Serangoon located at the North-East of Singapore which includes zones like Serangoon Garden, Serangoon Central, Lorong Chuan, Upper Paya Lebar, and Serangoon North, has been known for its quaint residential vibes and food choices.
Not to forget about its two famous food centres – Chomp Chomp Food Centre and Serangoon Garden Food Centre.
There are also many hipster cafes for brunch, ice cream, desserts and coffee. Here are 20 Serangoon Cafes for your checklist:
Apollo Coffee Bar
65 Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555961
Opening Hours: 9am – 10pm (Tue – Sat), 9am – 7pm (Sun), Closed Mon
Mediterranean-Inspired Brunch Café at Serangoon Garden
Apollo Coffee Bar by the team behind Atlas Coffeehouse at Bukit Timah, Lunar Coffee Brewers at Downtown Gallery and Columbus Coffee Co. at Upper Thomson, has easily become the hottest café spot at Serangoon Garden.
The team have got their formula quite right with every venture, by coming up with variance of industrial chic dining environment coupled with creative food offerings to satisfy café hopper’s interest.
My favourite spot would be the air-conditioned backyard which gave the vibes of al fresco dining. This is an ideal location to chill over a cup of coffee with soft sunlight pouring in from the glass ceiling. But pick an off-peak hour if possible.
Brunch menu is available from 9am till 4pm and serves offering such as Granola, Pears & Yoghurt ($13.90), Lemon Curd & Hotcakes ($15.50) and Super Nutty Acai bowl ($16).
Some of the popular brunch mains include Breakfast Burger ($17.80), The French Toast Standard ($19.80), Nori, Avo & Eggs ($19.80), Chorizo, Eggs & Avo ($20.90), Pork & Pear Tartine ($20.90), and Wurst Rosti ($24.90).
Exclusive to Apollo Coffee Bar is the Dark Chocolate and Miso Caramel Softserve ($7). I prefer the latter which has an interesting blend of salty miso and sweet caramel flavour. Apollo Coffee Bar (Serangoon Garden)
Baker & Cook – Serangoon Garden
87 Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555983
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 10pm (Mon – Sun)
Artisanal Bakery with Brunch, Breads and Cakes
Located just past Serangoon Garden Circus in a quiet corner terrace, Baker & Cook is known for its breads, cakes, croissants, Danish pastries, tarts, pies and quiches.
This is started by Owner Dean Brettschneider, a New Zealand TV personality and celebrity chef who has more than 30 years of baking experience.
The brunch offerings are so enticing, and sound like a healthier spin to the regular breakfast items.
They include the Baker & Cook Deluxe Granola ($13.50) with berry compote and natural yoghurt, B&C Healthy Plate ($15) with avocado, hard-boiled egg served with toasted Pain au Levain, Good Ol’ Pancake ($19) with homemade salted caramel sauce, and Simply Scrambled Eggs ($14) with toasted bread on side.
Many rave about Baker & Cook’s Carrot Cake topped with not-too-sweet cream cheese, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds, apricot pieces & black sesame seeds, and has a secret blend of subtle spices.
The Larder Cafe
66A Serangoon Garden Way, Singapore 555962
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
“Larder” (pronounced as lahr-der, not ladder) represents a place where food is kept, not exactly a place where food is cooked with lard.
Starters include Sweet Potato Fries, Nacho Chips, Cheese Fries, Baked Escargots, Crispy Hot Wings, Mushroom Quesadilla, and German Sausage Platter.
The Dowager’s Fingers caught my attention with their unique name, probably named so because it resembled those 6-inch-long gold nail protectors that imperial women such as Zhen Huan would wear (As seen in Empresses in the Palace).
These are long and thin finger-like finger food (pardon the mouthful) in the form of crispy prawn wanton with honey sesame mayo dip.
Brunch available from 11am to 5pm features items of Chicken & Avocado Wrap, Pulled Pork Wrap, Baked Egg & Bacon Cups, Mushroom Truffle Melts, Bacon Eggs Benedict, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and Big Breakfast.
