Dirty Chinatown seems to be seeing an influx of specialty coffee joints in the area recently โ with Rough Guys Coffee opening their doors at South Bridge Road fairly recently, there have already been more options for those in the vicinity to grab their cuppa. Located at 3 Temple Street, Plus Coffee Joint is the latest additions to the local cafe scene as well as the neighbourhood โ the establishment is walkable from both Chinatown MRT Station on the North-East Line and Downtown Line, as well as Maxwell MRT Station along the Thomson-East Coast Line. Adopting a dark green colour scheme that stays fairly consistent across the entire space, the cafe also features furniture and fittings featuring wooden and plastic elements โ the interior can be said to be a little bit more on the functional side of things, with seating for dine-in groups situated on the right, while there are also counter seats for those who prefer to sit by the espresso bar. Interestingly, the cafe also has their very own coffee roaster at the back of the store โ we did not have a chance to speak with the baristas considering the crowd in attendance when we made our visit during their soft launch, but it does seem that they do the roasting of their coffee beans on site. Visiting the cafe during their soft launch phase, Plus Coffee Joint was serving up a limited selection of espresso-based coffee; the menu also lists of desserts available, which includes an Ondeh Ondeh Cake and a Double Chocolate Brownie.
Having been exposed to the Dirty ever since our very first encounter with it at the now-defunct Prodigal Roasters several years back (they have since relocated to Lowercase with their cafe operations being based there), we found ourselves going for the Dirty at Plus Coffee Joint. On the day of our visit, Plus Coffee Joint was using Brazilian beans for their espresso-based coffee offerings โ the beans carrying tasting notes of pineapple, chocolate and hazelnut. The folks behind the counter was explaining to the other patrons on how the espresso is over-extracted here on purpose โ this is to extract the oils out of the beans so as to allow patrons enjoy the layering of the various elements in the Dirty such as the chilled milk and the shot of espresso. We liked how the Dirty here was pretty well-balanced โ comes with that caffeinated kick from the espresso shot; one could taste that roasty, fruity notes in its finish, while the portion of milk is pretty balanced here. Overall, quite an enjoyable Dirty considering how not a lot of places can execute a Dirty well.
Having overheard some of the conversations between the baristas and the patrons, it does seem that the folks behind Plus Coffee Joint are pretty knowledgeable in their craft โ they were able to explain the more technical details pertaining to the execution of their craft; something which we find that is pretty worth commending, providing patrons with some sort of education over specialty coffee. We have also noticed how there seems to be equipment for filter coffee being placed around the counter โ perhaps something which they might be intending to serve up in the future. It would be interesting to see how things will pan out for the folks at Plus Coffee Joint โ in an era where specialty coffee joints seemingly are poised towards being a one-stop establishment that serves up hot food alongside desserts and specialty coffee to maximise patronage and revenue, spots that are dedicated to just specialty coffee alone like Plus Coffee Joint are becoming a rare find outside of the Central Business District. That being said, Plus Coffee Joint is likely a spot to hit for serious coffee lovers whom are particular on how their coffee is being executed.
