Simple Cafe 簡單: Minimalist Taiwanese-Style Cakes and Pastries Cafe
Weeks into the final quarter of last year, the West Coast gained a new aesthetically pleasing cafe, aptly titled Simple Cafe 簡單。
Located in the NEWest Building facing the Ayer Rajah Expressway and accessible by public bus, Simple Cafe brings to mind humble but aesthetically pleasing cafes overseas, and the inspired use of Traditional Chinese characters tells you exactly where Simple Cafe had in mind.
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From the outside, it’s incredibly easy to miss given that the glass door and floor-to-ceiling windows reflect rather than allow outsiders to see the cafe inside. So much so that I had to give them a call and only found them when one of the welcoming staff cheerfully opened the door to the cafe, ha.
Once in though, expect Mandopop tunes playing from the speakers as you step into this brightly-lit space.
Immediately, Simple Cafe invokes wonderfully cosy vibes, and feels true to how many Taiwanese cafes are actually like.
I loved that they didn’t decide to cram as many tables as they could inside, and is precisely why it does actually remind me of cafes overseas, where tables are more spread out, and you don’t feel like you’re shouting over a combination of the chatter of other diners, the music blaring from speakers, and / or other ambient noise just to have a conversation.
The 21-seater cafe balances space and functionality pretty well, I think, as I’ve been twice now and it never got overwhelmingly crowded nor did I ever have to queue for a table.
Baked in-house by the owners themselves, Simple Cafe offers a delightful selection of assorted pastries and desserts.
Keeping in line with the overall theme, their pastries are all simply titled too, and I had the Choco and the Pear to try.
I really enjoyed the Choco, which came topped with cream and sprinkled with cocoa powder.
Unlike other chocolate cakes, the Choco features a more brownie-like texture which is balanced nicely with the sweetness of the cream, and paired with a thin biscuit base.
The Pear is like many fruit tarts, and is also not overly sweet despite the candied and glazed look of the pear slices, and is genuinely quite refreshing on a hot afternoon.
My only gripe was that the crumbly shell was a smidgen on the drier side, so it helped to have a drink on hand.
Over on the drinks menu, you’ll find a decent selection of coffees but I opted for an Iced Matcha Latte instead, which came unsweetened, and thus a great match for the pastries on hand.
Simple Cafe is the kind of cafe I could spend an entire afternoon at.
Relatively quiet and peaceful, the more inaccessible location actually becomes a boon for those of us who fancy our cafes a bit less bustling all the time. The uncluttered walls, simple but sleek furnishing, high ceiling, natural daylight and ample space truly did feel like I had been transported to a nice cafe overseas.
And in an age where I haven’t been able to enjoy these types of cafes overseas, I certainly foresee myself paying Simple Cafe return visits and trying out more of their other pastries.
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WHERE | 1 WEST COAST DRIVE, NEWEST SINGAPORE, #01-87, SINGAPORE 128020
