Was scrolling around the phone and managed to learn about a new establishment that had seemingly moved into HomeTeam NS Khatib that is situated within walking distance away from Khatib MRT Station not too long ago — HomeTeam NS Khatib itself has been seeing the addition of some new F&B establishments of the late. Kopi Siew Dai 咖啡食代 is located at the ground floor of the entire compound within shop units that are located behind the main stretch of existing F&B establishments such as that of the outlet of Siam Kitchen and Suki-Suki Hot Pot. An establishment that seems to be jumping into the bandwagon of Nanyang Kopitiam-themed eateries that have entered into the local F&B scene in recent times, Kopi Siew Dai has definitely went with the retro, old-school look that some of such establishments had went for — the entire store is decked simply with wooden furniture and fittings that matches the cement floor and the pastel-coloured walls; old-school lampshades as well as other decorative pieces such as that of the cabinets that holds the old fans, televisions and other memorabilia certainly adds on to the nostalgic vibes of the establishment as well. Dining tables used in Kopi Siew Dai are of a slightly smaller size than desired; the tables are being configured in a way they would cater to those visiting the establishment in pairs or in groups of four (4) pax. Kopi Siew Dai is currently in its soft launch phase; the food menu is being split into sections that are dedicated to Toast Bread Set, Bee Hoon, Nasi Lemak and Signatures; beverages served up at Kopi Siew Dai are sectioned into categories such as Kopi / Teh, Homemade Drinks and Others.

Noting that there aren’t many items that Kopi Siew Dai was offering during our visit there, we found ourselves gravitating to the Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken Cutlet that is an item that is being listed in their Nasi Lemak section of the menu — the menu does describe the elements that are being featured in all Nasi Lemak dishes being Basmati Rice, Achar, Anchovies and Egg; the Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken Cutlet would be the rendition that comes with an entire slab of fried chicken as well. On first look, the portions of the food at Kopi Siew Dai does seem to be actually quite generous — both the portioning of rice as well as the size of the chicken cutlet being pretty large for one person to say the least. Digging into the Basmati Rice, one can observe that the rice does come with a dull green hue that seems to suggest the infusion of Pandan; the rice also carrying a soft fragrance of Pandan that was pretty distinct whilst being light and fluffy — quite a joy to finish even on its own. The fried chicken cutlet came in the form of being a pretty well-sized slab of chicken that came with a crisp and light batter that is fried to golden-brown perfection; the meat being all juicy and tender whilst carrying a light hint of saltishness that seems to suggest that the chicken has been somewhat marinated with light soy sauce as part of the preparation process. The sunny side-up features a runny egg yolk and soft whites; there is no lingering hint of any undesirable notes of overused oil for the sunny side-up, while the sambal chili does come with a familiar hint of sweetness whilst coming with a level of spiciness that would tickle the tastebuds of those whom are tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness. The addition of achar tries to keep things refreshing for the tastebuds with the crunch it carries whilst also coming with a slight sweetness and a tang to cut through the heaviness for the carbs and the meat.

During the same visit to Kopi Siew Dai, we also went ahead with giving their Kaya Butter Toast from the Toast Bread Set section of the menu a go. It is worth noting that all of the items in the Toast Bread Set section of the menu are available in both ala-carte and in sets; the set would see the choice of toast selected by the patron accompanied with a cup of Hot Kopi / Teh whilst also featuring 2 half boiled eggs. The Kaya Butter Toast could probably be better toasted to achieve a more desirable texture; the toast being lightly crisp on the surface though slightly limp in the middle — it is worth noting that the folks at Kopi Siew Dai had made use of Hainanese-style Kaya for their Kaya Butter Toast, with the the Kaya bearing a brown hue. This also meant that the Kaya here came with a slight hint of earthiness amidst the sweetness that it carried, with the slab of butter providing for a corresponding saltishness to go along. The soft-boiled eggs are served in a way that requires one to break the eggs on their own; we did encounter one of the eggs coming with slightly more cooked egg yolk than the other, though it is noted that we had also taken a bit of time for photos before cracking the eggs open. As with most other establishments out there, Kopi Siew Dai does offer dark soya sauce and pepper to allow patrons to mix them into the soft-boiled eggs to their own fancy.

Opting for the Hot Kopi to go along as part of the Toast Bread Set that we had went for, we did find the Kopi to be pretty well-brewed that came with quite the caffeinated kick in the body without being overly sweet at the same time. We had also opted for the Hor Ka Sai to come as a cold beverage; this would be the concoction of Milo + Kopi which is pretty much the case for most other Nanyang Kopitiam-themed dining establishments out there. We did notice that the beverages is a little more Milo heavy at the start, though the caffeinated notes of the Kopi does become slightly more prominent as one reaches the end of the beverage.

Kopi Siew Dai does seem to be one of those establishments that would require a little bit more time to get used to its operations — there are definitely some teething issues where food orders have been missed out as well as wrong queue numbers were also being called out for patrons to collect their food from the counter; perhaps things that should only get better in the days to come where they have sorted out their operations. With that being said, we did find the quality of food to be decent; items like the Kaya Butter Toast Bread does seem to have some room for improvement, though other items like the Nasi Lemak Fried Chicken Cutlet were a pretty decent eat — it does seem that they are also attempting to be an establishment that tries to cater for all within the community considering how they are an establishment that does not serve pork or lard despite the lack of a halal certification at this stage. Prices of their offerings from the Bee Hoon, Nasi Lemak and Signatures section of the menu range between $4.50 to $8.50; the lowest-priced being the Chicken Luncheon from the Bee Hoon section of the menu, whilst the priciest would be the Chili Crab Noodles from the Signatures section of the menu. Kopi Siew Dai definitely adds on as a decent dining option to the neighbourhood of Khatib that residents around are likely to appreciate — we do hope that they are able to smoothen out their operations for a more pleasant dining experience in time to come as they go into official launch.