Original owners retire and hipsters buy over the historical establishments, retain the names, and turn them into hipster cafes. But got retain the flavors or not? Ho jiak bo?
Sin Lee Foods Cafe 新利合记 |
Tian Kee & Co Cafe |
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| Address & Opening Hours | Blk 4 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee #01-164 Singapore 162004 T: +65 6377 3170 T-Sun 10am-9pm  |
12 Dakota Crescent #01-48 Singapore 390012 T-F: 12-9pm, Weekends: 10am-9pm |
| Concept & Decor | Before… Photo Credit: Yellow Shoess After…  A famous lor mee and prawn noodle kopitiam since 1963 (52 years), the decor is overhauled. Destroyed brick wall, cement floor, naked light bulbs, all hipster trademarks check. We loved it. It was the first time in a hipster cafe we saw an uncle customer in his home clothes shouting in Hokkien over the phone. Kan nee nah, he said. We sat at the entrance and a curious ah mah passing by stared at our food from outside like Oliver Twist. Amusing but disconcerting. |
Before… Photo Credit: Mothership After…   A 54 year-old provision shop turned cafe. Magical! Nostalgic surroundings with an old school playground across the cafe. Many retro trinkets inside the shop. In terms of decor this is my favorite cafe in Singapore. But no air con, and so many hipsters here, making me feel pretentious. When I was talking to the owner, a young customer interrupted our conversation. She was excited–I was excited too–but it was plain rude. Not a fault of the cafe of course. |
| Food |  Quite a variety but you can easily buy ingredients from supermarket and cook at home. Shakshuka ($17.90, baked eggs in tomato, with sausage and potatoes) was too tart and sausage generic.  Umami brioche ($16.90) with sunny sideup, bacon, and spinach. Too much carbs. Bread was more French toast than brioche. Love the abundant spinach. |
 No variety, just a savory pie and all day breakfast ($12.90), consisting cheese hotdog by the side, a prata topped with cheese, hash brown, bacon and egg. Man, I know microwaved egg and bacon when I see them. Ingredients tasted as if bought at supermarket and assembled at cafe. I really abhor processed food; it poisons the body. |
| Desserts |  Waffles ($13.90) was one of the better ones in Singapore. A tad hard but tasted sweet like the thin, round, coloured wafer I ate at provision shop when I was young. Fresh berries to undercut the candy sweetness. So good Huccalyly wanted a second. The table next to us had fried chicken and waffle ($21.90) which looked and smelled stunning. |
 Cakes and muffins, many of which are catered. Milo cheesecake ($6.50) was like eating a Milo drink gone sour (because of the cheese), which I liked but Huccalyly didn’t. She liked Mao shan wang cake ($6.50) but nothing beats the Goodwood Park’s. I dislike cafes that cater food from elsewhere. I might as well review the caterers’ food, instead of the cafe. Deduct 0.5 for processed food and catered cakes. |
| Coffee |  Papa Palheta beans. Huccalyly gave a face when she drank her iced long black ($6). My flat white ($5.50) was robust but monotonously bitter. |
 Dutch Colony beans. Huccalyly’s iced long black ($5) was miniscule. My flat white ($5) very strong, but very bitter with a sour aftertaste, like kopitiam coffee. |
| Service | Pay at the counter and they deliver. Though minimal contact, wait staff asked us how food was, and even poured water for us. (Water is self service.) Felt like cafe was run by a group of friends. Sincere service. | Minimal service like Sin Lee. The male boss was very nice, and friendly, but the other staff looked bored. |
| Pros (+) & Cons (-) | -Cheap ingredients -Overpriced -A missed opportunity to pay tribute to the historical location by having fun dishes like lor mee pasta or prawn noodle pasta. +Lovely people/service +Ample parking or 10 minutes’ walk from Tiong Bahru MRT |
-No aircon -No good savory food +Ample parking or 3 minutes’ walk from Mountbattan MRT exit B +Great music (jazz and vocals) +Affordable +Good complementing historical location with local food and retro decor |
| Price | Paid $60 for 2. Pretty expensive for a void deck cafe. No GST no service charge. | $36 for 2. No GST no service charge. |
| Rating | 3.212/5 (scored high on decor and service, low on food and value. Sin Lee Cafe is sincere and likeable but needs to either improve ingredients’ quality or reduce price by 10-15%. ) | 3.656-0.5= 3.156/5 (almost a perfect score for decor and affordability, pulling up the failed grade for food. It’s a lovely place but they need to work on the food.) |
Written by A. Nathanael Ho.
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