The Baked Egg and Bacon Cups is a different rendition of eggs and bacon shaped in a cup.
This brunch item can be considered a safe option with crispy streaks of bacon, spicy pork sausage and 2 eggs for the protein lovers.
Maison Kayser
1 Maju Avenue, #01-26/27/28, myVillage @ Serangoon Garden, Singapore 556679
Tel. +65 6509 8184
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 8pm (Mon – Sun)
Artisanal Bakery at myVillage
Maison Kayser, founded by Eric Kayser in 1996, is a contemporary artisanal bakery that follows French tradition.
His bakeries are located all over the world, with one branch luring bread-lovers to myVillage. He has created new bakery concepts like corner shops, retail bakeries, bakery-café, and restaurant du Boulanger.
Here you will find handmade bread baked in-house daily, early in the morning. What makes the bread special is the use of natural leaven and selected flours.
The dough patiently undergoes a long fermentation process, resting for 12 hours before baking. It is this technique that keeps the bread in utmost quality days after days.
Known for their artisanal crusty bread like Sourdough ($14.90) and Baguette ($4.00). Aside from bread, it offers viennoiseries (get the classic Croissant for $3.00), pastries, and sandwiches ($9.00).
Chū and Co.
15 Litchfield Road, Singapore 556835
Opening Hours: 8:30am – 4pm (Wed – Sun), Closed Mon, Tues
Bakery Café By Day and Gelato Lab By Night
Nestled within the private residential estate of Serangoon Garden, Chū and Co. is a dual-concept space featuring its bakery café arm (Chu Bakery) in the daytime and gelato lab (Chulato) at night.
It is located at Lichfield road, one of the small roads leading into the usual bustling area of Serangoon Garden circus.
I love its space for the laidback vibes – like what we usually experience from overseas outskirts.
It was like imagining myself sitting in someone’s backyard littered with misplaced furniture, while sipping a cup of coffee and enjoying fresh bakes straight from the kitchen.
Pastries range from whole loaf bread, sourdough, baguette, to pound cake, brownies and cookies which left me spoilt for choice.
I randomly picked up a Salmon Rilette Brioche Bun ($7.50) which has flavourful and creamy salmon spread sandwiched in soft brioche bun.
The Lemon Cake with Olive Oil and Rosemary ($5.50) was also ‘on point’ – dense and moist with citrusy flavours, complimented with herbaceous notes from olive oil and rosemary.
Sun Ray Café
79 Brighton Crescent, Serangoon Gardens Estate, Singapore 559218
Tel: +65 6283 8700
Opening Hours: 8:30am – 10pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Pets Friendly Cafe That Feels Like Home
One of Sun Ray’s biggest appeals is that it is pets-friendly. The café is divided into two main rooms – the left for pets with their owners.
While getting to its location at Brighton Crescent can pose to be quite a bit of a challenge especially for those who don’t drive (a number of bus stops away from Serangoon Central), it is where you get friendly vibes and customers become regulars.
Head there early in the morning, and get filled with breakfast items of Beef & Spinach Omelette ($10), Eggs Benny ($7), Big Brekkie ($11), Royal French Toast and Super Chia Pudding and Acai Bowl ($12).
For more filling mains, offerings include Sirloin Steak ($10, $14), Quintet Pork Ribs ($14), Beef Lasagna ($9), Fried Dory ($9), Grilled Dory ($8), Grilled Salmon ($10), and Pork Cutlet ($9).
To be really honest, I was surprised at how inexpensive the food items are, considered some cafes sell them about easily 10-20% pricier.
The Better Scoop
264 Serangoon Central, #01-203, Singapore 550264
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm (Tues – Sun), Closed Mon
Ice Cream Cafe By Just Because Creamery
Fans of Just Because Creamery in Sembawang will be thrilled to know that the brand has opened a second outlet in Serangoon right beside NEX.
With a rebranding to The Better Scoop, their new outlet at Serangoon is more spacious and can accommodate up to 32 pax.
