The Refinery Singapore...

About 10 minutes walk from Lavender Mrt station, you will be greeted by this humble and cosy cafe decked around several industrial shophouses. Along the way, you will find that the surroundings are really nice, especially good for taking an ootd which will definitely get a lot of attention on Instagram.

You will be surprised when you reached Refinery because you, at least for me, wouldn't expect the interior to be so spacious and comfortable. We chose to sit at a marble table (with good natural lightings) so we can take good pictures of their food later. If you want to take nice photos of the food in Refinery, I would suggest you choose the marble table instead of the wood table because you will face some problems with your shadow bothering your photos. Unless you have good editing skills, you might just want to consider choosing the marble table. 
I took about 10 minutes to get this shot, and of course thanks to the marble table! 

Their menu is simple and easy to read but what attracts me, in particular, was the price of their food. It was really cheap as compared to other cafes in Singapore and there is no SERVICE CHARGE! Hurray!! This means we have more money to order more food!!! 
We ordered four of their signature or most popular dishes: Refinery Bowl, Refinery Wings, Salted Egg Onion Rings & Kopi Addict Waffle.



The Refinery Bowl was really nice, especially their ozzing egg and tender beefs! P.S., Do not mix all the ginger together because it may be too much for those who aren't a fan of ginger!


The Refinery Wings were well marinated, but wish the portion could be bigger and the wings be crunchier! Only 6 pieces, where got enough?


My favourite dish of all, I mean what can go wrong with salted egg! This is a must try!


The coffee waffle was not too strong and it goes especially well with the bacon which tastes like Rou Kan and the Butterscotch ice cream. You just can't stop eating after taking the first bite! It's that good!

Nearest Mrt Station: Lavender
Location: 115 King George's Avenue #01-02, Singapore 208561
What To Order: Kopi Waffle, Onion Rings, Wings, & Refinery Bowl
Cafe Ratings: 4/5
Food Ratings: 8.5/10
Price: Refinery Bowl ($10), Refinery Wings ($10), Kopi Addict Waffle ($16) & Salted Egg Onion Rings ($12)

Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping)

W.E. Cafe...

It's actually very easy to find this cafe if you have been to Suntec City for many times. Just located above Cedele and Starbucks, W.E Cafe is very popular among the office crowd for its cheap set lunch deals. There are 3 choices to choose from with a complimentary soup, 1) Seafood Spaghetti 2) Scrambled Eggs with Toast, Salad, Sausage & Roasted Potatoes 3) Beef Salad and it only costs $8.90 per set. Additionally, you can just top up another $3 to enjoy a drink of your choice. If you are not interested in any of the lunch deals, they also have the $13.80 waffle set that comes with two free drinks available from 3pm-5pm.

 Some background information on W.E. Cafe: 1) W.E. Cafe in full is called Workshop Element Cafe
                                                                     2) Founded by Chef Steven
                                                                     3) Serving Roasted dishes and Sandwiches with special sides                                                                        to self-made gelato/waffles as fresh as possible
                                                                     4) Contact Number: 0837 0287

 It's really hard and rare to find cheap and affordable cafes in Singapore. Even if there really is, the quality and quantity of the food is often compromised. Although the food in W.E. Cafe is not that fantastic; this I mean in terms of the presentation and types of food they offer, the food was really worth the price. The portion was not too bad, and the food was decent. 

 We ordered Seafood Sphagetti, Scrambled Eggs with Toast, Salad, Sausage, & Roasted Potatoes and we get to choose a drink of our choice. The staff recommended us their signature drink which was the white Yuzu tea and it turns out to be real refreshing. A pity the soup was sold out, but the staff was nice enough to offer us salad instead. I really like the salad, the dressing was well-mixed and it opens up your appetitie. 

This is their Seafood Spaghetti
This is what I had, really like their salad and White Yuzu Tea. I was quite suprised that their portion was quite big and I was really very full after finishing everything. So worth the price and it's so cheap!

