One of the dining establishments that we had found out whilst scrolling around social media of the late would be that of rockscafe by ANTEIKU STUDIOS — this is one of the few cafes that had recently opened in the Kampong Glam that had chosen a spot that within the second level of the shophouse in the neighbourhood. Entrance to rockscafe by ANTEIKU STUDIOS is through the back door alley that is located beside Sultan Mosque — one can look out for the signage situated next to the entrance leading to the stairs up to level two of the shophouse. Being a lifestyle store-cum-cafe, ANTEIKU STUDIOS’ interior does feel a little indie and underground featuring posters and memorabilia that references to various Japanese manga / anime; the shop also does retail streetwear as well as CDs and vinyls as well, while the dine-in area for rockscafe by ANTEIKU STUDIOS takes up the middle of the shophouse. The only food offering served up by rockscafe by ANTEIKU STUDIOS would be the small variety of pizzas, while the beverages offered are split into categories like Hot Coffee, Specialty Lattes, and Non Coffee.

Having skimmed through the various types of pizzas that they have to offer, we found ourselves opting for the Pepperoni Pizza. All pizzas are available in three (3) different sizes; the 8”, 10” and 12” portion sizes — we went for the smallest size of 8” which is presumably made for a single diner; the pizza being sliced in four (4) pieces, while the Pepperoni Pizza is described to have come with elements such as a tomato base, mozzarella and pepperoni. One thing that we found worth commending about the pizza is how the pizza does feel like one that is actually handmade in-house; this is rather surprising considering how the space around the food preparation is designed — there is also some waiting time involved in the preparation of each pizza as well. Going for a slice of the Pepperoni Pizza, we did find that the pizza does come with a base that holds up the toppings above pretty well; the pizza dough does give a firm and slightly chewy bite to the pizza, and while the dough didn’t feel too thick around the base, there are some parts around the edges where it can potentially feel a little heavy. Otherwise, the other elements does make the Pepperoni Pizza a crowd pleaser — savoury soft cheese, tangy tomato-based sauce and the saltish notes typical of cured meat with the thin slices of pepperoni. A pretty interesting spot to check out in the Kampong Glam neighborhood!

Got to know about the existence of Mee Kueh Ho 面粿好 when going around Hougang Green Shopping Mall neighborhood — these folks are a coffeeshop stalls ha is situated within the De Tian coffeeshop that is located at the back of the neighborhood mall; this would be the same coffeeshop that houses an outlet of L32 Handmade Noodles. Mee Kueh Ho first caught our attention with its stall front; the stall does seem to make use of a shade of pink as one of their theme colours which gives it a striking look. Opened in September 2025, the stall does seem to be a typical minced meat noodle stall that serves up the usual variety of noodles one can find at such stalls elsewhere; think Minced Meat Fish Ball Noodles, Trio Balls Noodles and Laksa — just to name a few, whilst also serving up a small variety of Teochew-style Kueh which they has since stopped offering when we made our visit in January 2026.

One of their items that caught our attention whilst skimming through the menu at Mee Kueh Ho would the Crispy Luncheon Meat Pork Noodles. While it is rather common to find stalls serving up minced meat noodle offering other variants of noodles such as that of Teochew Fishball Noodles and Original Pork Noodles, the inclusion of luncheon meat for such noodle dishes does feel like a fresh concept to us. Elements included in the Crispy Luncheon Meat Pork Noodles would be Mee Pok, pork slices, pork lard, beansprouts, fishball, meatball, sotong ball, braised mushrooms and minced meat; the sauce mix that the noodles are being tossed around would be the same vinegar, soy sauce and chili mix that one would find int be standard bowl of minced meat noodle. Thought that the noodles are springy while the sauce mix here wasn’t too heavy tasting; the light savouriness and tanginess that coats the noodles here made it rather easy to have. The Crispy Luncheon Meat does come with the saltish notes that one would typically expect; all having been fried to a crisp texture throughout without feeling particularly greasy. The fishball, meatball, and sotong ball were good to have, though the sotong ball’s texture wasn’t the best and did carry a fishy note; the beansprouts did add a crunch for some variance of texture, while the braised mushrooms came savoury with a bouncy bite. Not something we would make an out of the way visit for, though a decent option to have if one is in the ‘hood.

