Chye Seng Huat Hardware

Another revisit made to the place that I had not visited for about 8 years. It was surprising that the facade of Chye Seng Huat Hardware has practically looked the same over all these years. The Cafe in such Huatware Building still has its own uniqueness from the outside.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware

Piccolo has a strong whiff of espresso and was topped with steamed milk with a heart shape latte art.

While the flat white was in a slightly larger cup and has more of a milk taste compared to the Piccolo. 

Piccolo - $5, Flat White - $6

Those who enjoy Barista at work can sit along the counter to watch them preparing the drip coffee, latte art etc.

Open Concept Counter

With every order made by the patrons, we observed the Barista meticulously preparing the beverages at the counter. Her skillsets are so perfect and well trained that we observed that everything goes in a smooth procedural way without hiccups.

Barista at work

With such an open concept table, it gave patrons moments in appreciating how cups of beverages were prepared.

Professionalism at work

If you are looking for a hearty and complete breakfast meal, the Papa's Breakfast is a good choice. The plate was filled with Pork Sausage, egg, portobello mushrooms, tomato jam, homemade toasted bread, butter and rocket salad.  The egg can be chosen to be served in scrambled, sunny side up, over easy or sous vide. Personally, I find that this breakfast is tummy satisfying. The Tomato Jam is both sweet and tangy, a good item on the plate to go with the rest.

Papa's Breakfast - $24

Shrooms & Toast packs a savoury taste. It was mixed creamy mushrooms, multigrain toast, crispy bacon, sun-dried tomatoes and grated parmesan sprinkled all over the plate.

Shrooms & Toast - $19

The bacon streak and the toast lends a crispy texture for the breakfast while the creamy mixed mushrooms complement this crispiness with its soft and mushy texture.

Textural Bites

Despite revisiting, I'm still there for breakfast only. The mains on the menu are rather interesting and available from 11am onwards. I hope that I can be back some other time for their dishes too.

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Posted on 19th October 2014

Do not mislead by the run-down appearance of this hardware shop if you happen to pass by in Tyrwhitt Road. In fact, Chye Seng Huat Hardware (CSHH) is one of the popular cafes right today, famous for their brewing Coffee.

The place is owned by Papa Palheta, an independent coffee boutique, specializing in roasting coffee in Singapore and Malaysia.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware

Initially, I was misled by its quiet surroundings from the facade and thought that it was closed on a Sunday but as I walked further into the side gate, I realised that it's just another heaven.

CSHH (Chye Seng Huat Hardware) Coffee Bar

The dining place was divided into 2 portions, indoor and outdoor. Furniture are pretty interesting at the outdoor, with old school kind of coffee shop tables, welded strongly to durable metals, even its stools too.

Seatings

For the curious ones who pass by the outdoor sittings, there is a glasshouse in the middle featuring their roastery by Papa Palheta.

The Roastery

I had a look through the glass panels and saw big roasting machines. Too bad I wasn't in the luck to see its process. However, if you are keen on their roastery tour, you can check up on the C-Platfrom via Papa Palheta Website.

Roasting Machines

With such stuff around, it definitely feels more like a hardware place, matching its business name, CSHH.

Machine

Just right beside, there is another room with machines exposing its wiring and electronics. Look's like someone was trying to fix and figure something out or even to the extent of repairing their faulty machines.

Repair Workshop

The interior was cosy showing an island bar situated in the centre of the cafe with interesting hardware items hanging around the walls. With limited seating, I would say one has to be careful while walking by the aisles as it was rather narrow.

Interior Dining

Just at the counter, I was drawn away by the odd size and colourful Ang Gu kuay in the display cabinets. I had the thought "hey, what are these traditional queues doing here among the muffins / western pastries? ".

Weird Encounter

A simple and straightforward menu was attached to the clipboard are available near the cashier counters.

Menu

Coffee lovers perhaps will be taken away by the Hand-Brewed with Love portion on the menu. One can select the standard of brewing in terms of brightness, balance and bold. However, some waiting time is required and you will be notified by the counter.

What's Brewing?

Making up part of their hardware displays, they have some old school music players (turntables) with The Beatles disc by the side.

Old School Stuff

Hot chocolate was foamy and came with a good choco fragrance, perhaps the only letdown was its latte art which was some kind of out of shape.