Nearest Mrt Station: City Hall/Esplanade/Promenade 
Location: 3 Temasek Boulevard Suntec City #02-441/442
What To Order: Set Lunch Deals & Waffles
Cafe Ratings: 3/5
Food Ratings: 7/10
Price: $11.90

Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping)

Cool Play Softserve Singapore...

I had such a hard time trying to find this Taiwanese ice cream shop at Toa Payoh during my first visit. It's actually quite easy to find the shop if you are very familiar with Toa Payoh or if are not, use Google Maps. I finally found the place with the help from Google Maps (strongly suggest you use it), and it is about 10 minutes away from Toa Payoh Mrt Station. 

It was very quiet when I was there, that's the benefit of going there at a weird timing (around 4pm). They have only four flavours written on their menu board: Heavy Chocolate, Honey Walnut, Matcha, and Melons. From what I know, they will change their flavours every month and I ordered the mix one (Heavy Chocolate & Honey Walnut) where you can choose two ice cream flavours for $5. If you are only keen in trying one flavour, then that just costs you $4.50. Of course you can choose between a cone or a cup. They also added a moustache-looking biscuit to the ice cream. Their concept is really cute, you can see all the moustache accessories and decorations in their shop. They also have a small corner for customers to take photo with the moustache props they provided. 
Small little corner where you can use their props to take photo!

Moustache Concept



The ice cream was really smooth and not too empowering, tastes so good especially during this hot weather. I personally preferred the heavy chocolate one because it leaves a good aftertaste that retains in my mouth. Really very refreshing! Will definitely be back to try more flavours!
Isn't their ice cream so cute with the moustache biscuit?

Nearest Mrt Station: Toa Payoh
Location: Blk 85B Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, #01-332B
What To Order: Ice Cream
Cafe Ratings: 3.5/5
Food Ratings: 8/10
Price: Mix ($5) & Single ($4.50)

 Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping)

Brunches Cafe...

I did not plan to go to Brunches initially but was left with no choice when Old Hen Coffee Bar was full. Maybe the phrase "left with no choice" doesn't give any credit to Brunches or make Brunches sound as if it is not a very good place to be in. Rather, I would say it was a "blessing in disguise"! 

Honestly, I was very disappointed when I saw Old Hen was full, especially when I chose to go at a timing when there are no more lunch crowd. I decided to just walk further down to find somewhere else to eat and am really thankful that there are so many cafes in Rangoon road such as Jewel, Cold Pantry, and of course, Brunches cafe.

A pity I couldn't snap more photos of the cafe because there was a wedding photoshoot when I was there. I know right, buy 4D also not so zhun. Anyway, I sat down and the menu was given to me. I really like the old, antique, rustic and vintage vibes of the cafe. Their decorations were really nice and cosy and I can see that they put in a lot of effort in coming out with the theme of the cafe, from the table settings, chairs to the accessories they used. They have an antique car that they used as a table. It was really cool but I couldn't get a picture because people were eating there. 




The service was not too bad, just that I feel you should give the customers some time to think about what they want to order, and not pressurize them. I just barely sat down, haven't even got a chance to look at the menu properly, the waiter came and asked me if I was ready. Lol! I was like huh?!! Are you really that impatient or in a hurry? I told him I was not ready and when I started looking at the menu again, another female staff approached me asking if I was ready to order! Seriously?!! Really??! I was a bit pissed and told her off in the face that I will call her when I am ready. Tsk!

 In the end, I ordered the mixed berries waffle with blueberry ice cream and I don't have to wait for very long before the food was served (About 15 minutes). The waffle looked damn pretty and I mean like it is always nice to eat something that looks good also. I spent like less than 5 minutes to snap a good photo of it because not much effort is needed when your food is so pretty and instagrammable. I don't know exactly what they put in the waffle but it feel like it was well-marinated, I mean like it does not taste like the usual waffle you can buy outside but somewhat it tastes like cereal to me. I don't know if thats the right thing to describe the waffle but it really shocked me in a good way because I really like it and it goes so well with the mixed berries, cereals and the blueberry ice cream. Another thing about the waffle that I like is that even though it is fluffy, it still tastes good. I'm a huge fan of waffle that are not too buttery and crunchy but the waffle here just changed my perception about my biasness. Really enjoyed the waffle alot. A pity I don't have enough stomach for their mains but would definitely be back to try their mains. And yah, remember to share the waffle with your friend because it is huge, real huge!
 Isnt it so instagrammable?

