Kopi-Tiam Cafe

Rating: 3

We ate dinner here in May 2023.

Tofu goreng
Hokkien style noodles
Curry puffs

Kopi-Tiam is a sleepy looking Southeast Asian takeaway joint that also has a few tables for dine in. You never know what you’re going to get in a place like this, but you can colour us pleasantly surprised. The curry puffs were hot and fresh with soft innards and no unwelcome peas. Our only complaint would be that they didn’t come with a sauce.

The tofu goreng was another pleasant surprise. The proprietor had warned us that it came on salad, which we couldn’t really envision but just nodded and said yeah sure. What arrived was a fresh lettuce salad with crispy thin pieces of apple and tinned pineapple pieces, topped with fried tofu and a peanut satay sauce. This was unconventional, but in the best way. The freshness and crispness of the salad paired really well with the soft hot tofu and sauce. The satay was super well balanced, sweet but with a zingy chilli aftertaste.

The hokkien style noodles were soft and saucy, but unfortunately were let down by very average frozen shrimp, presumably fake crab meat, and a fairly plain sauce that was far too heavy on the soy sauce. The weakest part of an otherwise good meal.