Compared to first outlet in Sembawang, diners can look forward to a more extensive menu with more (18 versus 14) ice cream flavours (Single $4.20, Double $8, Premium +$0.50), unique Waffles ($6.50 – $6.80), Signature drinks ($5 – $6.50), Coffee ($3.50 – $5) and Tea ($4.50).
Flavours include Orh Nee (Yam), Black Sesame Soy Milk, Luo Han Guo (Monk fruit) Longan, Tie Guan Yin, Chrysanthemum Goji Berries and Osmanthus Oolong.
Among the 3 seasonal waffles, the Tie Guan Yin Waffle ($6.50) and Nian Gao Waffle ($6.80) come with a traditional twist.
Their Chrysanthemum Goji Berries ice cream is worth a mention, with brightened refreshing floral notes from the chrysanthemum and sweetness from the Goji berries that is beneficial to health. Yet it did not taste like the traditional Chinese medicine concoction.
Moments’木萌
Blk 326 Serangoon Ave 3, #01-380, Singapore 550326
Opening Hours: 7:30am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Hidden Hipster Place With Tom Yam Volcano Fried Rice
Here’s another hipster place which has sprouted near to NEX Shopping Mall, next door neighbours with Cottontail Creamery and a few mins’ walk from Pints & Cones.
The interior was charmingly done up with life-sized faux plants intertwined with hanging fairy lights, coupled with its uniformly patterned blue wall and turquoise exterior.
They serve Nanyang Coffee & Toast, Zi Char staples and an assortment of Western Food. In fact, they have such an extensive menu offering that we were lost for moments.
Their toast selection offers comfort local favourites like Kaya Butter, Butter Sugar, Kaya Peanut and French Toast from $2.20 onwards.
From their Asian Zi Char menu, you can probably find most of the usual staples like Yang Zhou Fried Rice ($5.50), Sin Chew Bee Hoon ($6.50) and Seafood Wat Tan Hor Fun ($6.90).
What caught my attention was the Tom Yam Volcano Fried Rice ($10.50), which you essentially get a Tom Yum Fried Rice served on hot plate, surrounded by a layer of grilled egg.
Pints & Cones
304 Serangoon Avenue 2 #01-02, Singapore 550304
Opening Hours: 1pm – 11:30pm (Mon – Thurs), 12pm – 1:30am (Fri – Sat), 12pm – 11:30pm (Sun)
Handcrafted Gelato and Thyme Waffles Found at Serangoon Avenue
A stone’s throw away from NEX mall is Pints & Cones, which pairs handcrafted gelato with craft beer offerings.
They offer a series of classic gelato flavours such as Tiramisu, Roasted Pistachio, Mango Passionfruit and Rocher.
Price wise, a Single Scoop retails at $3.50 and Double Scoop at $6.50.
The black horse which stole the limelight turned out to be their Signature Waffles ($4.50) which had thyme herbs mixed into the waffle batter to produce occasional earthy notes with each bite.
Their texture of their waffles was also on-point – not too dense within and came with light crispy exterior.
Cottontail Creamery
Blk 326 Serangoon Ave 3 #01-378, Singapore 550326
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Tues – Thurs), 11am – 11pm (Fri), 9am – 11pm (Sat), 9am – 10pm (Sun), Closed Mon
Taiwanese-Owned Ice Cream Café For Crepes and Weekend Brunch
Located right opposite to NEX (exit F of Serangoon MRT station), along the stretch of shophouses, is an ice cream creamery opened by the Taiwanese.
Tall ceiling, open-concept kitchen with a homely decoration (red-bricked wall, paintings, kitchen shelves) and staffs who speak in fluent Mandarin with an affectionate touch, which is their distinct characteristic.
For the menu, ice cream is available in single ($4.20) and double ($7.50) scoops, with an additional $1 for premium flavours.
Classic flavours are Cookies & Cream, Salted Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Honey Lavender, Earl Grey, and Cookies & Cream; while premium ones are Matcha Honey, Vegan Blackforest, Hokkaido Milk, Hazelnut Chocolate, Fresh Strawberry Sorbet, Tahitian Vanilla, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Blackcurrant.
There are also alcoholic flavours including Whiskey Black Sesame, Rum & Raisins, and Craft Beer IPA.
Brunch items include Cottontail Big Breakfast ($21.50), American Pancakes ($14.50 for sweet, $16.50 for savoury), US Striploin Roast Beef Open-face Sandwich ($17.50), Smashed Avocado Open-face Sandwich ($16.50), Double Cheese, Ham & Egg Toastie ($14.50), Pulled Pork Quesadilla ($17.50), and Peruvian Chicken Skewers ($16.50).
Wimbly Lu
15-2 Jln Riang, Singapore 358987
Opening Hours: 11am – 10pm (Mon, Wed – Fri), 9am – 10pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Tues
This quaint café Wimbly Lu serves up cakes, waffles and ice cream, all made in-house in small batches.
Not only will you satisfy your saccharine cravings, you are sure to get them fresh.
The signature dessert café hoppers come for is the Waffles with Ice Cream, with flavour choices of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, salted caramel, earl grey and cookies & cream.
Crisp-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside homemade waffles, topped with house-made ice cream – get the chocolate truffle flavour. The enjoyment factor of this dish is high.
Hang around with your friends, chit chat over freshly brewed cups of cappuccino and desserts of your choice. For cakes, the Lemon Meringue Pie ($8.50), Blackout Cake ($8.80), Yuzu Lemon Cheesecake ($8.50), and Chocolate Crunch Cake ($8.50) won’t disappoint.
The Plain Jane
Blk 211, Serangoon Ave 4, #01-10, Singapore 550211 (Serangoon MRT)
Opening Hours: 12pm – 8pm (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri), 10am – 8pm (Sat, Sun), Closed Wed (Closed temporarily)
Swiss Roll Specialty Café at Serangoon
Located within the heartlands at Blk 211, Serangoon Ave 4, the interior has a homely feel which reminds me of my growing-up years with a rattan chair in the living room.
Vintage floor tiles, sofa seats, bespoke light and retro display such briefcase and lao-kok-kok typewriter.
The menu offers an assortment of bakes such as the highly recommended Plain Jane Swiss Rolls with flavours on a rotational basis, coffee and tea.
Among the bakes, the Not So Plain Jane Swiss Rolls ($5.90) stood out the most.
The Swiss roll was light and moist, generously filled with matcha cream with non- overpowering and slight lingering matcha bitterness. The Plain Jane (Serangoon)
KOOKS Creamery – Serangoon
Blk 211, Serangoon Avenue 4, #01-02, Singapore 550211
Opening Hours: 12pm – 10pm (Tue – Sun), Closed Mon
Ice Cream ‘Falling’ Onto Molten Lava Cookies
KOOKS Creamery is different from other ice cream cafes in the heartland of Singapore, serving molten lava Kooks (which are actually cookies), and ice cream.
It is located along the same stretch as The Plain Jane.
The menu was straight-forward, with offerings of Ice Cream ($3.60 for single, $6 for double, $8.40 for triple, additional $0.50 for premium flavours) and Cookie ($5.50 for lava, $5 for plain).
Lava Cookie Sets were available at $8.50 for Chocolate molten cookie and Matcha molten cookie with a scoop of ice cream.
Interesting ice cream flavours were Lemon Curd, Raspberry Lychee, Milk Cereal, Nougat and Brown Butter (caramelised butter).
How it works: as the ice cream fall on top of the lava cookie, the cookie would break apart, and seeped out molten lava. Interesting, I guess.
Two Bakers – Serangoon
9 Teck Chye Terrace, Singapore 545720
Opening Hours: 12pm – 9pm (Mon – Fri), 10am – 10pm (Sat), 10am – 6pm (Sun)
For Brunch and Creative Bakes
Residents staying in Serangoon will be familiar with Teck Chye Terrace, a row of shophouses with restaurants serving a variety from Teochew Porridge, Thai seafood, Taiwanese cuisine, Korea BBQ to Laksa steamboat.