We have first made our visit to Nat’s Chicks some time back when they had opened their doors the very first time at People’s Park Centre — they have since moved out of that location for a while (their former space has now been taken up by an outlet of Dickson Nasi Lemak) and has since moved to the shop unit previously occupied by 51 Noodle House at The Venue Shoppes along Tai Thong Crescent. The address does make them a short walk away from Potong Pasir MRT Station. Whilst its former location featured a almost open-concept space, its current space is enclosed by glass windows and doors that feature both indoor and outdoor dining areas; the former providing patrons a comfortable air-conditioned environment to dine at within its premises. Nat’s Chicks is pretty much a one-woman show whose father had founded Five Star Chicken Rice; she did had a stint of operating Ah Five Hainanese Chicken Rice
with her brother before establishing Nat’s Chicks. The menu at Nat’s Chicks is split across sections dedicated to Main Dishes, Signature Chicken, Ala Carte, Chill Menu and Drinks.

The Hainanese Chicken Prata Roll is one of the items that is offered on the Chill Menu. Whilst we did initially expect that the Hainanese Chicken Prata Roll would probably be served in the form of a prata wrap, we were fairly surprised by how it turned out to be something that resembled that of a Murtabak. Interestingly, the Hainanese Chicken Prata Roll does also come with Hainanese Chicken Rice-style chili on the side to be paired up with the prata roll itself. Even though the namesake of the dish mentions Prata Roll, we did find that the texture of the prata to be relatively close to the Taiwanese-style egg crepe roll considering the slight chew that the Prata Roll does come with. Coming with only their usual poached chicken being stuffed inside the Prata Roll, we did find that the flavours of the Hainanese Chicken Prata Roll does come cleaner than the usual Murtabak and therefore makes it rather easy to finish; the chicken being tender and juicy while we did note the use of caramalised onions that adds a sweetness to the dish in certain parts as well. We also enjoyed it with the Hainanese Chicken Rice-style chili that adds a refreshing zing alongside the piquant spiciness that it carries; tickles the tastebuds just about right for those tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. A pretty inventive take and a fun eat overall.

For those whom frequent Chinatown Complex Food Centre, there seems to have been quite a number of changes for the tenancy of the stalls within the food centre. One new addition to the yellow zone of the food centre would be 团团圆圆 Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan that is located within the same row as where one would be able to find Hill Street Fried Kway Teow. These folks occupy the stall at the other extreme end of the same row; the stall should be relatively easy to identify considering the use of a handwritten font for its signboard while also featuring a pop-out of their Traditional Cheng Tng that goes beyond the height of the signboard frame as well. As one would have probably noticed, 团团圆圆 Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan serves up local-style desserts; their signature offering would be their Traditional Cheng Tng, though these folks also do have other items such as Mango Sago, Longan Grass Jelly, Tangerine Peel Red Bean etc. that are being listed other menu amongst a few others as well.

We went with the Traditional Cheng Tng which can be served either warm or iced — we went with the iced option during our visit to 团团圆圆 Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan on a weekday evening. 团团圆圆 Tuan Tuan Yuan Yuan does not describe the elements that comes within their rendition of the Traditional Cheng Tng, though we did observe elements such as white fungus, dried apricots, barley, Gingko nuts, longan, sweet potatoes and lotus seeds being included in the dish. For the iced version of the Traditional Cheng Tng, it also does come with shaved ice that is being shaved to a fine texture and scooped by an ice-cream scooper that is placed into the bowl; the shaved ice would have melted into the Cheng Tng when it is served, with the Cheng Tng coming adequately chilled. Considering so, the Traditional Cheng Tng was suitably sweet throughout the entire bowl, with other elements that provided an additional dimension of sweetness such as the likes of longan and dried apricot that also provided some element of chew. Speaking of chew, there is also varying textures going on with some harder and softer elements such as the barley and white fungus — the former being one element that these folks seem to be pretty generous with. Elements like the Gingko nuts and lotus seeds provided a harder bite with the Gingko nuts adding a hint of bitterness to cut through the sweetness of the dessert, while the sweet potatoes were cooked to a soft texture where chewing isn’t quite required for it.

Had been walking through Chinatown Complex Food Centre in recent times and had noticed a new stall that is situated within the green zone of the food centre — Mei Hong Creamery is one of the newest tenants to have shifted into the food centre; these folks should be rather easy to find if one is very familiar with the green zone of Chinatown Complex Food Centre at the very least. Mei Hong Creamery is located in between Smith Street Taps and Fook @ Smith Street (listed as temporarily closed on Google Maps at the time of writing) — as the namesake suggests, Mei Hong Creamery does serve up gelato as its main emphasis. Patrons do get a choice on whether they would like to have their gelato in cups or with waffles, as well as old-school ice-cream with bread, biscuit or cone. In an attempt to serve savoury food aside from the range of gelato that they have to offer, they also do serve up waffles with roast pork as well.

Whilst being offered as a savoury item, one quirk about the Roast Pork Waffle at Mei Hong Creamery is how they actually do allow patrons to go with the option of adding scoops of gelato to the Roast Pork Waffle — we opted for their Osmanthus Mango Passionfruit Gelato. The Roast Pork Waffle isn’t intended to be a gastronomical creation that is made to draw crowds on its own, but feels more like an addition to the menu to provide an option of savoury food that also feels like a compliment to Smith Street Taps’ line-up of craft beers on tap. While the roast pork doesn’t come with a crisp exterior, we did find it pretty decent considering how the roast pork was easy to chew through and wasn’t too fatty — savoury and does not carry any undesirable porky stench. The waffles here are done in a flatter form that makes it suitable as a snack rather than the more plush ones that we are used to seeing outside; the waffle does carry a hint of buttermilk fragrance but isn’t inherently too sweet to match with both the sweet and savoury elements atop — the waffle also being sufficiently moist at the same time and did not feel cloying. The Osmanthus Mango Passionfruit Gelato did feel a little lacking in the floral notes of Osmanthus; seemingly focused more on the Mango and Passionfruit elements where it carried a slight zing from the passionfruit though a little overly sweet from the Mango — that being said, the gelato was adequately stored with a smooth consistency that held against the heat well without any icy bits formed.

While Basil King has been actively expanding its footprint after the establishment of their very first outlet in Singapore, it does seem that there is yet another establishment that is entering the same space as them within the F&B scene here. Located within the Kopi Breweries coffeeshop at Blk 61 of Shun Li Industrial Park, one would be able to find A Chai Thai Food — Basil Queen 07 occupying a stall unit that is situated in the middle of the row of stalls within the coffeeshop. Just like Basil King, A Chai Thai Food — Basil Queen 07 centres its menu around its Thai-style stir-fried basil dishes; all of which featuring meat / seafood, with patrons having the choice to opt for Single, Double, Triple or Quadruple Egg options which is itself inspired by that of Phed Mark in Bangkok, Thailand. Apart from such offerings, A Chai Thai Food — Basil Queen 07 also serves up scrambled egg rice and also ala-carte Moo Ping as well.

