O Happi Place Cafe @ Everton Park (Closed)

O Happi Place is what we envision a neighbourhood cafe should be. The cozy Everton Park cafe is small and has touches of the personality of the owners. With the lush plants on display and this joyful name, we could not resist stopping by for coffee and dessert.

Everton Park is an old HDB estate near Duxton and Outram MRT. It was built in the 60s for the staff of the Singapore Harbour Board. At that time void decks were not in fashion. Instead, on the ground floor of the two long rows of flats, blocks 1 to 6, are retail shops and f & b outlets. Happi Place Cafe Everton Park is one of them.

A Botanic Oasis in Tanjong Pagar

The presence of plants was detected before we reached the cafe. Clusters of leafy plants greet visitors to the cafe. The best specimens are those displayed inside the cafe itself. Here, variegated variants of the plants are carefully looked after and displayed. My green-fingered lunch companions exclaimed with delight – apparently these are rare and precious. Even to my untrained eye, the unusual markings and discoloured patterns look fascinating. BTW, there are more specimens to check out in various spots, including the toilet.

O Happi Place Cafe Everton Park

There is a spacious foyer with natural ventilation outside the cafe entrance. The simple furniture and spotlighting give the place a welcoming feel. A wide glass door thoughtfully provides easy access for baby prams and wheelchairs.

Inside the O Happi Place cafe, there are more seats and a cluster of the plants in a corner, well looked after by sunlight lamps and what looks like a watering system for indoor plants.

The Happi Place Cafe menu is a short and simple one – various types of tea and coffee, gelato ice cream and waffles. We are glad they did not try to over-stretch themselves by trying to sell too many things.

A fair selection of ice cream flavours was available. We selected a couple flavours – black sesame and ondeh ondeh.

Here are pictures of our ice cream and coffee. The coffee was of a good cafe standard. It may not be the best coffee but good enough for us to think of going downstairs for an espresso instead of making one ourselves if we were living upstairs.

Both the black sesame gelato and ondeh ondeh are unusual flavours and they were quite enjoyable. The ondeh ondeh does reproduce enough of the traditional Peranakan dessert to make it taste authentic. It goes especially well with a strong cup of espresso.

It can be hard to decide which cafe to have coffee at Everton Park as there are quite a few to choose from. O Happi Place Cafe would be a nice place to have a coffee break if you are in the area, especially when house plants are of interest to you.

O Happi Place
5 Everton Park, #01-22
Singapore 080005

Opening Hours: 12.30 pm to 9 pm
Closed on Mondays

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