14 Best Cafe in Singapore | Best of Food 2024

We all want to get away from the hustle and bustle of our stressful life once in a while (or maybe every weekend). Photos of friends and influencers attending lovely cafés on Instagram don’t help much either. For a moment of relaxation, good food and pleasant surroundings are required. The demand for premium breakfast/brunch and artisanal coffee is being addressed by the finest in Singapore’s cafe business, from specialty coffee and hearty breakfasts to the greatest avo smash and power-packed smoothies, house bean blends, and amazing brunch meals. With an extensive variety of cafe places in the market, which then are the best cafe in Singapore? Our Best of Food series introduces the 14 Best Cafe in Singapore, providing quality recommendations based on your lifestyle and budget needs.

Best Cafe in Singapore

1. Tarik

With passion for crafting Singapore’s traditional local beverages 

Where else can you get a better cup of tea than at a cafe in Singapore that is named from the style of tea brewing itself? Tarik passionately crafts and promotes Singapore’s traditional local beverages, upholding the highest standards of quality and sustainability. What began as a humble hole-in-the-wall kiosk along Arab Street now has a charming dine-in cafe branch on Bali Lane, offering affordable and freshly brewed local drinks. With great drinks and great atmosphere, this cafe is the perfect place to just take a break while exploring the city and immersing in one of Singapore’s heritage places. 

Tarik’s teh tarik stands out for its freshness, featuring a full-bodied Ceylon tea base elevated by freshly ground cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise. This aromatic blend is then enriched with a combination of condensed milk, evaporated milk, and a touch of UHT milk, creating a deliciously rich brew that is perfectly balanced and not overly sweet. Also, Tarik showcases not only the traditional tea ingredients and techniques but also the way they take inspiration from Japan’s siphon coffee technique. Aside from teh tarik, they passionately craft and promote Singapore’s other traditional local beverages like teh halia and teh pandan. They even have your favourite kopi too, plus classic Singaporean snacks that everyone loves – curry puffs, french toast, and kaya butter bun. All comes at reasonable pricing too!

2. Good Bites Café Restaurant

Wonderful place to have a cup of coffee

Nestled at a corner not facing the main entrance is the Good Bites Café Restaurant. With neon-lighted logos and old-school rubber string chairs, the one thing that will come to your mind is that this is a happy place. While the outside screams of retro, fun charm, the interior of the café exudes a classic, colonial-era feel. For such a popular restaurant, you can find their all-day set lunch that starts from S$9.99 and includes salad and hot tea/coffee. Unlike places that are quite unrelenting in not allowing options, you are free to exercise top-ups to a mushroom soup, or even an A&W float. The set includes Iced Peach Tea, Mushroom Soup, Teriyaki Chicken Tomato Pasta, Truffle Fries, and many more. Their specialty Tom Yum Seafood Pasta has a good balance of that spicy punch and sour-tanginess expected of the dish.

3. Central Perk (F.R.I.E.N.D.S Cafe)

F.R.I.E.N.D.S themed café

Central Perk is THE coffee house from the once-super-popular TV sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S, in which the show’s characters were often seen hanging together. The cafe is big and not crowded and if you are a F.R.I.E.N.D.S series fan, they have created a separate space from the dining area where you can take pictures that covers all major aspects of the series.  Speaking about the food, Joey’s Meat Lover Pizza costs $28 is deliciously aromatic, and has a lot of toppings. You can also pick from their great lineup of dishes; Tarter Tots, Joey’s Chicken Wings, Barbados pizza and alcohol of double chocolate beer, and Ross Dinosaur. There are 6 different blends of coffee profiled to the 6 different F.R.I.E.N.D.S. characters, sourced from 4 coffee roasters. 

4. Citrus By The Pool

Hidden gem by the swimming complex

Citrus By The Pool introduces more than 20 new dishes, drinks, and desserts to its menu. You can expect more side dishes, burgers, milkshakes, and desserts. If you want a burger that brings a local twist to the conventional burger by using satay sauce for that explosion of flavours at the first bite, you can try their BIG Boss Burger (Double Patty) Beef & Mutton. Or if you want to try their main dish, you can try their Catch of the Day. It is a pan-seared salmon served with seasonal vegetables, mashed potatoes, and cream sauce. And when it comes to main dishes, they have a whole Cajun Lamb Rack which they seasoned with cajun spices, served with seasonal vegetables, and mashed potatoes, topped with their homemade brown sauce. You can also choose from their rows of pasta and desserts.

5. Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant

Singaporean outlet for the best pancakes

From NYC’s Lower East Side to Singapore, the iconic Clinton St Baking Company & Restaurant. The restaurant’s recommended breakfast meal includes Eggs Benedict served over a toasted buttermilk biscuit, Southern Breakfast comprised of two eggs any style, Buttermilk Biscuit Sandwich Brioche French Toast, Seafood Po’Boy, and Salmon Burger. Note that many items are served only from 11:30 am onwards for lunch. The winner was the Clinton St’s famed fluffy Pancakes with warm maple butter, being voted ‘Best In the City’ twice by New York Magazine. True to its reputation, the pancakes were fluffy and fat, topped with wild blueberries, banana walnut, or chocolate chunk toppings, which you can drizzle over with awesome homemade maple butter.

6. Noosh Noodle Bar and Grill

Unique Halal fusion specialties

If you are adventurous in food, the variety of dishes at Noosh Noodle Bar & Grill located at Esplanade Mall may delight you. Here they offer a blend of cuisines, with unique Halal fusion dishes to tease your taste buds. Their menu is extensive and there is a likelihood you may not know what to choose at first glance. There are various sections from starters, salads, soups, fusion specialties, rice bowls, noodles, to desserts. Starting with the noodles, you do not get any of the ‘normal’ noodles here, as the offerings range from Spicy Beef Ramyeon, Szechuan Beef Ribs Noodles, Niboshi Ramen with Sliced Beef, and many more. You can also go Korean and have some Baked Cheese Ddeoboki. Or maybe you’re in the mood for Japanese-inspired Clam Vongole Udon.

7. Open Farm Community

First open-dining concept in Singapore

While you enjoy the food, you can see the chefs in action thanks to the semi-open kitchen concept. The menu isn’t very extensive but there is something for everyone. There are 5-6 starters and mains each, a bunch of sides, and a few desserts. The vegetarian selection is quite limited (especially in the mains category) and the restaurant should add more plant-based dishes that would appeal to both meat-lovers and vegetarians. They have their cappuccino which is frothy and comforting and you can adjust the sugar level to your liking. The food is presented well and has a satisfactory portion size and tastes good.

8. Lantern

Rooftop bar that has exquisitely fresh drinks and foods

Lantern can be found on the rooftop of the Fullerton Bay hotel. This roof terrace is rather impressive, with beautiful unrestricted views over the Marina Bay waterfront and Singapore’s skyline. They serve a couple of cocktails from the bar’s cocktail menu. The flavours of their drinks were exquisitely fresh and the arrangement was wonderful. In the first course, they have a jumbo lump crab and lobster cocktail with avocado served on fresh crisp lettuce. Again, this dish was wonderfully fresh and offered strong indications that not only do the Chefs at Lantern know what they were doing but that they must only use the freshest of ingredients. For their main courses, they have sirloin steak, which was served with creamy truffle mashed potato and a garden salad. They made this dish perfectly cooked, and the steak a fine cut of meat. 

9. Symmetry

Most pleasant creations in Singapore

Symmetry delivers some of the most pleasant creations in Singapore. They take the simplest brunch must-haves — from pancakes and waffles to smoked salmon and sourdough — and pepper them with some pretty impressive twists. The weekend brunch menu lists an impressive collection of mains. There’s a Vegan Big Breakfast option that throws in tofu, avocado, scallion pesto, and roasted peppers. A health-conscious Symmetry Salad option serves up cured salmon, pine nuts, halloumi cheese, and sweet corn accented with some honey yogurt dressing. Symmetry does a whole list of coffees, teas, juices, smoothies, and milkshakes. And they have an even bigger list of alcoholic drinks and cocktail creations for the late crowd. For coffee and tea lovers who need both at one go, dose up on some Iced Dirty Matcha. It unites cold brew coffee and matcha tea to deliver a kick of caffeine.

