Retail-cum-cafe concepts have been getting rather popular these days — while the idea used to have been stemmed from grocer-cum-cafe concepts where the cafe would comprise of a retail section that is being set aside for the sale of the produce that they use in their food offerings (think establishments such as Italian Coffee Lab / Alimentari General Store, The Providore, Surrey Hills Grocer etc.), it seems that the trend had since extended further with fashion retailers now jumping into the local cafe scene as well. While the Coach Cafe pop-up within Coach Play Singapore Shophouse and Ralph's Coffee are establishments that are either brought in directly by the global fashion houses or are concepts that had sprouted up in direct collaboration with them, uptown. is a little different. Located at 55 Zion Road just right across the road from Great World City and just beside the new-ish Martin's Kitchen, uptown. is a fashion consignment store-cum-cafe. The facade of uptown. is pretty clean with white brick walls and geometrical doors that features large glass panels; allows natural light from outside to shine into the store — there is also a brightly-lit al-fresco dining area featuring green cushioned booth seating which provides a soothing look. As one walks into the store, that quaint and rustic look extends further; one can find the clothing racks and display cases containing the consignment items for retail — there is also a decently-sized area dedicated for dine-in patrons that comprises of low tables with plush leather sofas and regular dining tables as well. The food menu at uptown. is actually pretty extensive — consists of categories such as Superfood Breakfast, Light, Greens, Soup, Side, Heavy, Pastas and “Keep The Family Close …”; the last section being the section of the menu dedicated for children. Beverages available at uptown. consists of espresso-based specialty coffee such as Espresso, Black and White, as well as a Homemade Ice Tea.

We made our visit to uptown. as the first spot that we are visiting for the day. Considering how we already were not too hungry and needed to reserve some stomach space for the rest of the day, we decided to go for something listed on the Light section of the menu — this would comprise of smaller-sized items that seemed to be more breakfast-centric — great as a smaller snack to share across the table or for an individual diner’s consumption if one has a smaller appetite. Based on the description of the item on the menu, the uptown. Sausage Muffin comprises of elements such as chicken sage patty, english muffin, cheddar, egg and tater tots. Observing the dish as it arrives the table, the uptown. Sausage Muffin is uptown.‘s take on the English Muffin offering from the Golden Arches — a hearty offering to have as breakfast; the tater tots replacing the hashbrown should one go for the set at the Golden Arches, while it also comes accompanied with a sriracha aioli that one can dip the tater tots into. The uptown. Sausage Muffin doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel — one thing we did note about the uptown. Sausage Muffin is how it feels like a “cleaner” version of the one that is being served at the Golden Arches. For one, the English Muffin is light and fluffy, though less crusty — it also feels less “floury” on the exterior; something which we preferred. The chicken sage patty comes all savoury with a slight herby and peppery undertone; provided for much of the flavours of the dish, while the cheddar is melted over the patty for yet another dimension of savouriness that antes up the taste of the uptown. Sausage Muffin. While the fried egg came with an almost fully-cooked egg yolk, the soft and jiggly egg whites and the crisp, browned underside was simply comforting — overall a pretty safe breakfast item, though a little bit of a small bite at $12 (hence listed in the “Light” section of the menu). Certainly more interested to give their Butter Chicken Na’anwich from the “Heavy” section of the menu a go some day; an interesting addition to the Great World neighbourhood nonetheless.