Hot Chocolate - $6.50

Impressive breakfast with a nice colour presentation on a grey IKEA plate. The Huat Breakfast consists of 2 pork sausages,  ham steak, potato salad roasted tomato, croissant and egg of our choice (scrambled, sunny side up or over easy). Totally an energy booster. I love its flaking butter croissant and pillow-soft texture with my air pockets internally. Well, if this style floats your boat!

The Huat Breakfast - $17

While I thought pancakes were uninteresting in all breakfast menu and boy I was wrong. The banana pancakes were out of my expectations.  Fluffy and soft texture topped with roasted almonds flakes and refreshing strawberry. And where's the banana?

Banana Pancakes - $12

Instead of having slices of banana topped the pancakes, they have them done together with the pancake mixture, thus with every bite lending its fragrant and satisfying bite!

Banana Fillings

Ta-Da! Our semi-complete breakfast meal while waiting for the brew beverage.

Breakfast Table

Last but not least, the long-awaited 20 minutes of balanced brew coffee. It comes in a tall glass and a scarf on its bottleneck. Coffee was smooth and the taste was definitely as stated, striking a good balance between a not so sweet and not so bitter after taste.

Tobing Estate - $6

Those who decide to buy something off their retail shop can go further into the Annex.

The Annex

From coffee beans to souvenirs, do have a walk-in there.

The Annex

The service in overall is polite and commendable. It's not easy to grab a seat during the weekends, so if you want to skip the crowd, visit them at other timings.

Overall, the food was tasty and with such a rustic environment, it's hard not to come back again.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Chye Seng Huat Hardware
Location: 150 Tyrwhitt Road Singapore 207563
Website

Chef Yamashita

Chef Yamashita is one of the shophouses housed in the old school Tanjong Pagar Plaza. It is known for its Japanese Artisan Cakes and well like on social media. The exterior of the shop was designed in wooden textural brown and was quite prominent from far. Therefore, one would not easily miss the shop.

Chef Yamashita

As we entered the shop, the space was rather limited and only allow a few customers at one time to purchase the cakes over the counter. Just next to the counter, you can get some recipe books, cookies and gift boxes.

Next to Cashier

The first bite of Japanese light cheesecake with fresh strawberries had swept me away. The cake was light and fluffy without being too cloying with the strawberries topping the cake. Texture of cake was spongy and moist.

Ichigo Soufflé (いちごスフレ) - $7.20

Chocolate Lover should get this. This rich chocolate sponge cake with ganache is not too sweet in taste and is definitely a perfect creation for people who enjoy having chocolate cake. The cake is adorned with blueberry, fruits and some chocolate.

Choco Renga (チョコレンガ) - $7

Sliced Strawberry, fresh cream and chocolate were decked up by layers of puff pastry alternating with fresh cream. Raspberry jam was spread on the layers, making up the Mille Feuille. 

Mille-Feuille  (ミルフィーユ) - $7.20

This premium cream puff makes use of Hokkaido Milk and Japanese Flour filled with their homemade custard and chocolate chantilly cream. The topped was dusted with some icing powder and the texture of the crust is soft and chewy.

Premium Choux (Original) - $3

Their high-quality artisan cakes are heavenly. Service was polite and ended with a friendly smile. I will not mind having my future birthday cakes from Chef Yamashita. 

Rating: 4 / 5

Chef Yamashita (Tanjong Pagar)
Location: 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #02-44, Singapore 082001
Nearest Station: Tanjong Pagar (EW15)
Website

#MakanBoleh

#MakanBoleh is one of the many stalls in Seah In Food Centre recommended by people online for its Epok Epok during afternoon timing. It threw me a surprise that the turnover for their fried fritters was wiped up pretty fast when they are doled out from the kitchen. 

I have no choice but to exercise the "Kiasu" behaviour and hurried over to join the queue. However, those customers in front of me make my heart beat faster when I heard their orders every time as they are buying a lot and I wonder if there are enough in the batch for my purchase. 

Stall of #MakanBoleh

The Banana Balls were dark brown in colour with a crispy exterior skin but as we sink our teeth in, the texture was spongy and the inside was filled with air pockets.

Fried Banana Balls - 4 for $1

To my surprise, the Banana balls were packed of Banana Fragrant and I could not resist having more of them even though I just completed my lunch.

Intersection of the Banana Ball

I had Vadi recently and even though this Vadai is of original flavour (plain), the fragrance is commendable. Enjoy your pieces of Vadai munching together with the green chillis.

