10 cafés in 1 city. Places change: check opening hours before you go.
Tan Hui Dong's bakery opened on East Coast Road in 1925 and was renamed Chin Mee Chin in 1947. It closed in 2018 and reopened under new owners in 2022 with the old blue front and kaya toast kept.
Order: kopi · kaya toast on charcoal-grilled buns
Founded in 1919 by a Hainanese family as Kheng Hoe Heng Coffeeshop, it is called the oldest Hainanese coffee shop in Singapore. Regular customer Woon Tek Seng bought it in 1992 and named it after the street.
Order: kopi · charcoal-grilled kaya toast
Tang Chew Fue opened Tong Ah in 1939 in the triangular red-and-white building at Keong Saik and Teck Lim. When that building was sold in 2013 the coffee shop moved a few doors down, still known for crisp kaya toast.
Order: kopi · crispy kaya toast
💡 Ask for the extra-crisp toast.
Hainanese immigrant Loi Ah Koon opened a coffee stall at Telok Ayer Basin in 1944, and his wife's homemade kaya on halved toast became the signature. The stall moved here in 1998, when it took the name Ya Kun.
Order: kopi · kaya toast set with soft-boiled eggs
💡 Order the set: toast, two soft-boiled eggs and a kopi. Season the eggs with soy and pepper.
Run by the same owner since 1974, this old kopitiam looks much as it did in early-independence Singapore. It is one of the last places to serve kopi gu you, hot coffee topped with a slab of butter.
Order: kopi gu you (butter coffee) · kaya toast
💡 Opens around 5am and closes mid-afternoon; cash.
Fewer recent sources for this one: check it's open before you go.
Founded in 2018 by Singapore Brewers Cup champion Yeo Qing He, Apartment Coffee was named Asia's best coffee shop in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops in 2025 and again in 2026 (6th in the world). Its staff visit the farms they buy from.
Order: pour-over of a seasonal single origin · espresso
💡 Expect a queue; seating is limited and the menu is mostly filter coffee.
A café, roastery and coffee shop in a former hardware store, with a 360-degree bar in the middle of the room and a courtyard that becomes a beer garden in the evening.
Order: espresso-based drinks at the island bar · filter coffee
💡 Closed on the first Monday of each month; roastery tours run by booking.
The first Common Man café opened on Martin Road in 2013, helping bring specialty coffee and brunch to Robertson Quay. It roasts its own beans and runs a barista school.
Order: flat white · filter of the day
💡 Busy for weekend brunch; weekday mornings are calmer.
A small roaster-café on the ground floor at Everton Park, Nylon roasts small batches twice a week and builds long-term, transparent relationships with growers.
Order: espresso · seasonal filter
💡 Closed Tuesdays; mostly standing room.
Tan Tiong Hoe started in the coffee trade as a 16-year-old apprentice in the 1960s and later ran his own roasting business. In 2014 his family turned his old Queenstown office into this specialty café.
Order: flat white · pour-over