The New School Coffee Shop

A revolution is brewing, our young people are taking over kopitiams and transforming them into bright, clean, airy spaces where one might be seen happily swigging a mug of imported German beer or savouring gourmet coffee over steaming pots of osso buco and mussels cooked in vino. Upping the hip quotient might not necessarily be such a bad thing after all judging from the crowds that throng this particular coffee shop at Bukit Merah Lane. Sure moan the evils of coffee shop gentrification all you want but hey this is a promising start. We might not necessarily see the death of char kuay teow on this island after all with the baby steps that the next generation of young hawkers here are taking.

Go West at this kopitiam at Block 119 at Bukit Merah Lane 1 (home to De Burg Burgers as well):

Brown Sugar by Eskimo serves up newfangled drinks bubble-tea style.
But of course the lions just had to try the gourmet coffee (Italian beans)
from the impressive La Pavoni machine.

An attempt at some latte art, great start.

Robust and strong beans but perhaps
the milk was not frothed well enough,
the latte ($3.90) had no body and was
a bit thin.

Nothing can separate a lion from his beer.

Here's Cute Cute's Schneider Weisse at
$9 a pint. Cheap, considering the inflated
alcohol tax here.

Be prepared to pay a little more for your stews here at Stew Kuche,
around $18+/-.

Settled for a seafood aglio olio ($10.90) instead.
Bah! It was alright, expected more ingredients
though.Will give their stews a try next time.

Everything's the colour of the ocean here cos seafood rules at this joint.

Mussels cooked in vino at $12 - quite a steal.

No complains here, the stock was flavourful
albeit very little alcohol detected.
But the lions had 3 unopened mussels in their
pot. Suggestion for a 1-to-1
exchange for edibles ones?

Overall, a slightly more expensive hawker dining experience but with quality ingredients. Our must-order is the mussel pot from Seasalt.

Blk 119
Bukit Merah Lane 1

Singapore 151119