The waffle is just too pretty to be eaten! 

Nearest Mrt Station: Farrer Park
Location: 96 Rangoon Road
Cafe Ratings: 4/5
Food Ratings: 8/10
Price: $13.50

Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping)

Morganfield's Suntec...

Before recess week is over, I need to eat something really good to recharge and prepare myself for the remaining semester. The past few months were extremely chaotic, always trying my best to cope with school, work, friends and family. And so today, I woke up telling myself that Hey, I should reward myself for the hard work that I have put in so far and should treat myself to good food. And Ta-dah, the next moment I found myself at Suntec for lunch. Me and my friend were walking aimlessly around Suntec looking for something to eat but nothing seems to catch our attention. It was then that I remembered someone telling me before that the ribs in Morganfield was really damn good and so we decided to head there for lunch.

Since it was in the late afternoon, there wasn't much people when we were there. The place is really nice, very big and spacious. I really like the old antique wood and bricks they used to decorate the place as well as the lights they used. They sell a wide range of ribs and the prices are not cheap, ranging from $26++ (Half-rack) to $40++ (Full-rack). They have other items on their menu as well, pastas and burgers. We ordered the Hickory BBQ Full-rack ribs and a mushroom and onion burger for sharing. Service was not too bad, but the young girl who was serving us initially had a bad attitude. I guess we just give her the benefit of the doubt since she is still very young.
Isn't the place big and spacious?
This is what their table set up looks like

 Had to wait about 20 minutes before our food is served. The burger was meh, the beef patty was so dry and the mushrooms were tasteless and too big a chunk. Didn't really like the burger not only because of its taste but also because of its looks. It didn't even look presentable for the amount of money I was paying it for and so I didn't even bother to take a photo of it. But again, the place is well-known for its ribs and I shouldn't be too critical about it. Just order their ribs when you are there. The ribs are mind-blowing, so freaking gigantic. We were shocked when we saw it on our table. Really regretted ordering the full-rack and the burger. I knew instantly we couldn't finish it. So if you guys are there with just two person, I will suggest that you just get a full-rack ribs for sharing and of course order a pint of beer to go with the ribs. They have happy hours for the beer and so it won't burn a huge hole in your pocket. I especially like the burnt parts of the ribs, so crunchy and when you get pass that burnt part of the ribs, the meat inside is juicy and soft. So well-marinated! Really very impressed by the ribs but the fries were not that good. No taste and not crunchy. Overall, still a good place with good and yummy ribs. 
Get a pint of beer to go with the ribs! They have happy hours!
Their ribs are so big and good!

Nearest Mrt Station: City Hall, Esplanade or Promenade
Location: 3 Temasek Boulevard
Cafe Ratings: 4/5
Food Ratings: 8/10

Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping)

Archipelago Creamery...

Travelling to school might be a hassle for those who are not staying in campus, especially when it comes to taking the train during the morning or evening peak hours coupled with the long train rides. Perhaps the opening of Archipelago Creamery near Pulau NTU would give us some motivation for school, and also a new place for us to hang out after school. School will definitely not be that boring anymore but that said, it does not mean that only NTU students should be happy, I mean it's a good place with good food and relatively affordable prices, it's definitely worth traveling all the way down to try their food.

Believe it or not, I was supposed to be there on Thursday after my class but I forgot to bring my phone out. How careless of me? Urghh, I was so angry with myself throughout the entire train ride to school and so I came on a Friday instead before my dance class. Its really quite easy to find the place, just inside Nanyang Community Centre, opposite City Harvest Church. Those who aren't familiar with the West, I will provide information at the end of this post. 

