Huggs Coffee

“For the Love of Huggs Coffee” was on the signboard at a small coffee place at Royal Group Building, Philips Street. There are cafes at every corner in Raffles Place but this cafe seemed more welcoming and so we decided to take a coffee break there.

According to their website, Huggs Coffee was ” … created in 2007 to primarily cater to the everyday coffee and food needs of individuals and groups working in varying business clusters”. It now has around 20 outlets in Singapore and one in Kuala Lumpur Airport.

Huggs cafe has different types of setups. This one at Philips Street is listed as a coffee bar. A nice friendly lady helms the shop at Philips Street. We were impressed by her efficiency in running the place all by herself.

At this outlet, Huggs Coffee sells a limited range of ready to eat items like snacks and wraps. Which makes this a convenient place for the hordes of office workers in the Raffles Place area to grab a quick lunch.

But I think the main attraction to the many customers that stop by at Huggs is their coffee. In addition to coffee from the espresso machine, they also have Sumatra coffee which I believe is their version of local Singapore coffee. Priced at around $2.50, it is not as expensive as the lattes or cappuccino, but more pricey than a coffee shop cup of coffee. Here is a picture of the drinks menu

We decided on a cappuccino ($5) and a machiato ($3.60). We were pleasantly surprised by the grumpy bear and cool cat artwork on our coffees. The artistic work by the barista was even more impressive given that she was running the place by herself. And the size of the machiato was really small.

The grumpy face on the cappuccino faded with the bubbles on the froth. The coffee tasted nice – rich, smooth and not so acidic.

The cool cat on the machiato lasted longer as there was less foam to begin with. It was a cup of strong, concentrated coffee, softened by the splash of milk. Overall we found Huggs Coffee worthy of its name. It is indeed a friendly place. We were even offered two glasses of cold water without asking!