After some good feedback from the Everton trail post, I have decided to do another trail named JB trail by N. JB stands for Jalan Besar trail. A once sleepy neighborhood was awoken by Chye Seng Huat coffee, and now there is a series of interesting food places: Windowsill Cafe, Anythingz Cafe, Tiramisu Hero, Bravery Cafe.

1) Chye Seng Huat Hardware (Coffee)
I don’t know any self proclaimed hippie that does not know about Chye Seng Huat Hardware (CSH) but JB trail was blaze started by Chye Seng Huat so I can’t not blog about it.

Part of the team who founded Papa Pahleta and Loysel’s started up CSH. I personally feel the coffee culture spark, that is really starting to spread and light up Singapore scene now, started with Papa Pahleta. The original partners seem to have split into CSH and Nylon Coffee, which are 2 of my favourites in Singapore.

With definitely above average coffee, CSH have become a cool place to hang out and also the place to go for coffee accessories. They have also started having local indie bands to play on weekends. Only thing I miss being an early discoverer of CSH is the relatively ease to find seats previously.. always crowded and buzzing these days!

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Chye Seng Huat Hardware
Address: 150 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207563
Tel: +65 6396 0609
Operating Hours: Tue to Thu: 9am – 7pm, Fri to Sun: 9am – 10pm

2) Windowsill Cafe
Been to Windowsill Cafe twice and will repeat! I hardly repeat places so that speak a lot of the quality of the pies. My favorites are the Seasalt Caramel Pie (top pie in below picture) and Lime Vodka Pie with zesty lime curd (third pie in below picture). But for people who love mint, the green Grasshopper will be a favourite; it has a chocolate flourless cake base topped with a fresh green mint cream. They also smartly serve a variety of tea which helps to cleanse the palate in between all the strongly flavoured pies. Tip: Drink tea here, but if you need caffeine fix, head to Chye Seng Huat or Bravery Cafe.

The concept of Windowsill is a cosy space in the woods. Even the door knobs are cute. By the way, their pies are so good, they wholesale it to other coffee haunts like Espresso Lab. Ill be back for more pies and better photos!

Tip: Go with a big group of friends so you can order many different types and the pies will be prettily served in a platter like below.

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Windowsill Cafe
Address: 78 Horne Road, Singapore 209078
Tel: +65 9004 7827
Operating Hours: Tue-Thur: 11am – 9.30pm, Friday: 11am – 10.30pm, Saturday: 10am – 10.30pm, Sunday: 10am – 9.30pm, Closed on Mondays

3) Anythingz Cafe

A cafe easy to miss if you aren’t looking out for it. Jackie the owner has put a lot of effort into setting up the cafe and menu, as well as running the cafe almost single handedly.

We didn’t try the food but the Mille Crepe cake pales in comparison to Lady M’s. However, the Thai ice tea was refreshing for a warm day. With personable and sincere service, a huge range of food and relatively cheap rental in the area, this cafe has a chance in this neighborhood.

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Anythingz Cafe
Address: #01-03 139 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207557
Tel: +65 9069 5570
Operating Hours:  Open Mon-Wed 8am-8pm, Fri-Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 10am-10pm.

4) Bravery Cafe
Already written about Bravery before so not going to repeat here. But coffee wise, still prefer Nylons, Broers and CSH.

5) Tiramisu Hero
The newest and also the weakest link in JB trail. Only open for 1 month, Tiramisu Hero would impress with its welcoming grass tuff, arty ornaments and pretty looking cupcakes.

However, for a place that anchors itself on tiramisu, the mini cupcake ($3.50) had decent taste but a disappointing texture. According to their website, there is supposed to be Kahlua in the tiramisu but I didn’t taste any alcohol. Both the cheesy and sponge parts were dry; no value for money for that small serving of tiramisu. I would suggest softening the texture, and also launching other special alcoholic flavors, with substantial amount of alcohol that can really be tasted by consumers in the tiramisu.

The coffee (Flat White) and Antonios special (Tiramisu Flavored Ice Coffee) were both not up to standard too. Flat white had very weak coffee taste, a LOT of milk, with no latte art. The Antonios special was sweet but didn’t have much tiramisu flavor.

The older gentleman whom the other staff said was one of the owners couldn’t really answer our question when we asked curiously why they chose a cat as their ambassador. They also need to step up on their operations efficiency – we queued for 5 mins then waited 15mins for 2 drinks and a small dessert. They give you a waiting tag which they don’t take back when all your food is served so I think it confuses them who had been served. We saw many other customers who looked rather impatiently waiting, staring at the service window.

For someone who put so much details into decorating the cafe, I think the owner should re-look the quality of food and drinks to ensure consumers repeatedly visits. Pity as I would want this pretty cafe to last.

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Tiramisu Hero
Address: 121 Tyrwhitt Road, Singapore 207548
Tel: +65 62925271
Operating Hours: 11am-10pm, Closed on Wednesday

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The neighborhood also houses other food I love or want to check out:

• Lai Huat Seafood Restaurant, Tze Char place famous for their sambal fried fish
• Kok Kee Wanton Noodles, in Lavender Food center
• Swee Choon Dim Sum, with super good Dimsum and Steamed Egg
• Butter Studio, which I am going to check out soon

Let me know what other interesting places there are in the neighbourhood!