Forty Hands

Shall start the first of 2014 posts with something I love doing - eating. At one of my favourite cafes in Singapore: Forty Hands.

I think I may have had written about this place some time ago, but no harm going there again just to confirm its consistency? Of course.

Photos from phone :/ (meh)

Tucked and almost obscured between shop-houses in the Tiong Bahru neighbourhood. The only aspect that separates this shop from the others is the line of people queueing to get seats! The dine-in crowed can get crazy sometimes. You have to pick a good time to pop in. Once I was there for tea (3pm-ish) and there was a 30-40 minute wait! But on other occasions, I was there for brunch (noon till 1pm) and we usually get seats right away.

Default flat white. Forty Hands' coffee beans lay somewhere on the sour quadrant in the taste section. Strange when I first tried it, I thought their milk had gone bad! But no, it's just the way their coffee beans are.

Another cause of the ridiculously long lines - there's only about enough seating for 16-18 people indoors and a few tables at the back (outdoor setting) of this old-HDB shop lot. They do try to cram in more seats and tables, which is quite unfortunate. There was a time when I went there with TY and his face was literally next to a large female's bum! Thank goodness the next table was leaving so we swapped tables. The patrons that came after that also looked uncomfortable with the unusual seating arrangements and they also requested for another table, lol. But otherwise a nice indie cafe with a laidback atmosphere, really, complete with mismatched tables and chairs. 

Chilli dog with bolognaise, scrambled eggs and bacon - not bad but not as awesome as the Big Boy's Breakfast!

Big Boy's Breakfast - Sourdough with fatty bacon strips (wish they offer back bacon as an option!), eggs (any way you want - I had mine over hard), grilled tomatoes, handful of rocket leaves, bolognaise and sour cream. Oh and two beautifully fried, spicy Chipotle pork sausages which were my favourite! Love them to bits. And no baked beans, thank goodness for that.

I love how quaint and old-school Forty Hands serve their meals in. Like this metal plate, Ah Ma used to have stacks of them - usually for steamed pork & egg custard. Yum.

Cheese, tomato and ham toasties. Simple ingredients but you can never go wrong with them. The toast felt a little soggy though and lacking in the 'crunch' department.

Salad that I can't recall the name. A little Asian twist to it with stripped bok choy, bacon pieces, carrots, feta cheese and macadamia nuts. Spot on, loved the combination. Wished they were walnuts instead of macadamia, though.

There's also a pork belly pau that I've always meant to try but I get side-tracked all the time. Oh well, looks like I will have to do another dreaded trip to Forty Hands, then ;)

40 Hands Coffee

78 Yong Siak Street,

#01-12 Tiong Bahru.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Sundays 8am to 7pm.

Fridays & Saturdays 8am to 10pm

Closed Mondays.