All posts tagged: coffee

ATLAS Coffeehouse (SG): Hearty Brunch with Killer Pancakes

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I’m always on the lookout for a hearty brunch and hipster coffee spot. Now that I’ve moved to Singapore, the number of cafe choices is almost as overwhelming as my intensive 10-month MBA course at INSEAD. Cute cafes are dotted all over the country. Yet in spite of all the competition, ATLAS Coffeehouse definitely stands out for its perfectly executed brunch items, which are interesting enough to set it apart, but retain that mainstream eggs-and-pancake element to satisfy the typical weekend brunch craving. (See also my review of other cafes in Singapore, such as Curious Palette and Pacamara) Creamy Mushrooms and Scrambled Eggs on Sourdough Toast (SGD14+3) The menu had a good variety of options ranging from the brunchy eggs, pancakes and waffles to the more filling ‘superbowls’ , meats and pasta. The sound of white wine creamy mushrooms stole our undivided attention for a good five minutes, before we noticed that a standard eggs benedict was not even featured on ATLAS’s menu. We didn’t care, of course. We added scrambled eggs (+SGD3) to the …

Beyond Yangon and All Around Myanmar in 9 Days

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Walking out of Sedona – possibly the most upscale hotel in Yangon, or all of Myanmar – from our friend’s wedding, we shouldn’t have been surprised when a middle-aged taxi driver uncle quoted a seemingly ridiculous 8000 kyat to take us to our lunch destination. Fate would have us refuse on the basis of not-getting-ripped-off, because that actually equates to less than HK$50, and end up meeting Liam. Yangon was the last stop of our 9-day trip around Myanmar, and Liam, a young (business)man who grew up in Singapore, driving a taxi part-time to gain customers for auto sales, shocked us with English so excellent, our observations about this fascinating country were finally put into perspective, explained in depth, by a “real person”. We too wondered why Liam had moved away from Singapore and back to Myanmar. Given the extremely rapid change in Myanmar over the past few years, he tells us he earns the same amount of money in Myanmar as he did in Singapore, except of course the cost of living is substantially lower. Just how …

9 Coffee Shops to Visit in London

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I honestly love coffee exploring as much as I love food exploring. There’s something so necessary about smelling those beans and sipping a hot drink when the sun is out, no matter where in the world I am. Plus I love how it doesn’t compromise the number of meals I can intake in the day. So when I’m on holiday, in a city, I always make it a mission to try out as many good coffee shops as I can. I briefly attempted during my trip last year from London, Nottingham to Edinburgh. I also came up with a list of 5 Coffee Shops to Visit in Taipei earlier this year. Now here’s a proper one for London! (Addresses are all in the Google map at the end of this post) 1. Timberyard Let me say it upfront, Timberyard was my favourite coffee shop in London this time. Ok, the coffee is good but perhaps wasn’t necessarily the most outstanding one we had, but I just loved the feeling of being in this cafe. We went to …

5 Things You Need to Know as a Foodie Travelling to Hanoi

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1. It’s not all about food – Do take a trip to Sapa or Halong Bay Hanoi did not turn out to be the Bangkok of Vietnam, as I had expected. While we had some good meals, it’s difficult to come up with a fruitful list of must-try spots because there probably aren’t a lot of those… It’s not a city where you could get impressive local dishes whatever establishment or street stall you walk into. I think travelling out of Hanoi is a must for any tourist. Sapa is a 12 hour overnight train away from Hanoi. Located 1500m above sea level, the scenery takes you to a different world, even the climate differs significantly from Hanoi – it got to 10-ish degrees Celsius on a summer night. A diverse range of ethnic minority groups inhabit the town, with Hmong peoples being the majority. The experience was absolutely unparalleled. It was unique and so worth the long journey. Halong Bay is about 3.5 hours (bus ride) away from Hanoi and an overnight cruise trip in the …

Infographic on How to Use the Chemex

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When I was first served coffee from the Chemex, it looked scarily unfamiliar and even complicated. But the coffee was great and it turns out it’s not as complicated as its name would suggest. It’s essentially a pourover and this infographic from Camano Island Coffee explains how you can do it at home. You can also sample some of Camano Island Roasters’ beans. I loved the Papua New Guinea coffee beans. They were medium roast, well balanced in taste and perfect for all types of coffee drinkers, i.e. not too bitter and not at all acidic/sour. Those who sign up to their coffee club can also try a pound for free (applicable to US residents only). Check out the infographic below and share your experience!

Taipei: 5 Coffee Shops to Visit

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I was feeling groggy one Monday afternoon and wanted to escape Hong Kong. The lack of anticipation of a holiday (when you don’t have one planned next) along with some stress had gotten to me. So Taipei I went that Friday night! I chose Taipei for my spontaneous long weekend getaway not only because it’s a short plane ride away but more importantly because of its coffee culture. The owners at Waffling Beans had told me they get their coffee beans roasted in Taiwan. Plus a brief search on the web yielded many hipster-looking cafes. I was sold. Cafe Megane 眼鏡咖啡 *must visit* I read about Cafe Megane on another food blog: Taipei Foodie. The comments were promising. The photos of their matcha latte was even more convincing. Plus, it was located near Daan 大安 station so we headed over after a big local breakfast of soy milks, sticky rice and xiao long baos at Yong He 永和豆漿王. There’s no photo deception, the matcha latte is seriously as good as it looks. It was creamy and …

Why 50: New Favourite Coffee Shop in Sheung Wan

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Some Friday lunch times, I feel like exploring new places and cafes are my favourite things to discover. Why 50 quickly came to mind because I had seen it on the Foodie website and this new coffee shop discovery phone app, Kawa, also recommended it. It’s located in Sheung Wan, which turned out to be a great location because the vibe was much more chilled out (than the unpleasantly buzzing cafes in Central) and I could enjoy a 15-20 minute walk there from my office. One of my Favourite Coffee Spots The coffee was amazing! And as I posted three snapchats at this place, close friends who had been, were quick to reply and agree with me. The coffee was so good that I also checked if they sell their own coffee beans – since I recently bought an Illy Francis Francis coffee machine at home; they say they may do so in the future. See a list of my other recommended coffee shops in Hong Kong here. Food is an Even Bigger Must The good …