The Plain

Located next to the iconic Pinnacle@Duxton, The Plain, which opened in September 2010, is quickly becoming a place to be seen and heard, especially on weekends. For a quiet spot to marinade ideas, come on weekday afternoons when it might just be you and the barista – in this case, owner Vincent Teng who makes one feel right at home. “A coffee-maker makes a good cup of coffee but a barista makes your coffee and your day,” quips Vincent, who trained for a year in Melbourne before serving his first cup to a customer. After living in the Australian city for a decade, Vincent was determined to recreate its café culture when he came home. His architect wife designed the modern, laid-back place to browse magazines, and mull over life. P.S.: The Darling’s Eggs he serves are not, as one might think, a shout-out to the wife, but rather, a tribute to a Melbourne café where he worked for four years.

Quietest time
Weekdays after 3pm

Prices 
Espresso $2.80
Coffees $3.80/$4.50
Hot chocolate $3.80

Address
50 Craig Road
Operation Hours
Daily 7.30am to 7.30pm

Web
www.theplain.com.sg

Highlander Coffee

Small and understated, Highlander Coffee is where you go for some “seriously simple” coffee. Nestled in a row of shophouses along Kampong Bahru Road, it calls a karaoke lounge and roti prata shop its neighbours, which all adds to its quiet charm. If drinking coffee here doesn’t give you some ideas, walking the surrounds surely will. The coffee bar opened in 2006, two years after owners Phil and Cedric Ho began conducting barista training and latte art workshops. These pioneers in the gourmet coffee scene wanted a place where they could roast their own blends, conduct classes, and serve up their best brews to coffee lovers. The most important thing to a good cuppa here? “Consistency,” insists Phil, the older brother who ditched an engineering career to pursue a caffeine-fuelled passion. Nothing draws customers back more than this, he says. We would have to agree: expect every cup to be as good as the last at Highlander.

Quietest time
Weekdays after 2.30pm

Prices
Espresso $2.90
Cappuccino $3.90
Café Latte $3.90

Address
49 Kampong Bahru Road

Operation Hours
Monday to Saturday - 9am to 6pm
Closed on Sunday and public holidays

Web
www.highlandercoffee.com

Loysel's Toy

A large part of what makes Loysel’s Toy charming has to be its location: a previously disused warehouse (now re-purposed) neatly hidden at the end of Kampong Bugis Road. “We wanted to create a space where you can sit down and not worry about the rest of the world,” says co-owner Marcus Leong. Opened only in January, the café is quickly winning fans, so come on weekday afternoons if you are looking for a place to put on your thinking cap. With their background in roasting specialty coffee, the café-owners encourage customers to taste and learn about different beans and blends. If you have always been a café latte and cappuccino drinker, why not try something different here? The French press, pour-over or siphon methods give lighter-flavoured coffee where you can taste the citrus or flowery notes of single-origin beans. Watch the barista “perform” the precise 50-second siphon method – like a science experiment – and get your brew served up in a science lab beaker.

Quietest time
Weekdays after 3pm

Prices
Cappuccino $4
Pour-over $4
Siphon Coffee $7

Address
66 Kampong Bugis, #01-01, Ture

Operation Hours
Tuesday to Friday - 9am to 6pm
Saturday and Sunday - 9am to 7.30pm

Web
www.loyselstoy.com

Kith Café

“We’re easy-going,” says Jane Hia, owner of Kith Café. You can tell that from the way the place has been set up: its tiny interior space – award-winning, no less – is offset by casual outdoor seating that gives you a view of the Singapore River along Robertson Quay. Early mornings and evenings are the best times to have a riverside cuppa, with the warm sun on you. Inspired by the coffee culture of Milan, Jane decided to create a “simple, genuine and sincere place” in 2009 to call her own. Located in a block of private apartments, Kith’s closest kin is the expatriate community in the vicinity. Jane has watched the children grow up, and has tended to lost dogs more than once. Little wonder she serves up a “babycino” – think milk froth, cocoa powder and marshmallow – for the kids, in a real cup. “The kids smash a lot of my cups, but you should see their eyes light up when the drink is served,” she says.

Quietest time
Weekdays after 3pm

Prices
Espresso $3.50
Cappuccino $3.80
Iced mocha with French vanilla ice-cream $6.00/$7.50

Address
7 Rodyk Street, #01-33
Watermark@Robertson Quay

Operation Hours
Daily 7am to 7pm

Web
www.kith.com.sg