Two Bakers is located right opposite Paya Lebar Methodist Church and diagonally across Amber Ember.
They serve up mains, brunch items, bespoke French and Fusion inspired pastries, and specialty coffees.
For brunch till 3pm, You can look forward to Spicy Crab Omelette ($18), Corned Beef & Spam Hash ($16), Spicy Crab Eggs Benedict ($18), Shashuka ($16), Bak Kwa Stuffed Omelette ($16), Golden Kaya French Toast ($16), Pandan Pancakes ($14), and Earl Grey Pancakes ($14).
Some of the popular cakes include the “Spring” ($8.50) with mango mousse and passionfruit compote vanilla sponge and roasted pistachio on sable tart; and the “Goma” ($9) of black sesame mousse, salted caramel, with matcha sponge on chocolate sable tart. Two Bakers (Serangoon)
Amber Ember
730 Upper Serangoon Road, #01-01, Singapore 534613
Opening Hours: 10am – 5pm (Tues – Fri), 10am – 6pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Mon
Charming Chic Café With Breakfast Bowls, Pasta and Jaffles
Amber Ember is located off Serangoon Central, at a standalone building situated next to Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre.
They have recently expanded with a cleaner look and wider range of items.
On its menu are Jaffles, Sourdough, Breakfast Bowls, Pasta, Buttermilk Waffles, Snacks and Bakes.
Some of the pasta dishes offered include Miso Butter Prawn ($24), Beef Cheek Ragu ($23), and Truffle Mushroom Sage ($21).
There are four types of Jaffes – brioche sandwiches pressed in cast iron, served with side or rocket or tapioca chips. Choices include Cheesus Loves You ($12), Fowl Play ($12), Truffle Fun-Guy ($12), and Nice to Meat You 2.0 ($13).
For something more filling, have a go at their Sourdough options of Curried Mentaiko Egg Mayo ($14), Anti Smashed Avo ($15.50) and locally-inspired Sambal Scramble ($16.50) topped with sambal chorizo mince and chilli threads. Amber Ember (Upper Serangoon)
Naked Ice Cream
957 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534717
Opening Hours: 2pm – 2am (Mon – Sun)
Ice Cream Cafe With Rock Melon Flavour, Opens Till 2AM Everyday
Naked Ice Cream is a new ice cream parlour in the hot foodie stretch of Kovan, lined with popular joints such as Breakfast Club, Yaowarat Thai Kway Chap, Ding Tele, Punggol Nasi Lemak, and Qi Xiang Chicken Pot.
The plus points of Naked Ice Cream other than the cheeky name: it is opened till 2AM every day for supper goers, and the plain waffles is priced at $3.80 – considered more affordable than many new cafes.
On its menu are classic ($3.80) and premium flavours ($4.80) such as Speculoos Cookies Butter, Mint Cookie Chip, Hojicha Green Tea, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Earl Grey Tea, Milo Dinosaur, Cookie Monster, Lychee Lime, and Hokkaido Milk.
So I went for the more interesting sounding Yubari Rock Melon with a delightful fruity sweetness, though I wished it was either creamier or more ‘sorbet-y’ while this was somewhere in middle.
Note that a number of the ice cream flavours are slightly on the sweet side. Naked Ice Cream (Upper Serangoon Road)
See You Latte
988 Upper Serangoon Road #01-15, Stars of Kovan, Singapore 534733
Opening Hours: 8am – 9:30pm (Mon – Sun)
Off-The-Radar Café At Kovan, With Rendang Pasta, Matcha Burnt Cheesecake Nestled within the enclave of Stars at Kovan, See You Caffe serves a small menu of Asian & Western fusion delights, few a few options available on a daily rotating basis.
While their website menu promises a vast range of western offerings, the only food options available were such as Curry Chicken, Beef Rendang and Carbonara during my point of visit.
I opted for the Beef Rendang with Pasta Set ($11.90) which came with a choice of selected beverage like coffee or tea. Quite a good deal.
