Sugar Granny Cafe

Sugar Granny Cafe along Teo Hong Road was one of the "pit-stops" during my recent tour around Chinatown. After a good pasta at Cugini and a warm cuppa at Shots, I wandered around the area and eventually found myself at this new snack hideout close to the Outram Park NEL station. I did have my doubts about this place actually, especially after having read extremely rave reviews by people who have only posted once or twice on the Hungrygowhere forum - and all of those were on Sugar Granny Cafe. Hmm.


Still, it was a blazing hot afternoon and I was desperately in need of something cold to cool me off. Besides, I was already at the tail-end of Chinatown and there were few other options, and places like Absinthe nearby seemed to be closed for the mid-afternoon.


I like the cosy and charming interior of Sugar Granny Cafe. It had an interesting mix of the old and new, with the walls decked in old-school Chinese posters as well as LCD television screens. Pleasant English oldies were also being played softly in the background. Interestingly, there were also a couple of pretty Vespa scooters lying around for sale and rent.


The place was quiet for a Tuesday mid-afternoon, but quite a few people did come and go with takeaways. Service here is very good, with two middle-aged men (whom I gather are the owners) who were eager to help and please their customers. I chatted with them for a bit and learnt that this humble little cafe was opened just a couple of months ago, right after the Chinese New Year holidays. On weekends, it's open till 1am, so if you're in the area and you're hungry for some light snacks (but eager for air-conditioned comfort as well), you might consider dropping by.

Lychee Icy Swirl


This cooled me down real good. It's really sweet I have to admit, but it had nice little chunks of lychee (probably from the can) and nata de coco jellies. Slurp.

Sticky Muah Chee


It's something different to me, having muah chee (a glutinous rice snack) on a stick instead of on a bed of grated peanuts. Curious (and greedy) me went for the red bean, chocolate and peanut ones, and all-in-all I think they were quite alright. I do prefer the peanut muah chee as compared to its sweeter counterparts, and I took the time to roll the bits around the peanuts to make sure it has a tight peanut coat. Simple snack to wile away the afternoon.

Deboned Chicken Wings


Oooh, I quite like this a lot. Deboned, deep-fried (and a tad oily) chicken wings - comfort food material for sure. The harmless looking chilli sauce was maddeningly spicy... but like many Singaporean eaters, it just made it all the more addictive. Since many food stalls price their fried chicken wings at $1-$1.20 these days, I think the extra 30cents is quite reasonable since extra work has to be done to debone the chicken wings anyway.


I was walking around the area snapping away with my camera when I noticed this huge abomination building sticking out like a sore thumb. This is the Pinnacle @ Duxton by the way, where I hear that some people actually pay money ($5) to get a good view of Chinatown, Tanjong Pagar and the City. It sounds nice, all and good, but having this amidst the old, conserved buildings is just... odd. Oh well, guess that's what happens when you have limited land space.

Service
Very good.

Price
$2.50 for the lychee icy swirl
$1.50 for each stick of muah chee
$3.00 for two deboned chicken wings

Also: $4.80 for durian/mango on coconut sticky rice.

Place
5 Teo Hong Road,
Near Outram Park NEL Station.

Additional Comment
1. No GST and service charge.
2. No main courses on the menu.
3. Opening hours: Sun–Thu 1pm – 11pm, Fri–Sat 1pm – 1am.

Pictures taken with the Canon EOS 500D.