Char Siew Pau And Kuih Lopes At Cafe@Heart

Cafe@Heart is located on the second level of the new National Heart Centre building opposite SGH Block 4.

I was there with Mum for her blood test and having fasted since the previous night, she was extremely hungry after done with the test. The cafe was just diagonally opposite from the clinic so we made our way there for a light breakfast.

Since it is suppose to be a light breakfast, I ordered two Char Siew Pau with a cup of kopi o siew dai (black coffee with less sugar) for SGD2 and added on a Siew Mai for SGD0.80 to share.

The coffee is thick and aromatic and I quite like it.

I love Char Siew Pau but good, tasty ones are not always easy to find. This char siew filling is moist and sweet but not to the point of cloying. I would say it's decent with the flavors quite balanced. It may not be the best out there but it is definitely a cut above the rest.

Siew Mai is not something I usually eat because I could not bear with the taste of the pork marinade. The one here is unexpectedly ok without the overkill smell that puts me off.

I flipped over the paper beneath the pau, wanting to check the brand (whether is it from Kong Guan, Teck Kee Tanglin Pau, Tiong Bahru Pau, etc) but was surprised to see the halal logo instead.

This could only mean that the Char Siew Pau is not made of pork but chicken and yet both of us could not discern the difference at all!

Now it make sense why I was able to eat the Siew Mai without having the jelat feeling.

Do you know where else sells this halal Char Siew Pau from Nury Dian Xin Delight Pte Ltd? I certainly do not mind having it again.

Just when we were about to be done with breakfast, we saw the next table having Kuih Lopes.

It has been years since we last had this as it was not sold at the Malay stalls around where I stayed.

Kuih Lopis is basically glutinous rice cooked in pandan (screwpine leaves) juice, coated with salted coconut shavings and drizzled with gula melaka.

Kuih Lopes (SGD1 each)

The glutinous rice is a little hard to the bite which I suspected to be leftovers from the previous day sale but all is forgiven because the excitement of having something which I have not had had in a long time makes up for it.