There was a rather wide selection of bakes and desserts available on the display cabinet like Butter Croissant ($4.50), Double Chocolate Muffin ($3.90) and Matcha Azuki Cake ($4.90), some of them supplier sourced.
SugarTree Gelato
988 Upper Serangoon Road #01-28, Stars of Kovan, Singapore 533734
Opening Hours: 2pm – 10pm (Tue – Fri), 12pm – 10pm (Sat – Sun), Closed Mon
Gelato Cafe With Banana Milk And Raspberry Rose Flavours
From the team that bought you Two Bakers, SugarTree Gelato is their latest venture and features an assortment of gelato made from scratch using all-natural premium ingredients.
This is a hole-in-a-wall mainly takeaway kiosk located within Stars of Kovan.
Some of the notable gelato flavours were Keylime Cheesecake, Passionfruit Mint and Lemongrass Ginger.
Single scoop retails for $4.20 and Double scoop going at $7.60, with a $0.80 top-up for Premium flavour gelato.
I was particularly intrigued by the Banana Milk, which reminded me of the famous Korean bottled beverage. The only difference is that real banana fruit goes into the gelato making process.
The owners shared that they use only ripened banana to achieve its natural sweetness, with no addition of artificial flavouring.
It was like having a real banana fruit, with a touch of creaminess. SugarTree Gelato (Hougang)s
The Bread Rack
9, Yio Chu Kang Road, #01-55, Space@Kovan, Singapore 545523
Opening Hours: 9am – 5pm (Mon, Thurs – Sun), Closed Tues, Wed
Artisan Bakery Cafe Serving Freshly Made Sourdoughs
Located near Hougang and Serangoon, The Bread Rack is at Yio Chu Kang Road within Space@Kovan is one of the newest bakery cafes opened in that area.
It is directly opposite Korean café Urban Table , and next to the famous Soi 19 Thai Wanton Mee and Dim Sum House.
Stepping inside, I was pleasantly surprised by the huge industrial themed space with tall ceilings and a spacious compound with 20 seats.
Diners can choose between Baguette ($3.80), Country Loaf ($9), Seeded Sourdough ($10) and Honey Wholewheat ($10) from one rack and Butter Croissant ($4), Almond Croissant ($5), Pain Au Chocolate ($4.50) and Raisins Scroll ($4.80) on the other rack for either dine-in or takeaway.
My favourite was the Almond Croissant ($5) came with sliced almond and icing sugar as toppings, with smooth, velvety almond cream filling on the inside.
The outer layer of the croissant was crispy and flaky, whereas the inner layers and moist and creamy, giving it a good textural contrast. The Bread Rack (Yio Chu Kang)
Urban Table
10A-E Yio Chu Kang Rd, ICB Shopping Centre, Singapore 545524
Opening Hours: 8:30am – 6pm (Mon – Sat), 8:30am – 7pm (Sun)
Korean-Inspired Minimalist Bakery & Specialty Coffee Café
Urban Table is located at ICB Shopping Centre, slightly further down from iconic eateries such as Song Kee Eating House and Eleven Strands. (Right opposite, there is a humble dim sum eatery called Dim Sum House.)
Upon stepping into the Urban Table, I was welcomed by its cosy laid-back vibes and spacious minimalist store configuration.
The open coffee bar counter which you can view the barista at work, pastries on display and neatly arranged tables, and minor details immediately took my soul for a joyride.
While not extensive, their food menu offers a range of pastries and cakes such as Apple Strudel ($4.50), Pain Au Chocolate ($3.90), Onion Quiche ($6.90) and Strawberry Shortcake ($6.80).
The mains available include an All-Day Breakfast plate ($14.90) made up of ham & cheese croissant, scrambled eggs, and a serving of greens.
I generally liked their pastries such as buttery croissant which came with soft and fluffy insides, coupled with flaky golden exterior. Urban Table (Yio Chu Kang)
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* Compiled by Daniel Ang @DanielFoodDiary, Nicholas Tan @stormscape and Lewis Tan @juicyfingers.
