Was going around Bukit Merah Central as spotted this new coffee stall named Star Coffee — turns out, this is one of the few coffee stalls at a hawker centre that is dedicates themselves to serving up the traditional Nanyang Kopi with a modern twist.

I was actually pretty intrigued by the stall since I have spotted an espresso machine in the stall — pretty much reminds me of stalls such as Kopi More at Golden Mile Food Centre, Lim’s Cafe at Chinatown Complex Market and Generation Coffee at Tekka Centre. Ordering my cuppa, I noticed how the owner-cum-barista here first uses an electric coffee bean grinder to prepare the coffee grounds to be used for the cuppa, before pulling the shot via the espresso machine just like how one would expect for a cup of espresso-based coffee at a specialty coffee joint serving gourmet coffee. The result is this cuppa that has a particularly thick crema; almost akin to the likes of the Kopi served at Kopi More — something that may be more common these days given the number of stalls taking this approach on serving up Nanyang-style Kopi, but still pretty much something one would not expect to get in the traditional brewing methods of local coffee.

Frankly speaking, even opting for the “normal” level of sweetness (patrons can also opt for either “more sweet” or “less sweet”), the Signature Coffee here has a rather harsh body that felt a little too bitter — rather off- balance even when compared to the likes of coffee served by other stalls adopting a similar approach in brewing their cuppa, even despite the addition of condensed milk at the normal level of sweetness. While I do appreciate the effort and thought behind the modern take, this is a cuppa which I would say that doesn’t quite work for everyone. Perhaps they can look more into the technicalities of coffee brewing to refine their cuppa further to achieve that balance of flavours that would make it an easier drink to have overall.

For those looking to give them a try, they are running a promotion till 15 October 2021 where they are serving their Signature Coffee at $1 — a rather decent opportunity to decide if their cuppa is one that suits the tastebuds.