We went for the Double Egg rendition for the Basil Pork which comes with a sunny side up featuring two (2) egg yolks — much to the like of how the same dish is being presented at Basil King or even at Phed Mark in Thailand. The Basil Pork Double Egg does feature all of the usual suspects that one would find in a Thai-style stir-fried basil minced pork — think French beans, chili padi, basil, minced pork; all that served with white rice on the side; patrons can opt for their desired level spiciness out of five levels which we went for Level 2 (Normal Spicy). Felt that the Basil Pork was executed in a way that we liked it — the version here does come a little saucier where one will be able to have a little bit of sauce to go with the rice. The minced pork here does come with a mix of fattier and lean parts that provides a bit of bite though was also easy to chew through; all that whilst having absorbed the savoury notes of the sauce and came without any undesirable porky stench. The notes of basil does come through to flavour up the dish, while we found Level 2 to be adequately spicy for those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness; the addition of French beans also gave the dish and element of crunch amidst the minced pork. The fried egg does feature molten egg yolks that are runny, though the base of the egg white does come a little thick and stiff — perhaps intentionally done so to achieve some ease in picking it up whilst plating the dish.

Was passing by the Food Republic food court at 313@Somerset and noticed a change in the stall occupying one of the booths situated in the middle of the food court — replacing the space where the outlet of Tirato had previously occupied would be a Mi Dian 米点手工糕点. The signboard of the store does seem to hint that this is a collaboration between these folks and a “Kwan Kee Store”. For those whom are unaware, Kwan Kee Store is a brand that hails from Malaysia — the brand does have presence in multiple states in Malaysia including Penang and Kuala Lumpur, though the branch that is affiliated with Mi Dian is the Johor Bahru branch. Considering the namesake of the stall, it does seem that Mi Dian has narrowed down Kwan Kee Store’s offerings to a number of their rice cake items, providing Singaporeans a taste of Kwan Kee Store’s offerings without having to cross the border to give them a go.

We were being told by their staff at the counter that the signature offering here would be their Steamed Pandan Cake; whilst there are no descriptions that mentions the elements that goes into the making of the various items here, it does seem that the different layers of pandan-infused rice cakes does seem to also alternate with layers of coconut-infused rice cakes as well. The rice cakes here do also seem to be rather substantially-sized as compared to the Kueh that one would typically find at local stores — could definitely do being shared between two (2) to three (3) pax. Texturally similar to the Nonya-Kueh that we have grown up with, the Steamed Pandan Cake features a pillow-y soft and sticky texture that does not stick to the teeth; all that whilst carrying a whiff of Pandan fragrance that perfumes the tastebuds subtly.

It does seem like the local Min Jiang Kueh scene has been shaking up ever since the establishment on various brands that are riding on the success that Munchi Pancakes had been leading for the past number of years — whilst we had seen other brands such as Ottie Pancakes, Uncle Pancakes, Singa Snacks, Sarah’s Pancakes and Cutecute Pancakes having set up shop in recent times, there is yet another new name that had just entered the market. Meelo Pancakes had recently set up shop in the Food Junction food court at Lot One in Chia Chu Kang; these folks occupy a pushcart-style kiosk within the food court. Whilst there isn’t much of an established link between the two (2) brands, we did note that the staff were wearing aprons with Rice Meat Up’s branding. Much like Cutecute Pancakes, Meelo Pancakes simply focuses on Min Jiang Kueh offerings, though the menu does hint at the availability of pancakes with batter of different flavours matched with various fillings as well.

Despite listing down quite a variety of pancake skins available for their Min Jiang Kueh offerings, Meelo Pancakes were only serving up the Original variant when we made our visit to the stall. Considering so, we decided to go for the Original Nutella x Oreo Pancake; the portion that was being served to us was a piece from the edge of the pancake. Similar to the likes of the Min Jiang Kueh that is usually served up at Munchi Pancakes and Ottie Pancakes, the pancake is done thicker than the usual Min Jiang Kueh so a single piece of the pancake does come at a substantial portion size. The pancake itself does come with a spongey texture, though we did feel that it could have come a little moister — it does definitely come with a good bite and some tension to chew apart. With all that being said, we did like how the edges of the pancake did remain crisp and light with a biscuit-esque crunch without being soft and limp. The Nutella x Oreo filling here is probably something that is inspired by that of Speculoos filling in a way that sees the all-familiar chocolate-hazelnut spread coming with crushed Oreo cookie crumbles sprinkled across to give an element of crunch for a variance of textures; all that without adding much of a disturbance to the familiar notes of Nutella at the same time. Would definitely be interesting to see the direction Meelo Pancakes will take in the long run; the competition in the Min Jiang Kueh scene has definitely become tighter as it seems for now.

