Black and White Cafe

Had noticed the new Black & White Cafe that has been making their preparation the past week to officially open its doors. Previously located at 110 MacPherson Road, the have since moved to the Central Business District, occupying a unit within 61 Robinson along Robinson Road — the building being in the same stretch of the same road where SO/ Singapore (formerly Oglivy Centre) is located. Now housed in quite a spacious shop unit, Black & White Cafe does come with quite a fair number of tables for dine-in patrons; the interior is decked rather closely to the likes of commercial coffee chains such as Starbucks and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf — decorated mostly with wooden furniture and fittings for a premium look. The display case at the front of of the shop facing the main road allows patrons to check out the cakes that are available for the day; there is also a section dedicated to the retail of their merchandise — ranges from items such as branded cups as well as their very own roasted coffee beans and their homemade Nonya Pandan Kaya sold in jars. Food options available at Black & White Cafe includes classic toasts (i.e. Kaya Butter / Butter Sugar / Creamy Peanut Toasts); items which are more substantial includes Local Delights (i.e. Laksa, Nasi Lemak, Mee Siam etc.) and Western Delights (i.e. Bolognese Dog Bun, Spaghetti Bolognese etc.). Black & White Cafe also offers quite a variety of beverages on their menu — one can already find quite a selection of Nanyang-style coffee and tea; they also do serve up specialty coffee such as Latte and Long Black as well. Those who prefer to have non-caffeinated options can also go for other beverages such as Honey Lemon, Grass Jelly, Lime Juice etc.

Serving up all their mains listed in their Local Delights and Western Delights section of the menu either in ala-carte or in sets, patrons would be able to go for either a Set A or a Set B to go with their mains if they wish to have a set meal; Set A sees the main dish being accompanied with Traditional Kopi/Teh (Hot) of one’s choice, while Set B sees the main dish being accompanied with a Traditional Kopi/Teh (Hot), choice of Toast, and a slice of Butter Cake. Having wanting to try their Kaya Butter Toast and Butter Cake during the same visit, we decided to opt for Set B to go alongside with their Laksa. Whilst the Set B does come with a lot of food for one, we thought that the portions of food is pretty manageable for one hungry soul — definitely a little overwhelming for those with smaller palates like us, but we could definitely see some finding this to be sufficient as a big eater. The Kaya Butter Toast is most certainly one of the items that is best to be mentioned here — it features their homemade Nonya Pandan Kaya; all spread across the toasted white bread that comes with quite a huge slab of butter in between. Liked how they used salted butter that seems to carry a really balanced note of saltish-ness here; it gives sufficient flavour but didn’t taste too stark against their homemade Nonya Pandan Kaya that was mildly sweet, carried a good hint of Pandan fragrance at the start, yet ends off with a lightly eggy note. We also liked how their homemade Nonya Pandan Kaya wasn’t grainy; no doubt it does seem a little dense compared to some renditions that we have come across in specialty coffee cafes, but definitely smoother than what would have easily grabbed in a commercially-made jar of kaya off the supermarket shelves. The bread is also delightfully crusty and crisp on the exterior from the toasting, yet light and airy within — fairly easy to finish despite there being too much food on the table for us.

With the return of the office crowd back to the Central Business District, it does seem that most F&B establishments do seem confident about moving their stores or expanding their operations into the area — a really different scenario from what things were like just a couple of years when the pandemic just hit and that safety management measures were in place. Black & White Cafe is exactly that sort of establishment that the office folks in that neighbourhood needs — somewhere with reasonably-priced local fare with air-conditioned comfort. Having tried their various items including the Laksa, Butter Cake and Kopi Gu You (i.e. Kopi with Butter), Black & White Cafe does seem like a good alternative to establishments such as Toast Box; perhaps even something similar to a more budget-conscious version of Han’s / Hanis Cafe especially for local delights — somewhere that works as well as a breakfast stopover as they would do for lunch, and also an option for those random mid-afternoon tea time breaks with simple local cakes to munch on. A spot that we would likely be visiting on and off for lunch since it really isn’t too far a walk away from office; also one that office folks would appreciate having around the Central Business District as well.