Cafe review: Choupinette at Bukit Timah, Singapore

So, this is how a typical Whatsapp conversation with my friend Hwee Teng goes,

Me: (Getting straight to the point while skipping all the greetings, social niceties and polite small talk) 

Hey HT, I want to check out X Café. I've heard the X they serve is good. 

Her: Okay

Me: When you free?

Her: Anytime over the weekend

Me: Great. Let's catch up this Sunday morning. Can? 

Her: 👍👍

That's how simple it is and possibly the main reason why despite working together for barely two years back in 2011, we have remained good friends ever since. Apart from living in the same neighborhood, being former colleagues and sharing a common love for food, coffee, quaint desserts, food photography, travel and hazelnuts, now that she is married, we have more to jabber about.

I have a tendency to seek no-filter friendships quite similar to the relationship I share with my sister. The kind that creates a safe space for me to be my real and true self, even the waspish, self-absorbed, petty version of me that won't win any popularity contests. I believe that the friends who have stuck by me the longest, overlook my failings in favor of my better personality traits such loyalty, integrity, reliability and accept/love me for who I am.

Friendship is like any other relationship - it takes time and effort. If the feelings are mutual, the effort will be equal. I can honestly say that for the two of us, this has always felt organic. We have always been able to make time for each other despite work and family commitments and I can only hope that it stays the same. She is my first choice for an accomplice when I get an invitation to review a particular restaurant or when I voluntarily want to check out any food establishment. Over the years, I’ve probably influenced her a little bit which is noticeable when her response to food evaluation is a much more thoughtful and articulate description rather than a customary nonchalant shrug accompanied by a “not bad” 😂 She is a self-confessed glutton (much like me) and so when I'm with her, I never feel conscious on the amount of food I can tuck away! 

She was the one who suggested Choupinette after I wanted to catch up and hear all the details of her recent registration of marriage. I'm not going to bore you with how much I love brunch (I've already highlighted that many many times on the blog). All I'll say is that I will never ever say no to a place serving all-day breakfast. 

Choupinette has been around since 2002. It is a little piece of France in Singapore that you can go to for breakfast, brunch, lunch, coffee/tea, all-day dining.

The café is quite small (a hole-in-the-wall kinda deal) with a rustic homely décor yet popular and predictably crowded on weekends. Note that they don't accept reservations on weekends so you will get a seat if it is your lucky day.

As we made our way to the café at 10am on a bright and cheery Sunday, I noticed that the place was filled with a mix of both locals and expats, mostly families. We were fortunate that there were two tables left.

Be sure to check out the baked goodies they have on display. They are really hard to ignore 😄

What struck me was even though the café was crowded, it wasn't noisy and we were able to relax and chatter the morning away.

I had heard that the eggs benny was good and so I had already decided what I was going to order. The menu at Choupinette is limited but they do have some well-loved breakfast items as well as all sorts of savoury and sweet baked goods on display that I mentioned earlier.

Aside from a la carte dishes, the café offers breakfast sets. All sets are served with fruit juice and any coffee or hot tea or hot chocolate.

I ordered the Egg's Florentine's that consisted of poached eggs on toast with wilted spinach, hollandaise sauce & a salad on the side ($19 a la carte; $26 as a set). I ordered cranberry juice and cappuccino to go along with it.

My friend ordered The Tristan's which consisted of scrambled, poached or fried eggs with pork or chicken sausage, mushroom, a "tomate provençale" & whole meal bread roll with butter ($19 a la carte; $26 as a set). She chose grapefruit juice and a mocha latte.

The fruit juice was not the freshly squeezed variety and something that probably came out of a carton. I'd say that instead of providing a breakfast set with two drinks (completely unnecessary coz who needs that much fluid anyway), they might as well offer one type of drink and provide a small portion of savory bread or pastry. 

Just my two cents.

The hot drinks were frothy, creamy and comforting. They complimented the brunch dishes really well.

I've tried making eggs benedict at home on a few occasions and I find it rather tricky so I appreciate a well made eggs benedict.

Choupinette's rendition was faultless. Perfectly poached eggs (gloriously runny yolk and all), velvety hollandaise sauce and the combination of the bread, egg, sauce and spinach was so good. I'd definitely order it again.

My friend selected fried eggs and pork sausage. She tucked into the food enthusiastically. I gathered that the combination of the buttered bread with the eggs, sausage, tomato and mushrooms made for an appetizing and satisfying meal. 

After glancing at the freshly made breads in the baskets, I had my heart set on a sumptuous looking Russian Stollen but, alas, by the time I went to the counter to order it, it was completely sold out. Boo! 

Learn from my mistake okay? If something catches your fancy, order it pronto.

I settled for a gigantic chocolate coated donut. I was too stuffed to finish it at the café so I brought it home to share with my kids. It turned out to be pretty good.

After a hearty brunch and catching up on the latest developments in each other's lives, HT and I walked the length of Bukit Timah road checking out the potential venue for our next meet-up. Honestly, there are so many cool establishments in this area offering comforting brunch, artisanal bakeries and good coffee that it is no wonder that this quiet enclave is considered to be a foodie's paradise.

I subsequently visited Choupinette a few more times, mostly for takeaway but occasionally for brunch as well. 

The pictures below are from one visit with my husband. It was a weekday morning and it had been raining incessantly. The cafe was uncharacteristically empty for the entire duration we were there so I had a great opportunity to take lots more pictures. 

Something I forgot to mention in my first visit is that you have all sorts of MONIN syrups available for purchase at Choupinette. I saw common flavours like vanilla, lime, banana to cherry, caramel and unique flavours like pandan. These syrups can be added to soda or sparkling water or be used to make mocktails and cocktails. 

I always love sauntering over to check out the baked goodies they have for the day.

We decided to make our meal a set. I ordered a latte and a salad to go with my main while my husband opted for cappuccino and soup of the day to go with his eggs benedict. 

Creamy, frothy, aromatic coffee leaves one very little to complain about. And the latte art gets brownie points 😊

For the sides, I preferred the salad to the soup. The salad was well dressed and although it was simple, it tasted good. The mushroom soup was a bit thin in consistency and slightly under seasoned for my preference. 

I ordered the vegetarian version of the Le-Croque monsieur with mushrooms swapped in the place of ham. I also asked for an egg on top. The bread was predictably good with the egg, cheese and mushrooms complementing each other really well to make a satisfying meal. The side salad was good too. 

I selected a loaf of sandwich bread for takeaway and the staff even gave me a complimentary stick of Plain Chou Chou (which my kids loved so thank you for that). 

A little gem serving baked goodies, brunch & beverages...

Choupinette is a charming and cozy little French café located along Bukit Timah road. A nice place for small groups/gatherings to enjoy a comforting meal at any time of the day. You can expect good food with friendly service. If you are in the area, it is worth checking out their selection of freshly baked goods too (I love their fougasse bread and croissants). A tad pricey in my opinion but definitely worth a visit.

My rating for this café is

Choupinette
Address: 

607 Bukit Timah Rd #01-01, Singapore

 

Opening hours:
Tuesday-Saturday: 8:00 to 19:00
Sunday:8:00 to 18:00
Closed on Monday

Reservations accepted from Tuesday until Friday. No reservations on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ChoupinetteCafe/

Ph no: 6466 0613


Cheers,
Megha

This is NOT a sponsored post or invited  review