Welcome to Alexandra.

Throwback. Basically a Zinger with onion rings. Also came with pickles, smoky white BBQ sauce and hot sauce.

More cake like than normal, but we'll caramelised and quite good overall

Not as dry as previously but still abit dry. Average

Theirs is one of the best, it's deep fried so exterior is crunchy, and interior was quite fluffy. Seafood was reasonably generous too

The crisp dissipates though, so eat quickly. Further the sauce is quite weak

Very intensely seasoned w kimchiness, which rare. This alr makes it one of the better ones

Free flow except marinated egg

The quality of the spread was exceptional
Two kinds of kimchi were both fine, the veggies had some light bean paste, the fish cake was very flavourful, and the potato strips were super fragrant from sesame oil. Egg was nicely marinated and not dry

Lovely, we got a lot of refills

It doesn’t seem to long ago that Nanyang Kopi Kia Claypot Coffee had first introduced the concept of claypot coffee in Singapore — no doubt that the said item has become a trend in the neighbouring country of Malaysia, but Nanyang Kopi Kia Claypot Coffee is undoubtedly the first establishment that had brought us a taste of claypot coffee around the island here. Nanyang Kopi Kia Claypot Coffee has had multiple outlets operating at locations like Smith Street and Alexandra Village at one point of time; however, these folks had since closed off those locations and consolidated their operations at their brand new space at International Plaza. While Nanyang Kopi Kia Claypot Coffee had ceased operations at Alexandra Village Food Centre for a while now, we ended up finding yet another hawker stall serving up claypot coffee that had moved into the same stall tenanted by Nanyang Kopi Kia Claypot Coffee previously; the new tenant being named J&J 瓦煲咖啡茶. Essentially not too different from most other beverage stalls serving up Nanyang-style Kopi and Teh that can be found in coffeeshops and hawker centres all around except for its focus on claypot coffee, J&J 瓦煲咖啡茶 does also serve up Kaya Butter Toast as well — other more “interesting” food items include Mini Chicken Ham & Cheese Burger, as well as Yuan Yang Buns with Kaya Butter and Creamy Peanut Butter. Apart from Nanyang-style Kopi that is being served out from a claypot, they do also serve up Thai tea, a monk fruit beverage, as well as other common concoctions like Lime Juice and Sour Plum just to name a few.

It is interesting to note that the Yuan Yang Buns (Kaya Butter & Creamy Peanut Butter) actually comes in a set of two; one being spread with Kaya and a wedge of butter in between, while the other bun comes spread with creamy peanut butter in between — the auntie was actually pretty nice to have considered slicing the Kaya and Butter Yuan Yang Bun into half for us, though the photo illustrating the Yuan Yang Bun spread with Creamy Peanut Butter is actually the end result of pulling the bun apart into two pieces. The buns used for the Yuan Yang Buns (Kaya Butter & Creamy Peanut Butter) are actually soft buns which one may find being served up at Hainanese-style Western cuisine stalls that still actually serves up soft buns with the main courses. These are toasted in the oven, and then sliced apart with the spreads being applied on thereafter. We actually do suspect that there is some margarine being spread on the undersides of the buns since it did carry a note similar to margarine; not to mention that the bun does come with a yellowish underside as well. The soft buns are toasted to a crisp on the exterior, with the interior maintaining some softness and fluffiness; we do think that there is a good proportion of kaya and butter here where the balance of flavours from the coconut jam and the saltishness of the butter was fairly on-point. That being said, we did wish that they could pay more attention to wipe the knife clean of peanut butter before spreading the Kaya on the other bun. Since we did not try the Creamy Peanut Butter Yuan Yang Bun, let’s just rely on our dining partner’s remark that the Creamy Peanut Butter is quite thick and likely to whet the appetites of peanut butter lovers in general.

In any case, for those wondering how their Claypot Coffee is like, we thought that the Claypot Kopi was slightly more roasty than most usual Nanyang-style Kopi that we had come across; this also meant that the level of sweetness feels more balanced out, though some may note feel that the difference is quite significant enough to be said as “unique” when compared to the typical cup of Kopi. Truth to be told, we probably would not say that J&J 瓦煲咖啡茶 is a spot that warrants a special trip made to give their Claypot Kopi a go; there isn’t that much of a difference that would warrant one to just head straight there to check it out. That being said, I we do feel that the Claypot Kopi served up at J&J 瓦煲咖啡茶 is pretty decent; something worthy of giving a try if one is looking for Kopi to pair up with their food orders whilst at Alexandra Village Food Centre — more of an interesting option to chance upon it one has an opportunity to check it out being around the vicinity.