Those whom are living around the North might find the name 505 Sembawang Minced Meat Noodle fairly familiar; this is an establishment that is best known for their minced meat noodles that has first started out as a coffeeshop stall at Blk 505 Canberra Link, though they also do operate an individually-run dining establishment at Blk 233 Yishun Street 21 that operates as a 24-hour eatery. These folks have just opened yet another individually-run dining establishment; this time name 505 Niang Dou Foo that is situated at Hougang Green Shopping Mall, replacing the now-defunct outlet of Mana Lagi there. Unlike the outlet at Yishun, one thing that is noted about its location at Hougang is the addition of Yong Tau Foo dishes atop of its minced meat noodles and Laksa offerings; there is also the lack of curry rice items being offered at Hougang — otherwise the menu is rather similar to that of what is available at Yishun.

The Yong Tau Foo at 505 Niang Dou Foo is being served in a set of six (6) pieces with a choice of carb where patrons can opt between several types of noodles and rice; patrons can also opt for the Yong Tau Foo to be served with soup or dry — the latter would comprise of options such as Prawn Soup, Tom Yam Soup or Laksa. We found ourselves picking our six desired items from the display chiller, whilst opting for our order to come with Chee Cheong Fun (priced at an extra $1.20 above the base price) and to come with Laksa. Going for a mix of fried items and soup items, we actually quite liked how the Laksa Yong Tau Foo turned out to be here — the Laksa gravy itself is one that is especially rich, creamy and umami. definitely fragrant from the various spices and aromatics that had went into the preparation process of the broth. We did feel that the Laksa gravy could be a little heavy when had as a standard bowl of Laksa; that being said, opting for the Chee Cheong Fun made it a delight to have especially since the rice vermicelli rolls are a little lighter and complimented the Laksa gravy just fine. We also liked how the fried items — especially so for the eggplant stuffed with minced meat that is all soft on the outside and savoury with slight crisp on the exterior of the meat; all that without being too greasy.

Got to learn about the existence of Cutecute Pancake whilst scrolling around social media — these folks occupy a small stall unit within the Kimly Coffeeshop that is situated at the foot of Blk 684 Hougang Avenue 8. Taking up the space beside the drinks stall, Cutecute Pancake is yet another one of those contenders that seems to be positioned to take on the likes of Sarah’s Pancakes and Singa Snacks — these are the same establishments that seems to have taken inspiration from other names such as that of Munchi Pancakes and Ottie Pancakes that serves up modern-style Min Jiang Kueh across the island. Cutecute Pancake is more similar to Sarah’s Pancakes and Singa Snacks in the way that they only serve up more traditional-style Min Jiang Kueh, though does offer them with different batter types such as Matcha and Charcoal pretty much like Munchi Pancakes and Ottie Pancakes do as well.

We made our visit to Cutecute Pancake during the mid afternoon so there really wasn’t a lot of flavours to choose from with the limited number of pancakes that are being displayed in the display case. Considering the limited variety of pancakes in non-Original batter and the type of fillings left for such pancakes in-stock, we found ourselves going for the Matcha Peanut Pancake. Taking a bite into the pancake, we did feel that the pancake itself here does carry a bit of a firm bite; would say that the batter does come reasonable soft within — considering how we got ourselves the matcha batter rendition of the pancake, we did notice that there is a subtle note of jasmine green tea that lingers at the back of tongue. The peanut fillings here does come with the standard crushed peanuts that had been mixed with salt and sugar for that nutty, slightly saltish and lightly sweet note which comes with an added crunch — all of which is to be expected for a good peanut fillings within the local Min Jiang Kueh.

