Plain Vanilla Tiong Bahru

Turn up at four for brunch and you'll get a bake and a lesson.

Plain Vanilla's Yong Siak Street flagship is for a slow breakfast with someone who likes to browse, and you will probably leave with something for the kitchen you hadn't planned on. It is a café, a bakery and a shop at once, and it would quite like you to stay. Two things to plan around: the hot kitchen takes last orders at 3.50pm, hours before the shop closes, and none of the stores takes table reservations. Come in the morning, and be ready to wait or take away.

From cupcakes to a pantry

Plain Vanilla started in 2011 as a little take-away spot on Lorong Mambong in Holland Village, and for years the name was shorthand for cupcakes. This shophouse is now the flagship. The bakery says it has its biggest range of bakes here, a daily brunch menu, hot food and deli items, and shelves carrying the full range of its own grocery label, Plain Vanilla Foods, plus selected homeware from like-minded brands. Hence the tote bag.

The room

The room is the reason to stay. It spans two connected units on the corner of Yong Siak and Chay Yan streets: communal tables at the front, the bakery counter at the back and alfresco seating outside. A skylight pulls daylight down into the middle of the repurposed shophouse, which counts for a lot on a grey morning. Find a table, order something baked and slow down to the neighbourhood's pace, which on a weekend morning is roughly that of a sleepy cat.

What to order

The cupcakes are still the headline, and the vanilla bean is the one to judge them by. For something hot, the eggs Benedict is the safe brunch order, provided you're in before the kitchen stops. Menus differ between Plain Vanilla's outlets, so go by what this branch is serving rather than a dish you saw at another one.

If the tables are full

Tapao a bake and a coffee and walk the estate to Tiong Bahru Market. The neighbourhood has plenty of other bakeries and cafés, 40 Hands among them, and they make better second stops than rivals. Pace yourself, though: Tiong Bahru is best taken one good thing at a time, not as an eating marathon. Tiong Bahru MRT is the nearest station, and the bakery posts festive closures on Instagram.

Good to know Plain Vanilla is at 1D Yong Siak Street; Tiong Bahru is the nearest MRT. Opening hours, last orders for hot food and festive closures change (the bakery posts closures on Instagram), so check the official stores page before you go. No table reservations.

Make a morning of the estate: our Tiong Bahru cafés and market stops.

Plain Vanilla Tiong Bahru | 1D Yong Siak Street, Singapore 168641 | Nearest MRT: Tiong Bahru