Tiong Bahru Adventures

Planned to go to Tiong Bahru by myself yesterday specially to visit BooksActually after looking through the photos on Instagram but got last minute company from my friend so we decided to go cafe hopping around the area. Tiong Bahru has changed so much from how I last remembered it. Used to go there every week when I was much younger because my grandfather used to live there. Now, most of the old houses have undergone a huge transformation and look much cleaner and "fresher" if I must say.

 

We visited BooksActually first (this isn't a cafe but it's a really nice place so I might as well add this in) since that was my main motive of going all the way to Tiong Bahru. They specialize in Fiction and Literature and I also noticed that they have many books written by Singaporean writers which I could not find in ordinary bookstores such as Popular or Kino. BooksActually has a beautiful exterior and interior but more importantly they sell great books as well! :) 

And they also have a store cat which made me love the shop much more!

BooksActually

No.9 Yong Siak Street

Tiong Bahru Estate

Singapore 168645

Mon: 11am-6pm

Tues-Fri: 11am-9pm

Sat: 10am- 9pm

Sun: 10am-6pm

Next, we walked a few shops down and spotted Plain Vanilla Bakery! I've always heard people talking about how great these cupcakes are but never got a chance to try it until yesterday. I found the seating area outside Plain Vanilla quite cool and it looked very comfortable as well. I didn't manage to snap a photo though because I was too excited about the cupcakes, sadly :(

So my friend and I bought 1 cupcakes each and they were put into a really cute box. She had the chocolate banana while I had vanilla bean.

Left: Vanilla Bean ($3.50)

Right: Chocolate Banana ($3.50)

Close up of vanilla bean

I thought that the cupcake was perfect (taste,texture,level of sweetness etc). In short, I would definitely go back for more next time! My friend, however, felt that hers was too sweet. Not sure if it's personal preference or the chocolate banana cupcake though.

Plain Vanilla Bakery

Tiong Bahru Estate

1D Yong Siak Street

Singapore 168641

Closed on Mondays

Tues-Fri: 11am-8pm

Sat: 9am-8pm

Sun: 9am-6pm

Also at:

Holland Village

34A Lorong Mambong 

Singapore 277691 (2nd floor opposite Harry's Bar and above El Patio Mexican Restaurant Wine & Bar) 

Closed on Mondays

Tues-Sat: 12pm-8pm

Sun: 12pm-6pm

Then, we took a short walk to The Dispensary. Surprisingly we were the only customers there even though it was the lunch hour so the place was rather quiet. Everything is self-service over there. We had to write our orders on a piece of paper and give it to the cashier and also collect our food at the counter when it was ready. My friend and I shared the smoked salmon toasties! The toasties consists of tomatoes, lettuce and smoked salmon, of course. Not sure if there was any sauce added but I don't really remember tasting any. It was quite disappointing, there was very little smoked salmon in it and I guess I expected much more from a cafe like this.

Smoked salmon toasties ($8.50)

The Dispensary

69 Tiong Bahru Road

Singapore 168723

Sun-Thurs: 9am-9pm

Fri & Sat: 9am-10pm

After which, my friend was craving for lemon meringue tart so we headed to Whisk Cafe to satisfy her craving! It was my first time hearing about this cafe but it definitely won't be the last time I'll be visiting it! We shared a lemon meringue tart which was really small, about the average palm size or smaller. It looked much bigger in the pictures we saw but nonetheless it was really good! I really urge all of you to try this, especially if you're a fan of lemon tarts :) 

Lemon meringue tart ($5)

Whisk Cafe

58 Seng Poh Road

#01-15 Singapore 160058

Closed on Mondays

Tues-Thurs: 9am-7pm

Fri & Sat: 9am-11pm

Sun: 9am-9pm

Our last stop was Sin Lee foods! It is located at Jln Bukit Ho Swee and we had a little trouble finding it amongst all the HDB blocks. When we looked at the menu, the food was all rather pricey! Around 20+ for waffles if I remember correctly. Since we were really low on budget, we just shared truffle fries! It was my first try at truffle fries (yes I know I'm a little late but better late than never!) and I really enjoyed it although it would have been better with more cheese. The staff there were also very welcoming and friendly and ensured that our glass of water was filled up again each time we drank from it. :)

Truffle fries ($9.50)

Sin Lee Foods

Blk 4 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee 

#01-164 Singapore 162004

Closed on Mondays except public holidays

Tues-Sun: 10am-9pm

So that was all we had for the day. Would've continued if we had more money...

Do check back for more updates in future :)