Brunch at Brunners Coffeeshop Katong Jago Close

Brunch may seem like a new fad in Singapore even though the Oxford English Dictionary says the origin of the word is late 19th century. However, the late morning meal had been enjoyed in the markets and kopi tiams of Singapore long before most of us can spell “brunch”. Even today, go to a market food centre or a neighbourhood coffeeshop at mid-morning and it is likely that you will see people enjoying their porridge, nasi lemak, kway chap or you char kway dipped in coffee – in other words, having their brunch local style. Brunners Coffeeshop Katong is one such coffeeshop. We visited the kopi tiam on a Saturday morning and it was crowded. There were people tucking into porridge, kaya toasts, carrot cake and a brunch dish which we did not expect to see at a kopi tiam.

 Brunners Coffeeshop Katong

Located at the junction of Jago Close and East Coast Road, not too far away from the famous Chin Mee Chin, the old school kopi tiam has been around for a long time. The char kway teow and carrot cake stall there has had a loyal following for years. The eatery was recently spruced up and renamed Brunners Coffeshop. Despite its rather fancy name, the place still retained the look and feel of a typical Singapore kopi tiam. There is still a zhi char stall as well as hawker stalls selling noodles and porridge.

While some stalls at Brunners Coffeeshop Katong has stuck with the traditional way of business, like using the clothepegs system to take orders, others have adopted new technology like the buzzer system.

The surprising find at Brunners Coffeeshop Katong  was a new Western food stall – Meet 4 Meat – selling restaurant-style homemade pasta and charcoal grilled meat.

Brunch at at Brunners Coffeeshop Katong

Meet 4 Meat Bagel

We went to the Jago Close coffeeshop for our weekend brunch looking forward to the fried carrot cake and kway teow soup. When we saw a nicely plated bagel dish at Meet 4 Meat, we decided to give it a try.

There was a choice of bacon, ham or sausage with the bagel. We opted for the bagel with bacon ($6). It came with scambled egg and salad. The bagel was toasted and had a crisp crust and chewy interior. On the whole the dish was not bad. We thought it was good value considering that it was the price of a cup of coffee in many of the brunch places we had visited.

Teochew Kawy Teow Soup

We also had kway teow soup ($4.50) from the Teochew Mee stall. It was comfort food at its best. No fancy ingredient and nothing complicated – just well cooked tasty food that satisfied.

Katong Jago Carrot Cake

We could not go to the coffeeshop at Jago Close and not order the popular Katong Jago carrot cake or chye tow kway. We ordered two plates –  a medium plate of the white version ($3.50) and a small plate of the black version ($3). The white fried carrot cake was nice, nothing amiss but not fantastic. We preferred the sweetish black version. There was a good combination of dark sauce, eggs, chye poh and small pieces of radish cake with a nice springy texture. It was moist and not too oily. A tasty and enjoyable version of the black version of carrot cake.

Black coffee and teh O kosong at Brunners Coffeeshop Katong were $1.10 each. Kopi would be $1.20 and Kopi C $1.30.

Brunners Coffeeshop Katong is an affordable alternative weekend brunch destination. We can get traditional goodies and good local coffee as well as bagel and eggs there. Instead of having brunch in a hip place dressed up to look like an old school kopi tiam, we can have a good, cheap and satisfying brunch, including hip bagel dish if we want,  in a real neighbourhood coffeeshop.

Brunners Coffeeshop Katong
228 East Coast Road
Singapore 428925

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog