to open their first
store.They are
strategically located so that you can really have such a great time that you'd be hard
pressed to leave. The best one is located at Raffles City, in the basement, which has a
special water "fountain". There you can have a table to yourself, which is
covered with a large white paper as table mat and there are Crayola crayons. For what? To
express your artistry, creativity and dreams. With your date, you can have a nice
chat. By yourself, it is a comfortable place to contemplate. I was there for almost three
hours.
Their coffee beans is somewhat
unusual. Like it has the flavour of local kopi-o. And they tastes good. However, the
friendly barista, Thambi, politely refused to reveal the bean source. Three cheers anyway.
Collect the 10th chop for a free coffee. |
Seattle Coffee
Company
E E E E E
$ $ $
Ideal for a long casual afternoon drink. |
#01-05/06/K2, Capitol Building,
11 Stamford Road
This is definitely a rare
find - a place to enjoy for they probably make the best coffee in town. Their cheesecake
is excellent. You won't want to leave after a good coffee. |
Coffee Beans and
Tea Leaf
E E E E E
$ $ $ $
Another truly excellent Korners in
Singapore
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Atrium at Scotts Shopping
Centre
Wisma Atria Shopping Centre
International Plaza
Boat Quay
Lot 1 Choa Chu Kang
Holland Village
Parco Bugis Junction
Suntec City Mall Tower Records
Suntec City Towers 3 and 4
Tiong Bahru Plaza
Forum The Shopping Mall
Junction 8 Shopping Mall
Century Square
Serangoon Garden Village
Centrepoint
Takashimaya (Ngee Ann City) Shopping Centre
White Sands
The Promenade
Guthrie House
Chinatown Point
Siglap - 3 Jalan Jamal
Definitely the largest number of Korners around Singapore. The environment is great
for a nice afternoon iced cold latte or espresso. Of course their specialty include tea
too. Here's what you can learn all about tea from them, in their guides, "The Tea
Leaf Guide" and "The Bean Guide". They have great decor, freshly made
cakes and pastries, and interesting merchandises to buy.One of their specialty is the trademark ICE
BLENDED, a frozen coffee drink. They also invented Herbert B Hyman Coffee Extract, the
first gourmet coffee extract ever produced.
Their baristas (and tea-makers) are
well trained and it seems that they really enjoy their work too. Polite, friendly and of
course, good coffee. And you must try their cheese cake. 12 twelve chops earns you a free
coffee - and they have Rules too! |
Coffee Club
E E E E
$ $ $ |
Boat Quay - their six-storey
flagship outlet
Holland Village
Siglap
Millenia Walk
Ngee Ann City
Funan Centre
East Coast Road
National LibraryOwned by Hiang Kie, one of the
largest coffee and spice traders in Asia. Savour it in stylishy salubrious surroundings -
that's their slogan for gourmet coffee. |
Starbuck's
E E E E
$ $ $ |
With all the hype
surrounding the name for a relatively new entrant in the market, I am afraid my experience
of their coffee turns out to be a lukewarm one. Quite often the latte turned out to be
more of milk and less of espresso. Ordering process is even more chaotic. Though I respect
the Company's policy about not listing their coffee locations in this website, since
Starbuck's has its own website, they obviously missed the good opportunity for some decent
comments. And I cannot resist their cheesecake either. |
| His Grace Cafe |
24 Raffles Place, #02-03 Clifford Centre
3 Temasek Boulevard, #B1-53A Suntec City Mall |
| Banoffi Coffi |
Suntec City Mall |
| Coffee Tree |
#03-004, # Temasek Boulevard,
Suntec City Mall |
| Spinelli Coffee Company |
Amara Shopping Center
Bugis Junction
Change Alley
Far East Square
Great World City
The Heeren Shops
Jurong Point
National University of Singapore
NTUC Club Pasir Ris
Robinson Point |
| Sizzling Sandwich |
Unit B1-10/11 Orchard Point, Orchard Road
Good coffee with knowledgeable barista.
Will recommend the right coffee for the individual.
Really good choices of sandwich, pastry and cakes |
| Java Coast |
Amara Hotel
Clarke Quay
Funan Centre
Golden Shoe
Singapore General Hospital
Suntec City Mall
They have their website:
They have their website: www.coffeecoast.com |
The Barista's Korner Rating Legend:
| |
5 |
Excellent coffee |
| |
4 |
Very good coffee |
| |
3 |
Good coffee |
| |
2 |
Average "fast-food" style coffee |
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1 |
Visit only once if you wish |
| $ $ $ $ $ |
Fairly Expensive |
| $ $ $ $ |
Tad expensive |
| $ $ $ |
Moderate pricing |
| $ $ |
Less expensive or on promotion |
| $ |
Anyone sell that cheap? (and surprisingly that
good?) |
| E E E E E |
Excellent environment, very friendly barista.
You'd like to linger. |
| E E E E |
Good environment, friendly barista. Nice way to
pass time. |
| E E E |
Fair atmoshphere, fair barista. |
| E E |
Could do with some improvement. |
| E |
Not comfortable, just be quick and go. |
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