[Coffee Break] Coffee Nowhere : Brawn & Brains : Tian Kee & Co : Yahava Koffeeworks : Burpz

Out of sudden there are so many new cafes booming around different area of Singapore since last two years. And with the power of social media and food recommendation sites, you can easily pick up new cafes to try out their brews and food. In this post I would be sharing my experience on the 5 cafes which I have conquered during my "off time" with a new coffee kaki (friend); Eileen who has good knowledge in beans and brews.

COFFEE NOWHERE
(44 Rochester Park)

[Coffee Nowhere] CUP OF PEACE - Flat White (SG$6.50)

Coffee Nowhere is a newly set up cafe (less than a month) located at 44 Rochester Park which is about 10 minutes walk from Bona Vista MRT station. This cafe has a few branches located in Asia countries  such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Burnei, Laos and etc.

Recently they opened their first outlet in Singapore within the greenery of Rochester Park with open-air alfresco seating area which makes it somehow unique as compared to other newly setup cafes. Overall the cafe is nicely set up with relax and family friendly environment which is suitable for everyone in the household.

[Coffee Nowhere] Ordering Menu

Currently the cafe only served beverages and muffins and some pastry before they introduce their set menu. A glance at their menu, you can roughly see the types of beverages they offer such as Espresso Coffee, French Press, Syphon and etc. And if you have notice, the name of the beverage are all quite Christian terms such as Cup Of Love, Cup of Grace, Cup of Peace and etc.

[Coffee Nowhere] Mobile App Rewards Program

Beside coffee and food, Coffee Nowhere also has their own "mobile rewards program" which benefits patrons with exclusive privileges too.

[Coffee Nowhere] CUP OF PEACE - Flat White (SG$6.50)

Basically we were quite impress with their coffee and latte art done by their barista. We ordered Cup of Peace (Flat White) because we prefer to start with something mild for the day hopefully it might be able to clams down and restores our mind like what describe on their menu.

Although their coffee might be a bit pricey as compared to some good ones in town but I guess it's still worth trying at least once if you are around that area. Between just a side note, Coffee Nowhere also roast their own coffee beans in their  in-house roaster too.

COFFEE NOWHERE
44 Rochester Park
Singapore 139248
Telephone: (65) 9090 4332
Website: http://coffeenowhere.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/coffeenowhere.sg

Opening Hours:
7.30am - 5.30pm (daily)

BRAWN AND BRAINS
(100 Guillemard Road)

[Coffee Break] Brawn And Brains @ 100 Guillemard Road

Next let's hop over to Brawn And Brains which is located at 100 Guillemard Crescent (5 minutes from old airport road food centre and Mountbatten MRT). This small and cosy cafe is situated at a corner of the old Singapore Badminton Hall with a dine-in capacity of 20 pax and below so if you planning to visit this cafe, do remember to avoid peak hours in order to minimize waiting time for the seats.

[Brawn And Brains] Ordering Counter

Other than coffee and beverages, the cafe also serve quick meal like sandwiches, wrap, cakes and pastries which prepared by Grace (the lady boss).

[Brawn And Brains] Beans of the day

According to Eileen (my new coffee kaki/partner), Brawn and Brains also roast their own coffee beans which in a way makes their overhead low and in return customers like us will be able to enjoy great coffee in low cost too. Imagine having a cup of decent Cappuccino with Peru Bean for SG$3.50 when compared to most of the other cafes who charged at least SG$5 per cup.

[Brawn And Brains] Cappuccino @ SG$3.50

Our Cappuccino that comes in smooth and nutty flavour from the Peru bean as well as a mild chocolate aftertaste.

[Brawn And Brains] Flourless Chocolate Cake @ SG$4.50

[Brawn And Brains] Buttery Croissant with Lime Glaze @ SG$3.80

Grace, whom is capable of baking all kind of cakes and pastries often rotates the cafe menu with surprising bakes. Read up from some recommendation their Lavender And Rum cake is a must try but sad to say it was not available during our visit. So in the end we ordered their Flourless Chocolate Cake (cannot resists anything with chocolate) homemade Croissant with Lime Glaze.

Although the chocolate cake was moist and soft but unfortunately I was kind of disappointed with the taste which was not as rich as I thought based on it intense colour.

[Brawn And Brains] Beverage Menu

Overall Brawn and Brains is a worth visit cafe even though you might not be staying around that area. So perhaps a short walk down from the old airport road hawker center after a feast will be a good excuse to drop by and enjoy a cup of freshly brew coffee too. 

BRAWN AND BRAINS
100 Guillemard Road
#01-07
Singapore 399718
Telephone: (65) 6348 8892
Website: http://www.brawnandbrains.sg/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/brawnbrains.sg

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Sunday: 9.30am - 7.30pm

TIAN KEE AND CO.
(12 Dakota Crescent)

[Coffee Break] Tian Kee And Co @ 12 Dakota Crescent

I am sure for those who stays around the blocks at Dokota Crescent area will be familiar with the name "Tian Kee" which used to be an old provision shop. Although the current owner had retained the same name but the old provision shop had already turned into an artisan cafe which serve coffee, pastry, gelato flavour such as teh tarik, salted gula melaka and etc.

[Tian Kee And Co.] The interior

Other than the old "shop name", the interior and deco of the cafe is also very old school feel with wooden furnishing, zinc covered counter and etc.