10. Sarnies Cafe

Cafe that serves hearty dishes

Sarnies, named after the slang for sandwich ‘sarnies’, is a bustling café serving hearty breakfasts, massive salads, homemade bakery treats, coffee, and of course, sandwiches. Using grass-fed beef and chicken free from hormones and antibiotics, the café promises only fresh, quality ingredients in all its dishes. Even its bacon is cured in-house. Popular favourites include the Pulled Pig Salad comprising of pulled pork, brown rice, spice corn, mesclun, red cabbage coleslaw, guacamole, chimichurri, corn tortilla chips. If you head over during the weekend, The Breakkie Burg available on the Brunch Menu should satisfy both your breakfast and burger cravings. Composed of a smashed beef patty, cheddar, and dressed with fermented garlic butter and bacon onion jam relish.

11. Atlas Coffeehouse

Assembled coffee’s sister cafe

Atlas Coffeehouse is helmed by the team behind Assembly Coffee, known for their Shibuya toasts, waffles, and coffee to appeal to university undergraduates. You can pick from their Think Salmon Soba Noodles, Summer Chicken Stew, Buttermilk Waffles with various sauces and atlas dishes: ATLAS Super-Bowl and ATLAS Butterscotch Banana Pancake. On the other hand, you can choose The Creamy Mushroom on Sourdough which is THE YUMS. The dish is good for two to share, with sumptuous shimeiji mushroom cooked in a mid-rich cream sauce piled on light-toasted sourdough bread. The kitchen got everything just right, from the creaminess of the sauce, the chewiness of the bread, to the combination of ingredients. Coffee beans here were a blend of Brazilian and Guatemala beans.

12. Prego

Perfect choice for leisure and date out

Decked out in chic Italian paintings and decorations, this casual eatery features a pizzeria, wine bar, rotisserie, and deli, giving you plenty of options to choose from. Its authentic Italian home-cooking style offers specialties like prosciutto di parma, rotisserie chicken, and Italian fennel sausage. If you like, there’s plenty of the same at the takeaway counter, with bread, cakes, salads, sausages, cold cuts, and pasta for the taking. For the adults, you can have two pasta dishes and one pizza to share. If you would like to go for the set menu, you can choose the 3-course menu or the 4-course menu. The spaghetti vongole is with clams and garlic tossed in white wine, chili, and parsley. It is a simple seafood dish that contains a lot. The serving of clams was generous and the chili added a slight spice to the dish. 

13. Knockhouse Cafe

Popular brunch spot

Knockhouse Cafe is previously known as “Pacamara”. They used to serve Pacamera coffee beans (the coffee roasters from Thailand), but now offer their “own range of local flavour coffee beans”. While it has rebranded and a new menu, it still retains its vibes, primary white interior (especially with natural daylight), and a barista bar. Brunch is available from 9 am to 5 pm, with items such as Steak & Egg, Breakfast Platter, Buns & Eggs, Duck Confit Hash, Smoked Salmon Hash, Seafood Croquette, Egg Florentine and Mushroom on Toast. For a fuller meal, head for their mains of Pumpkin Gnocchi, Seafood Croquette Burger, Curry Chicken Burger, Beef Burger, Salmon Confit, and Chicken Stew Pasta.

14. Rosso Vino

Perfect place for an intimate dinner date

Despite its conservative decor and even more time-honoured menu, dining for the first time at Rosso Vino is a dangerous love affair.  The appetiser shows promise. Burrata Fresca di Andria features fresh soft cheese served with mixed salad and tomatoes. Give the waiter a nod and grin as he gregariously grinds fresh black pepper over the rich creamy beauty then proceed to tip that olive oil jug over. Dining here mandates a glass(or bottle) of wine. It is not a game of Russian roulette, even the most basic glass of Nero d’Avola impresses. However, one bite into the Quatro Formaggio Pizza, and your senses are elevated that the experience alone warrants an upgrade of wine. Pizzas are the mainstays here at Rosso Vino.

Other Cafe in Singapore:

Above these places, we hope that our guide on the 14 Best Cafe in Singapore will help you to choose where to dine out and spend your meals in Singapore. Please do share this along with your friends if you have found this useful. Do look forward to more buying guides that we will be releasing soon!