Vadai - 3 for $2

This needs no introduction. There are many versions of names whichever you called it, curry puff, kali pap or even Epok Epok. Apparently, #MakanBoleh is lauded for their Epok Epok. The $1 you spend here is a bang on your buck. The crust has cradle the fillings tightly, not allowing them to disintegrate. The ingredients are generous and the taste is consistent. 

The Potatoes were firm and you get a quarter of the hard boil egg within. What I like most was that the fillings are moist and this is definitely one of the better Malay Epok Epok that I ever had at a dollar.

Epok Epok - $1 Each

Rating: 3.25 / 5

MakanBoleh
Location: Seah Im Food Centre, 2 Seah Im Road, #01-36 Singapore 099114

JustIn Flavours of Asia 新洲老爷

It's time for gathering and one of us had suggested supporting Singapore’s pioneer celebrity chef Justin Quek restaurant JustIn Flavours of Asia.

Though we had booked a table for 5 and it seems like there was not much selection of seats for the group due to the limited space in the restaurant.  We were to sit in 3 by 2, however, it will definitely be better to enjoy our Cze Char Dishes on a round table.

Justin Flavours of Asia 新洲老爷

There are not many non-alcoholic drinks for selection and we ended up with a pot of tea to share among ourselves. 

Lychee Red Tea - $18

The tea was dry and bitter, not worth the price paid.

Into Individual Cups

I'm quite impressed by the light and crispy prawn fritters. It was not oily and goes indeed very well with the Chilli Crab Dip. Though it is chilli dip, don't worry, the dip is not too spicy.

 Crispy Prawn Fritters With Chilli Crab Dip  香脆虾配新加坡辣椒酱 - $22

Lately, the appearance of the Royal Chives dish is getting more common in most of the Cze Char places and well-liked by many. The execution of such a dish is simple, yet achieves great taste with bean sprouts and garlic.

Wok Fried Royal Chives With Bean Sprouts and Garlic 蒜炒青龙菜佐银芽 - $16

The Aburi Squid was my favourite dish among all. The flavours were zesty with lemon juice mixed in the sauces used on the vegetables. Aburi Squid's texture was good.

Aburi Squid With Lime, Roasted Garlic, Chilli and Coriander 烤乌贼佐泰式青柠檬蒜蓉酱 - $32

It sounded premium and a fusion to have Iberico Pork in our Chinese "Gu Lao Rou" Dish.  It has a combination of Spanish Iberico Pork over oriental ingredients like the Osmanthus flower. The dish does have its highlights apart from the usual ones with pine seeds and flowers used, however overall, we find that no doubt the Iberico Pork was used, the meat has nothing special from the normal ones we have.

Osmanthus Sweet & Sour Iberico Pork 桂花酸甜咕噜肉 - $32

Their recommended dish on their menu will be the Curry Fish Head. The fish is fresh and the curry was thick and strong, unlike the usual fragrant water base curry we had from the Cze Char Stall. The style of curry resembles more of the Indian culture, dark red in colour with a strong curry powder smell. Ingredients such as brinjal, tomatoes, chilli, coriander and ladyfingers were used.

Justin Curry Fish Head 星洲老爷咖喱鱼头 - $48

$1 for a bowl of Jasmine rice is still reasonable. However, if you prefer something fragrant, they do have chicken rice's rice at $2 per bowl.

Jasmine Rice (Per Bowl) 茉莉香白米饭 (一份) - $1

The dishes are special and uniquely done with a twist but do not really leave a deep impression on Cze Char Dishes. If you are looking for Atas Cze Char that has refined tastes, you may want to try the dishes recommended on their menu.

Rating: 3.25  / 5

JustIn Flavours of Asia 新洲老爷

Location: The Shoppes Marina Bay Sands #01-83 Singapore 018972
Nearest Station:  Marina Bay (NS27 / CE2 / TE20 )
Website

Fried Kuay Teaw Mee 炒粿條面

I was filled with joy when we were heading towards Seah Im Food Centre as this is the only Hawker Centre that has been at the back of my head all these years which I never had the chance to visit after so many years since my childhood days.

I did an eleventh-hour search for the recommended food of Seah Im Food Centre and was flabbergasted by the amount of food that we can explore here. It seems like a single trip will not cover all the food.

With time rushing, we scouted those stalls without too long a queue and quickly decided on the dishes.

Fried Kuay Teaw Mee Stall

A pretty decent plate of Fried KwayTeow Mee and this is the only dish that has more than 500 Kcal in its menu. It was sufficiently tasty with a tad of Wok Hei taste and sweet taste from the egg. Ingredients like Kway Teow, Yellow Noodles, eggs, cockles and beansprouts make up the dish.

Fried Kway Teow Mee

It's definitely not the best CKT I ever had but also not the worst here. 

The mouth of joy

To have a plate of Black Carrot Cake with less than 500 Kcal. This is not your typical plate of Fried Carrot Cake in Black as it was packed full of childhood taste. The carrot cakes were irregularly in sizes not like those we usually had in uniform sizes. Soft and tender with sweetness from the egg and sweet sauce, definitely one of the tenders in the market. If we can skip watching the Calories intake here, I would prefer the dish to be fried with pork lards and that should make this dish perfect.

Chai Tow Kuay - $3

The white carrot cake is decent with charred taste and sweet taste from the eggs. Similarly, the size was irregular and the texture was soft too.

White Carrot Cake - $3

If you are seeking old school taste and with a healthier choice option, I bet this stall should fit you best. They do not use pork lards and use healthier and lesser oil in cooking.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Fried Kuay Teaw Mee
Location: Seah Im Food Centre, 2 Seah Im Rd, #01-26, Singapore 099114
Nearest Station: Harbour Front ( NE1 / CC29 )

Sin Heng Kee 新兴记

Over the years since the last visit in 2019, Sin Heng Kee is still one of my favourite porridge places to go. Comparing the previous picture where the picture was taken before the pandemic, the place was so packed over the weekends that people can hardly walk in between.

Nonetheless, with their reputation and delicious porridge, there is still a consistent crowd coming in.

Shop of Sin Heng Kee

Comparing the prices before, there was a hike of $1.50 on their Signature Porridge, however, the taste and consistency still remain.

Signature Porridge - $6.50

The ingredients of the porridge are similar to what we have from the Signature Porridge, perhaps blessing out the fish slice and bits of century egg.

Mixed Organ Porridge 猪什粥 - $5

We added the Fried Fritters later on. It was freshly fried on the spot and goes very well with the porridge.

Fried Fritters add on at $1.20

The pork livers are not overcooked and is of the right firmness even though it was immersed into the porridge for sometime.

A Spoonful of goodness

We get to enjoy cuttlefish from the porridge we ordered too.

Cuttlefish

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Posted 14 March 2019

We had never expected that Sin Heng kee is so crowded during a Sunday morning. The entire place was swarmed with tables of families (We can see at least 2 generations in a family Nucleus) enjoying their Breakfast. This was my first visit and I don't think that this will be my last too for that I personally feel that this is the best congee that I ever had thus far. It was a challenge during a hot weekend as seats are limited and the waiting time is about 30 minutes time.

Sin Heng Kee

Ah ha! This is the secret tool to the bowls of thick gooey congee served! Hours in the boiling pot at the right consistency and you will achieve them!

Porridge Cooker

If you want a bit of everything, it is best to order their Signature Porridge. Meatball, Century Egg, Egg, Intestine, sliced cuttlefish, pig's liver, sliced fish and sliced pork were all included under the bed of hot congee. Ingredients were tendered and well seasoned. On a side note, I can even taste a hint of herb from the Pig's intestine.

Signature Porridge - $5

I love that the porridge is smooth, thick and gooey which you won't get shortchanged with them being too watery. Just break the egg yolk and mix it thoroughly.

Mixing the Porridge

With us being Century Eggs lovers, how can we miss such a good chance to order a place of it when most of them have it placed on their table? We do love preparing our own century egg with pickled ginger slices and their preparation with additional chilli and garlic had given us a good idea to pair them. Love that these all went well with the creamy yolk from the century eggs.

Century Egg - $5

Their You Tiao is sold separately in a bag form and will come together with the order. I guess this is a side that one must order to complete the delicious bowl of congee.

You Tiao

Having congee in its takeaway form, I'm glad that they practice the use of foam box to contain the food instead of the common microwavable clear plastic containers. The food was still kept warm despite keeping for hours.

Rating:  4 / 5

Sin Heng Kee
Location: Blk 685 Hougang Street 61 #01-150, Singapore 530685