[Tian Kee And Co.] Cakes and Pastries

Tian Kee offers a range of food items to go with their coffee with Assorted Muffins at S$3.50 each as well as their homemade savoury Black Pepper Chicken Pie at SG$7.90 each. Beside that, recently they also have variety of Cheesecake from Cat and The Fiddle plus they are also offering weekend brunch menu which serve Prata (Indian pancake) with sausage, hashbrown, egg and etc where more details can be found at their Facebook page.

[Tian Kee And Co.] Pantry Corner

[Tian Kee And Co.] Cappuccino And Durian Cheesecake

Our order for that day was Cappuccino (SG$5.00) brew from Dutch Colony beans which was tad acidic than my usual liking. And to go with the coffee, we also order a slice of the Mao Shan Wang Durian Cheese Cake (SG$6.50) which was flavorsome and yet not too overpower in the durian taste.

TIAN KEE AND CO.
12 Dakota Crescent
#01-48
Singapore 090012
Telephone: (65)6344 8527
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/tiankeedakotacrescent

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 12pm - 9pm;
Saturday and Sunday: 10am - 9pm

* Accessible by the nearest MRT at Mountbatten, take Exit B about 3 minutes to destination.

YAHAVA KOFFEEWORKS
(4 Jalan Gelenggang)

[Coffee Break] Yahava Koffeeworks @ 4 Jalan Gelenggang

Yahava which is pronounced as "Jah-ha-va" is origin from Australia and it has an outlet in Singapore located in a quite neighbourhood off the main road at 4 Jalan Gelenggang that is behind the old Sembawang Hill Food Center.

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Menu

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Cakes and Pastries

Range of cakes and pastries on display during weekends where patrons can select their desire items to go with the coffee or other beverages.

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Interior layout of the cafe

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Coffee workshop and tasting

This cafe is slightly different from those newly setup theme cafe where they do not have any stylish furniture, interior deco or equipped with free WIFI access which is popular among the students. Besides the main stream of business at Yahava is to distribute their own coffee beans to companies and individual. At times they also provides coffee tasting workshop for those who are interested to know more about coffee culture and the types of beans.

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Cappuccino @ SG$5.00

Our choice for that day was Cappuccino (SG$5.00) and Mocha (SG$5.50). Presentation and latte art was not as attractive when compared to One Man Coffee or Habitat Coffee which is a few bus-stops away but taste wise it was still decent. As my personal opinion, the cappuccino was somehow lack of flavour when compared to the Mocha  which I took a sip on.

[Yahava Koffeeworks] Blueberry Cheesecake @ SG$8.00

On the down side, the blueberry cheese cake that we ordered was a disappointment with dry texture that hardly with any cheesy lavour in it. So the moral of the story is not to order any cake or pastry if there are not made in-house from the cafe.

YAHAVA KOFFEEWORKS
4 Jalan Gelenggang
Singapore 578188
Telephone: (65) 6554 7080
Website: http://www.yahava.sg/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/YahavaSG

Opening Hours:
9pm - 6pm (daily)

BURPZ
(603 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5)

[Coffee Break] Burpz Cafe And Bakery @ 603 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5

Burpz Cafe and Bakery is located between Yio Chu Kang and Ang Mo Kio Ave 5. From what I read up, the cafe offers freshly brewed coffee, handcrafted bakery as well as range of comfort dishes.

But upon entering the cafe, I was quite disappointed to see empty counter with no sign of their homemade bread, cakes/pastry on display and it was only about 4.15pm on Saturday afternoon. Cannot imagine they run out of everything so quickly without other alternative choice (guess their business must be really good) than their main dish since the cafe will be operating till 9pm in the evening.

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery]Menu

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery] Interior layout

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery] Interior layout

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery] Long Black @ SG$3.50

Since we are still quite full from lunch earlier on we did not order any items from their main course menu but rather just our coffee fix.

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery] Hot Chocolate @ SG$4.00

[Burpz Cafe And Bakery] Cappuccino @ SG$4.00

Overall our dining experience with Burpz was not really a pleasant one. It took the barista about 15 minutes to serve the first two cups of drink despite we were the only customers making order at that time. And when the Long Black and Hot Chocolate arrived I was kind of shock to see the wet cups and saucer that  seems to have just washed and they didn't even bother to clean it dry before serving it with the drinks.

Secondly they took about 25 minutes (from the time I ordered the 3 drinks) just to prepare my cappuccino and the best part was I saw 3 barista seems to have some difficulty working with on their coffee machine or so. Same as the previous two cups, mine was also filled with water droplets and with a sip I knew I had wasted a good 30 minutes of waiting time for a cup of scorching hot coffee.With all these I don't know whether I should give the cafe another chance of visit despite I really wanted to try their homemade bread.

BURPZ CAFE AND BAKERY
603 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5
#01-2661
Singapore 560603
Telephone: (65) 6456 3376
Website:http://www.burpzcafe.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/burpzcafe

Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Wednesday: 3pm - 9.30pm;
Thursday - Friday: 11.30am - 9.30pm;
Saturday - Sunday: 10.30am - 9.30pm


Ok, that's all for Part I of our cafes hopping featuring the 5 different cafes which we have visited, till then enjoy your weekend while I would continue on another 5 cafes on Part II soon. Can't wait to embark another series of cafe hopping journey which I would be visiting The Loka, an Australian-inspired cafe that I read good reviews on.