Gourmet coffe in Singapore: its looking up...here is another: Soho7

I am glad that the coffee scene in Singapore is finally maturing. With the arrival of Oriole a few years ago, and the arrival of Papa Palheta and Loysel's Toys. I think the coffee scene, has progressed beyond Starbucks and mass market drinks masquerading as espressos. At least, now we have nice espresso at the above places. Fourty hands at a curious place in Tiong Bahru is another of these new entries...Australian styled...so nice lattes, but I found the espresso a bit bitter, and lacking in body. And now another...some 3 months old, just a stone's throw from the old US Embassy (which was the Malaysian High Commission for a while, and now some commercial building)



The roaster...Die Dietrich(?) stands proud with its own bow tie at the corner...in the photograph, right of the roaster is barista Ian, a fine young fellow, still honing his roasting craft. We had an espresso and a latte this afternoon...the beans were a blend called Harmony...
Brasil, Ethopian, Indian beans. But the roast was only done yesterday! Too fresh. Need a bit more time to breath.

His stash of beans



So starting with my espresso:



A bit tart, probably due to the fresh-ness of the beans. The dark crema is a bit foreboding...the body of the coffee a bit lacking. Especially when compared with the smooth, rich, syrupy espresso (even more so ristretto) at Papa Palheta.

But mixed with milk, as Ian recommends, the brew is more palatable.



They serve food there too...and we had a Double Burger...with two patties...



The burger is large...I mean LARGE. More than enough for me, and good to share. To be fair, they offer a single patty burger, and also a triple patty burger. I found the patty to be quite nice...roughly chopped beef, lean chuck I am guessing. With loads of vegetables, some fresh, some pickled. Lovely!

We also had the steak and salad sandwich



Messy...:-)...but heaps of heaps of vegetables, piled on a slice of steak, and bacon, hiding within three slices of wholemeal toast. Quite nice...except the steak was a bit tough...perhaps erring too much on the side of providing a healthy meal...but much too tough for our liking. The rest of the sandwich was ok.

And they serve a nice spread of all day breakfasts...we tried the eggs benedict



Beautifully done. Poached egg was perfectly done...runny inside. On a beautiful toast, and two slices of ham with a nice serving of salad on the side. The Hollandaise sauce was quite good. I enjoyed this.

Nice little place...gutsy for joining the fray to try and serve good, hand crafted espressos and coffes. And good, hearty food. Will return for more.




Soho7
36 Armenian Street
soho7cafe@gmail.com
8389 7877 6634 5779