If you think old-fashioned coffee shops are outdated and archaic, think again… Coming back strong with brand new outlooks of serving traditional coffee and tea are these entreprenuers who tap on that basic business idea of serving the typical singapore breakfast of coffee/tea, eggs and toast. Yakun’s one of those who’s started the trend…and now, there have been a host of competitors eager to fight for a share of that very rewarding business.

If you’ve got sentimental recollection of olden times and love to have a coffee within a cosy spot furnished with an olden gramophone, olden kitchenware and vintage furniture, visit TOASTBOX at Vivocity.

I went there a few weeks ago with some friends…totally loved it. I ordered ice holicks and the others ordered coffee. They were all very sweet, but there wasn’t any hesitation to add water to the beverages. We also ordered a variety of toast - shrimp toast and choco toasted sticks. They were all delicious and most important, reasonably priced.

A perfect place to hang out for the evening… Loved the ambience.

Coffee/Tea, SoftBoiled Eggs & Crunchy Crunchy Toast - The Singaporean Breakfast!

The famous singapore breaky used to be served only at neighbour coffeeshops - NOW, emerging giant YA KUN is everywhere!

Who would have thought it would become a rich business idea?? Fairplay to the owners of YA-Kun for having the brilliant foresight to instilling a little sophistication to our local breaky…. instead of the usual kaya and butter toast, YaKun has reinvented a lovely menu of french toast, cheesy toast, buttersugar toast, even choco toasted sticks! - You NAME IT!

Yakun kaya has a unique flavour and a very rich texture, you might think the eggs are dinosaur eggs due to the size of it, and the tea oh tea…I love the tea. Haven’t tried the coffee yet, coz i’m hooked onto the TEA!

But yea, it’s no longer just a meal in the morning, it’s become a rising trend that people drop in for teatime or a light supper!

Each set costs about 3.50-3.90, fairly filling.. service is quick and fairly good. They never hesitate to change my eggs one time and that impressed me. The coffeeshops, they sure can’t compete on that level of service.

For overseas visitors, log onto www.yakun.com for more info and the various places where they’re located.

Yoshinoya - Combining  traditional Japanese cuisine but it’s served in an American fast food environment. I love the traditional Beef Bowl…I don’t usually take beef, but it’s really tasty. A bit more expensive than usual fast food, but it all comes down to better quality and service.

If you don’t take beef, you can try the teriyaki bowl…equally yummy!

I think this is even much more healthier than sushi bars and japanese restaurants. the beef bowl is just a simple rice bowl filled with shredded marinated beef and some onions.

Really appetising and don’t underestimate the portion of food. If you’re a big eater, order the meal, which comes with a steamed egg side dish and miso soup. Shd be enough to conquer that hunger!

One of my favourites,  affordable japanese food and although fast food style, but it’s healthier than any other fast foods i can think of! Google for the locations near you, i love the harboufront branch at Habourfront Shopping Centre

Recently, my family seems to be addicted to Cafe Cartel. Like bees attracted to honey, we have been visiting the Serangoon outlet almost once every 2-3 weeks. Just this week alone, I went to cafe cartel twice, different outlets though

I like the serangoon outlet, parked in a very busy neighbourhood, the atmosphere is casual and the food is generally better, we all thought. Dad loves Cafe Cartel, he’s always craving for St.Louis Ribs and recently, the Hawaiian Pork Chops- Yummzmzmmz! I’m drooling

Comparatively, the other branches are always packed with loads of customers, the queues at dohby ghaut or marina square always freaks me out.

But yeah, what’s the fuss about Cafe Cartel? Lovely food, free flow bread, big portions served, most importantly, affordable and really mouthwatering. It’s hard to resist @_*

 check out www.cafecartel.com.sg for the latest promotions and locations! you won’t regret this, if you crave for a big american meal, this is the place to go!

Celebrated my preggo colleague Joejoe’s farewell - off to birth delivery at Harbourcity. She said she couldn’t walk too far, so i decided, ok, take the elevator down to the 3rd floor, Dimsum for lunch!

7 of us went, we paid about 15 bucks each, filled our tummies up and left. It was a fantastic meal…not so much for joejoe, but if you lURVE prawns, it’s definitely the place to go for dimsum. 80% of the little lumpy dishes were all standing out proud with prawn as the main ingredient. Prawn lovers will definitely fancy that, but as a big prawn lover, even I felt it was just a little too much but saying that, everything was delicious…the siew mai, prawndumpling, chicken feet, charsiewbun, cheecheongfun and a fantastic salted egg and scallop fried dish….they were all really tasty.

 Joe didn’t have much to eat, as she’s not a big fan of prawns, and the rest of us struggled to finish the big portions of food we ordered. but yeah, we all had a lovely time and went back to the office satisfied :0)

Not too bad for a dim sum restaurant I thought. 460 Alexandra Road, PSA Building. Nice cozy environment, typically chinese set up… comfy and posh enough for an office lunch!