Bettr Coffee (Foundry)

Got to know about a new cafe that had opened its doors recently whilst going around the area near Bencoolen MRT Station — it seems that the building formerly occupied by the Elections Department along Prinsep Link had seen some changes; now known as Foundry, the building is now social impact hub that attempts to “drive greater collective impact for non-profit incubation”. Housed within the Foundry would be Bettr Coffee; the space which Bettr Coffee occupies within the Foundry is a sheltered outdoor space that can be described as a little bit of a patio — the open-air space being decked with wooden and plastic furniture and fittings set against a black theme that gives it a particularly chill yet upscale vibe that is especially relaxing and soothing during the evenings. For those whom are familiar with the local F&B scene, Bettr. has its roots coming from the Bettr Barista Coffee Academy (now known as Bettr Academy) which is perhaps best known for being a beverage education provider for the disadvantaged. Their cafe operations at Foundry can be described as their flagship, and these folks have mentioned that they are working with their suppliers to ensure its offerings do feature components that are sustainably sourced. It is worth noting that Bettr Coffee serves up a slightly different food menu in the day as it would in the evening; the evening offerings comprising of larger plates while small plates (alongside some of the Evening Plates) would be the main role offerings in the day. Other categories in its food menu would include Fresh Bakes and Dessert. Specialty coffee is pretty much a central theme in the beverages that they have to offer; after all, Bettr Coffee does roast and retail coffee beans that they roast as a micro-roastery. With that being said, their space at Foundry does offer quite an extensive list of alcoholic beverages including Natural Wines, Beers and Crafted Spirits. Those looking for non-alcoholic options apart from specialty coffee can also opt for tea, drinking chocolate, and a range of natural sodas.

Visiting Bettr Coffee on a weekday when they do dinner service, we were skimming through the items listed in the “evening plates” section of the menu for something more substantially-sized. We eventually went for the Patty Melt — an item which could be found in both the Small Plates section of the menu that is available in the day, as well as the Evening Plates section of the menu that is only available during the evenings when they are open for dinner service. The menu at Bettr Coffee does describe the elements that comes with their various dishes — the Patty Melt is described to be a dish that features elements such as white toast, smashed beef patty, cheddar, pickles, secret sauce, grilled onions and aioli. The simplest way to describe the Patty Melt is probably to liken it to a good cheeseburger but in the form of a sandwich — even the elements comprising the Patty Melt seems to suggest the correlation as well. Digging into the Patty Melt, we already liked how the white bread seems to have come grilled; coming in a beautiful shade of brown, the bread is was also toasty and crusty on the surface. The beef patty here does come across as slightly tougher since it also seems to have been a little bit more “done” — this one definitely did not come with a pinkish centre, though this does help to give the sandwich a bit of meatiness nonetheless. While the beef does carry a slight hint of gaminess, we felt that it did go okay with the briny and savoury notes of the meat itself; still rather complimenting and not sticking out like a sore thumb. The melted cheese does give a bit of a cheese pull whilst being savoury, though it was the medley of flavours of the cheese, caramelised onions and pickles that added a harmonious blend of sweetness, tanginess and savouriness with a bit of crunch that also contributed a dimension of textures with other elements in the dish. The secret sauce is much like the burger sauce that one would find in a cheeseburger which binds the various elements of the sandwich altogether with its creamy mouthfeel.

During our visit to Bettr Coffee, we had also given their Banana Chocolate Pound Cake – we did find the cake to be pretty light and fluffy especially considering how we have had denser pound cakes elsewhere. We did note that the flavours of banana are more prominent than the chocolate here. Noting that they do carry a small range of unique concoctions of espresso-based specialty coffee under the Foundry Specials section of the menu, we went for the Coconut Russian which was also listed as a “Bettr Crew’s favourite” item (i.e. recommended item) on the menu. Described to come with element such as double espresso, brown sugar syrup, coconut milk and cream top, the drink is also served as an iced beverage by default. Conceptually similar to an Einspanner, it was a little odd in its execution since the brown sugar syrup finds itself sitting at the bottom of the drink — whilst stirring it allows for the sweetness to go into the coffee, this would also inadvertently mean that the cream top gets stirred in to dissolve into the beverage which also doesn’t allow one to enjoy it like how an Einspanner would be. We had given our feedback on the Coconut Russian to the service crew whom have mentioned that they will be looking into it.

The folks at Bettr Coffee / Bette Academy have come quite far from where they had started out being in 2011 — the brand’s expansion from being more of a coffee academy to being full-fledged cafe is testament to how they have kept themselves relevant in the ever evolving F&B scene in Singapore. While striving for a growth necessary for the development of their brand in the long run, the brand has also not forgotten about their mission of doing good around the community that it operates in, staying true to its core values and even expanding the scope further alongside its operations. A brand befitting to complement the operations of a social impact hub which it is being housed alongside with, Bettr Coffee’s space at Foundry is one that cafe-hoppers whom are serious about coffee should check out — all whilst supporting a good cause.