It does seem that Alexandra Village hasn’t really seen much of a loss of specialty coffee spots even despite Venture Drive Coffee having moved out of its premises not too long ago; Rookie’s Coffee Shop does seem to have been holding up as a go-to spot for coffee lovers all around the island, while the ‘hood has also recently seen a new cafe opening up as well. Kyuukei Coffee had found home in a shop unit at Blk 121 Bukit Merah Lane 1; the shop unit of which that it occupies is rather prominent, considering its proximity to the overhead bridge that leads to Alexandra Central across the road, with its frontage facing Jalan Bukit Merah. Being a hole-in-the-wall space, Kyuukei Coffee is also a spot there has a story behind it — one can find a note placed right beside the door that narrates how Kyuukei Coffee was conceived by its founder; the brand had first started off as a coffee cart in April 2023 before transitioning into a brick-and-mortar store in November 2023. The interior of the cafe is rather tight but cosy — there is a bit of a Japandi design language adopted in its interior that gives a really zen environment good for a slow cuppa, though the interior also only consists of three bar counter seats facing the window; most of the dine-in seating area is actually located outside the shop space — comprises of a mix of outdoor coffee tables and wooden stools, as well as camping chairs and tables. Given the size of the space, Kyuukei Coffee’s menu is fairly lean — they do cater for those whom are feeling peckish, though their selection of toasties is limited to just a Mushroom Gremolata, a S.E.C.K., and a Ham, Cheese and Tomato. Otherwise, patrons can opt for the Cherry Tomato Focaccia, as well as the various danishes and other bakes stocked up in their display case at the counter. Beverages available at Kyuukei Coffee includes espresso-based specialty coffee, as well as tea and drinking chocolate.

We made our visit to Kyuukei Coffee on a Saturday afternoon — the only day in which it is open for business on the weekends. Whilst we were intending to give their variety of toasties a try, we were informed that they had already sold out of all their toasties even before lunch hour due to an unexpected increase in patronage as compared to usual on the day which he had made our visit; they weee also out of the Cherry Tomato Focaccia as well. Given how they were sold out of most of the items during our visit, we found ourselves resorting to giving their Canele a try — an item which we also found an interest in anyway that was still available at the time which we had made our visit. It is interesting to now that the Canele is actually warmed up before it is eventually served up at the table — a detail often missed out at other locations and even at big-name brands that serve up the same item. Slicing the Canele, we found that the Canele is crusty on the outside with a soft, honeycomb kueh-like texture for its interior. One thing to note about the Canele here was how it does carry that note of sweetness that one would expect out of a Canele, though this appears to be quite well-balanced since most Canele around might turn out to be a little bit sweet for the preferences of some. Overall, quite a well-executed Canele especially if this was something that was baked in-house. The Flat White we had went for was also pretty on point; a smooth and creamy cuppa that comes with a good proportion of milk — one with medium body that carried an earthy and nutty note that comes with a fruity finish. Still looking forward to give their line-up of toasties some day — Kyuukei Coffee is definitely a spot that works for somebody looking for a leisurely spot for a cuppa to spend a slow afternoon at!

They have been baking their signature cheese cake for many years in this neighbourhood of Bukit Merah.

You will never have the chance to purchase directly from the store unless you are here very early as the first customer, yet the chance is not guaranteed.

All their cheese cakes have to preorder from their website at least 1 day before, as they only prepare based on the amount of orders they have for the day.

Even after so many years, they still have lots of preorder bookings; and you still see some people dropping by to hopefully trying their luck. But usually they would be turned away.

They sell a few different flavours of cheese cake and one of the popular flavour would be this pandan.

I can see why they constantly receiving lots of orders because their cheese cake was so fluffy and not too creamy. Really good as a gift or simply trying it yourself.

Swee Kee used to be popular for their affordable price, but of course they can’t sustain like this in the time of inflation now.

But people still queuing up for their noodles selections. For a bigger portion, you can request for more noodles like mine. Topped with slices of char siew and a bowl of soup with wantons.

First of all what a steal?! So cheap. The chicken was pretty soft and tender, not bad but we had a really nice one at yuhua recently (hup hong) and we felt that hup hong’s chicken was juicier. We like that the soy sauce is not too salty or sweet, and they give achar here too! Overall a pretty decent option that I wouldn’t mind having again~

Tasted q old school. The noodles weren’t really springy, but I liked the simple dressing it had, just a bit of lard, not heavy at all. Char siew was pretty lean and dry, wantons were alright but some might find it too plain. It’s passable and I’m glad to have finally tried it but I don’t think I’ll be hankering for it. I think this for those who like such old school flavours!