Tim Hortons (NEX)

Awesome way to start a morning with this cuppa to warm your soul! Bestest!

My 2nd visit here and on the app got myself a free cafe latte. I changed to almond milk instead and was just charged 80cts more. I couldn’t resist the Melts so the truffle egg mayo & cheese satisfied my after morning swim hunger pang. I missed Canada 🍁
P.S. where’s my TH chilli bowl? 😢

Wow this pair is amazing for a cool morning! Heartwarming and revived good o’memories from Vancouver. Wishing for chilli bowl and muffins too! Pls come come come soon!

Been so long since we had Tim Horton’s (in Vancouver). Didn’t have the usual of chilli bowl, muffins etc but hopefully one day soon! Yummy melts!

There has been quite a number of coffee establishments that has a global presence that had sprouted up in the local F&B scene in the year 2023; it being a good mix of establishments from all over the world from places as near as Indonesia, as well as some that originated from China. Tim Horton’s entry to the local F&B scene is one that has been anticipated for quite a while; the Canadian-based brand being one that is particularly popular especially with the well-travelled ones whom have tried them in Canada. Despite opening one outlet in VivoCity earlier in the year, Tim Horton’s does seem to be fast-expanding; its outlet at NEX in Serangoon having opened just a few days before 2023 ends. Tim Horton’s location at NEX is situated right beside sports product retail ASICS — this location being a little smaller than their very first outpost in Singapore at VivoCity. The outlet sports a white exterior with a red font used for their branding — something that is quite synonymous with their brand identity, while the interior sports more earthier colours with a large use of wooden accents in its furniture and fittings. Much like their VivoCity outlet, there is still a dine-in space at their NEX location — the food menu also featuring much of the same fare including the Sourdough Melts, donuts, as well as a range of cakes and pastries. For beverages, Tim Horton’s segregates their drinks menu in sections such as Coffee (comprising of Espresso Coffee, Signature Lattes, Freshly-Brewed Coffee, Cold Brew, Single Origin), Iced Capp (ice-blended drinks), Tim’s Classics, and Tea.

We had been holding ourselves back on visiting Tim
Horton’s given how mad the queues were during its initial phase of opening for its VivoCity outlet; that being said, we know of acquaintances whom swear by their coffee after having made trips to Canada before — there was much of a reason to give them a try considering so. We were actually fairly excited when we found out that the NEX outlet was opened — whilst we knew that there was an outlet opening there, we weren’t in the know of the outlet being open; even better then we checked with the staff and realised that there were still empty seats for dine-in. We eventually decided to grab our dinner for the day instead — which is how we found ourselves going for the Maple Glazed Chicken Ham & Cheese Sourdough Melts; the Sourdough Melts being the only savoury items on the menu for those looking to get something that isn’t a sweet treat. The Maple Glazed Chicken Ham & Cheese Sourdough Melts is a fairly simple sandwich, but one thing we absolutely loved about it is how this is freshly-made upon order; something that we were not quite expecting from a commercialised brand like Tim Horton’s. Coming all piping hot, the sourdough toast was on point; came with grill marks having been pressed in the panini grill before being served, while in between the toast would be elements like the maple-glazed chicken ham, cherry tomatoes and cheese.

Crisp on the exterior, yet carrying a tangy note that sourdough bread typically carries due to the fermentation process in the making of the bread, the toast also gives a firm bite before one reaches the elements in between. The cheese here comes all melted; oozy and stretchy — gives that cheese pull that was once an “instagrammable trend” several years ago, though one can also seemingly taste a hint of honey mustard that is slathered somewhere to give that sandwich a sweet underlying note with a flavour profile close to wasabi without the numbing factor which goes just about right with the chicken ham. The chicken ham here isn’t too salty; itself carrying a very light fragrance from the maple glaze that contributed a slight floral and sweet note to go along. The cherry tomatoes provided a burst of refreshing tang when chewed upon; refreshes the taste buds from the cheese and sourdough.

Also tried the Boston Cream Donut; the donut comes with a light texture but firm bite — glazed in a layer of chocolate on the top whilst coming with a custard filling with a consistency similar to that of condensed milk. The custard filling itself was also noted to be not too sweet nor eggy; maybe a bit bland for some but given the inclusion of the chocolate glaze, was pretty adequate. The Maple Cinnamon Signature Latte is an item off the Signature Latte section of the menu under the Coffee category — the sweetness of the maple syrup may be a little heavy for those who typically go for zero sugar or lower levels of sugar in their cuppa. That being said, the addition of cinnamon gives it a spiced touch though does resort to a little bit of grittiness at the bottom of the cuppa; still something we really loved for the Christmas-sy vibes the composition of flavours were. We came to Tim Horton’s being really skeptical about the comments we have heard about its offerings — we aren’t very big fans of commercial brands anyway; we left Tim Horton’s being converts however, being impressed that the quality of their offerings surpasses that of the big names we are used to seeing in shopping malls all around. Definitely a brand that we would not mind re-visiting for some Maple Cinnamon Signature Latte as long as there isn’t a mad queue to wait for!