The Singapura Hawker Club coffeeshop at 82 Joo Chiat Road does seem to be a spot that had been seeing quite a revolving door of tenants come and go within a short period of time. Lapan Dua is one of the of the more recent additions to the coffeeshop which also houses an outlet of the The Original Vadai — one can find Lapan Dua around the area where all of the dine-in seatings of the coffeeshops are located and these folks occupy the stall unit situated in the middle of the entire coffeeshop. It is noted that all stalls at Singapura Hawker Club coffeeshop are either halal-certified or Muslim-owned and Lapan Dua is no exception. Lapan Dua directly translates from Malay to English as “82” — likely a reference to the address where the stall is located, though its menu also features plenty of items priced at $8.20 as well. Serving up western fare, Lapan Dua’s menu is split across categories such as Breakfast, Platters, Pastas, Grubs, Mains and Signatures.

One of the dishes that has caught a fair bit of our attention whilst skimming through the menu at Lapan Dua would be their Lemak Chili Pasta. Lapan Dua does not describe the elements that comes with the Lemak Chili Pasta, though the folks behind the counter did tell us that it would come with a fried chicken cutlet; there is also an option to add two (2) prawns which is a chargeable add-on that is said to be pretty popular an option with its patrons as well. It can also be observed from our order that the Lemak Chili Pasta does come with linguine as the type of pasta served with the dish by default. Digging into the Lemak Chili Pasta, we especially liked how the Lemak Chili sauce was being done here; it does definitely come thick and rich — hits the spot where “Lemak” is within its namesake, whilst coming with soft hints of lemongrass and turmeric that perfumes at the back of the tastebuds. Chili flakes are added to include an element of spice which is pretty manageable even for those with low tolerance to spiciness, while the pasta comes al-dente. The accompanying fried chicken cutlet is a crowd-pleaser being sufficiently moist and juicy inside, while coming with a crisp golden-brown batter on the exterior. Quite a well-executed fusion-style pasta priced reasonably at $8.20 that would satisfy the tastebuds.

3Brew Coffee is one of those places that we had managed to learn about only when waking past the shop space within the neighbourhood — these folks are located at Blk 164 Bukit Merah Central, being situated right beside Fu Kang Coffee Shop 福康咖啡店. An establishment that is set-up for takeaway operations, there are no seats situated within the shop unit itself; with that being said, the only seating space provided by the folks at 3Brew Coffee would be the camping chairs that is located outside. 3Brew Coffee does remind us a little bit of the hipster coffee kiosks that had been popping up in some heartlands of the late; think the likes of concepts like Bumi Brew and the now-defunct QYLS Coffee — the menu is one that heavily emphasises on its coffee offerings that is split into sections dedicated to Specialty and Nanyang, while they also do carry a Tiramisu and a Sea Salt Brownie for those looking for something to go along with their cuppa.

3Brew Coffee does serve up their Nanyang-style Kopi using their espresso machine much like how the folks at Generation Coffee, Bumi Brew, Koffee Kollective, Seasonal Brew etc. does it, but the Sea Salt Brownie that the offer is also something that really deserves a mention. The folks behind the counter at 3Brew Coffee had mentioned that they do not have any plates and hence provided us with a tissue to serve our Sea Salt Brownie on — presentation issues aside, we were really impressed with how the Sea Salt Brownie is being executed here; slightly crusty on the outside, all that whilst being soft and moist to the point that it is almost fudge-y within. Coming with a very rich chocolate-y note, we liked how the the brownie wasn’t too sweet — all that whilst coming with specks of sea salt that helps to balance things out with a slight hint of saltishness that cuts right through to keep things from going too heavy; a brownie that was definitely easy to have and also one that would capture the hearts of those whom love their chocolate-y desserts!