Why It Took 13 Years For Famous Hong Kong Cafe Elephant Grounds To Come To S’pore

Its latest outpost opened on 10 Jan, at Guoco Midtown in a unit previously occupied by the beef ramen diner, Mashi No Mashi. (The latter is also owned by Elephant Grounds’ parent company, Leading Nation, and has moved to Nankin Row.) 

The light, bright, glass-walled 70-seater features warm lighting and is anchored by a sprawling tiled counter on which trays of fresh-baked pastries, bags of coffee beans and a hulking La Marzocco coffee machine sit. Honey-hued wooden banquettes, walls and ceiling panels, plus a view of gently waving trees outside the glass walls, lend the whole space a tranquil vibe, while slogans printed on the some of the pillars remind diners to “stay grounded and live life”, “chill out” and “take it easy”.

“We felt it was important to arrive only when we had something meaningful to add”

In a landscape where limited-time seating is all too common and tables are sometimes so cramped together it feels like you’re on a blind date with your neighbouring diner, we find this refreshing. And it’s this mindful philosophy that informed the cafe’s decision to open in Singapore, too. 

Co-founder Kevin Poon, 44, tells us: “Our first shop in Hong Kong was a small counter inside the WOAW lifestyle shop. But over the past 10-plus years, our shops have grown in numbers and also in size, with our Mid Levels and Roastery branches over 7,500 square feet. We’ve become part of the cafe culture in Hong Kong.” 

When it comes to Singapore, “we felt it was important to arrive only when we had something meaningful to add”, he says. Opening now “felt right not because it was next on a list, but because the city is now at a point where cafés are no longer judged only by what’s in the cup, but by how they fit into daily life”.

According to Kevin, the menu has also been planned according to how Singaporeans go about their lives. “Our approach was not about reinventing Elephant Grounds for Singapore, but about understanding how people here move through their day, including when they eat, how long they stay, whether they are working, meeting friends, or dining as a family,” he says. “That influenced everything from portioning and balance on the menu to how the food works across day-parts.”

Offers two different menus

To that end, Elephant Grounds offers two different menus. There’s a breakfast menu from 8am to 11am slinging morning staples like the Farmer’s Omelette, granola, pancakes, and chunky sandwiches; and an all-day menu from 11am that serves up heartier fare like donburis and sharing plates. On weekends, a brunch menu combines both weekday menus into a more focused list of savouries and sweets.

Singapore-exclusive Chicken Parm sandwich 

The coffee menu ranges from house-blend coffee directly sourced from award-winning farm Ijen Lesatari in East Java and locally roasted, to mocha made with Valrhona chocolate. It’s worth mentioning that because the cups here start from a massive 10 ounces (a typical large cup elsewhere is eight ounces), you really get your money’s worth. 

Like other Elephant Grounds outlets, the Singapore branch also offers some exclusive items – which at this stage is a Chicken Parm sandwich (look out for more later on). That said, the team has been careful to keep “the core of Elephant Grounds intact”, says Kevin, adding that the café wants to “make sure the food stands on its own and to the local palates, not just as an accompaniment to coffee”.

It’s fairly familiar cafe fare, albeit with an elevated touch thanks to input from the group’s Hong Kong-based culinary management team, Rafa Gil and Eane Wong. Both have years of fine-dining experience from the kitchens of some of the world’s biggest culinary stars including Martín Berasategui, Joel Robuchon and the late Santi Santamaria.

At a pre-opening preview, we got to try a few items (but not the chicken Parm, unfortunately). Here are some tasting notes from what we had:

Fish Fillet Sando, $22

Two giant milk-bread triangles (only one is pictured above) sandwiching a generous amount of breaded halibut, layered with coleslaw tossed in a wasabi kewpie mayo sauce. While both the breading on the fish and the bread (from a supplier, not baked in-house due to a lack of space for bread-making equipment) were a little too thick and obscured the flavours of the filling, the light, tangy, fresh coleslaw was yummy. We hear that the salads here are the under-the-radar stars, and if they’re anything like the coleslaw, we’ll be making a beeline for them next time.

Bacon & Mustard Danish, $6

A sesame-dusted pastry twist intertwined with a ribbon of American bacon. The pastry was nice and crisp, but the bacon was just that – an ungenerous ribbon that, like with the fish sandwich, made us feel like we were eating only carbs.

Lemon Croissant, $5 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Lightly glazed and showered in chopped walnuts, this lovely pastry was filled with just the right amount of tangy lemon curd. The curd itself was also feather-light and the perfect balance of sweet and sour. It deserves that ultimate Singaporean compliment for desserts: “It’s not too sweet!”

Bulletproof Coffee, $8.50 (8 DAYS Pick!)

ICYDK, a Bulletproof is a keto coffee that contains coconut oil and butter. Made famous by the American entrepreneur and health nut David Asprey, it’s designed to replace a carb-heavy breakfast because it’s rich in fat and supposedly provides sustained energy. The version here, made with a blend of Indonesian and Brazilian beans, was a nice harmony of toasted notes and sweetness (from the coconut oil), although it did leave an oily mask on the lips. The cafe’s Flat White ($6.50) is pretty decent, too.

Elephant Grounds Singapore is at Guoco Midtown #01-04, 124 Beach Rd, S189771. Open daily from 8am to 8pm. www.elephantgrounds.com 

Photos: Audrey Phoon