I really like the theme of the cafe, I guess it has something to do with ship and sea which is quite obvious from their logo. And you know what, I really like how cosy the place is, feels like a place you will be when you are away on vacation. Maybe it's the colour combination they used decorating the cafe, blue and white just gives off a comfortable and relaxing vibe. There wasn't much people when I was there and I went to get their famous Shibuya toast (Strawberry and Chocolate) which many have already posted on Instagram. Remember to bring enough cash because they do not accept cards. I have to go to the nearby Kopitiam  to draw money. So save yourself that hassle, have enough money before going to the cafe and also save yourself from being embarrassed. I was told that the toast would take about 15-20 minutes before it is ready to serve. They also sell waffles, Butterscotch Waffles at $4.50 and their daily special at $5 (If I remember correctly) and you have to add an additional price for their ice cream. I don't know if their coffee is nice because I'm really not a coffee person but they do sell that in their cafe.


After 20 minutes, the toast finally arrived. When it came to my table, I was literally like WTF!?? How am I supposed to finish this??? The toast was damn huge, I didn't expected it to be that huge. They were really very generous when it comes to giving the ice cream and strawberries, definitely meant to be shared with 2-4 people. The toast also comes with honey as the syrup, especially for those with a very sweet tooth. The outer layer of the toast requires some effort to be cut, I meant it in a good way because it was so crunchy. When you get pass that monstrous layer, you will be surprised by what you see inside, Toasted Bread, Marshmallows and I in love with the cereals they have inside, so freaking good. Also, the strawberry gives off a comfortably sour taste which neutralizes the sweetness of the toast, making the toast not so jelat and too sweet. A pity I couldn't finish it even though it was really good because the portion is just so huge. You got pto be there to see it for yourself. I will be back there again next week with a friend to try their waffle and I'm already excited thinking about it. So many places selling Shibuya toast in Singapore today and this might be one of the best around.


I also spent my birthday during my second visit to this cafe. The staff was very nice to explain to us all the different flavours of ice cream they have on that day and we ordered their Charcoal Waffle with Earl Grey Ice Cream. A pity their Shibuya Toast was not available on that day but the delicious charcoal waffle make up for it. I was very impressed with their charcoal waffle, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, and I dare to say it's one of the few places in Singapore that actually do such delicious charcoal waffe. I also need to thank the staff for the complement milkshakes!

Nearest Mrt Station: Pioneer, and take bus 179 at the side with the Kopitiam, drop at the third stop
Location: 60 Jurong West St 91 #01-09, inside Nanyang Community Centre
Cafe Ratings: 4/5
Food Ratings: Strawberry and Chocolate Shibuya Toast (8/10) & Charcoal Waffle with Earl Grey Ice Cream (8/10)
Price: $14.80 & $10+

Written by: Yong Wei Kai (Follow me on Instagram @yongweikai or @sgcafehopping

The Journey Begins...

After much persuasion from many of our friends, I have decided to start blogging about all the different cafes and restaurants in Singapore besides only posting them on our Instagram page (@sgcafehopping).

 I know that there are many food bloggers that have already started way before us but one thing I can promised is that we will make sure that our reviews on any cafes or restaurants in Singapore be solely based on our truthful opinions. We are new to blogging and I apologise if our blog seems too simplistic but isn't simple nice and easy to understand?

 We will definitely improve along the way as we get comfortable with blogging and I hope you guys will show us some support. Now, I'm really excited about putting up our first post over here!

 Stay tuned and in the meantime, you can follow us on Instagram @sgcafehopping or follow us on our individual account @yongweikai to find out some of the cafes we have already visited.

   
P.S: I spent one semester of school in Seoul which explains why there are quite a number of posts on our Instagram introducing some nice and dainty cafes in Korea.
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Yong Wei Kai Founder of SgCafeHopping Promoting Singapore's food scene has always been my dream.

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