The folks at Sinpopo Brand / Sinpopo Coffee has been pretty much on a roll of the late — it hadn’t been too long ago when they had just opened the doors to their location at Scotts Square; that being said, there is yet another location that finds the brand establishment its presence in the East. Sinpopo Coffee’s new outlet has found home with Tampines 1; the mall has also seen quite a much needed rejuvenation of the tenants that are operating within the mall as well. Located at level 2 of the mall, Sinpopo Coffee can be found along the same stretch of stores situated beside the shopping aisles — other F&B establishments located within its vicinity includes Oppa Bibimbap. Ever since the opening of their location at Tangs Plaza, Sinpopo Coffee had seen quite a bit of a revamp; while the concept at Tampines 1 is still not one that serve up savoury food much like their Tangs Plaza location, it does seem that their location here has a bigger emphasis on their Kueh offerings — a wider selection that we have yet to come across at their other outlets. Also exclusive at this outlet would be their selection of ice cream sundaes listed in the Sinpopo Singapore Sundae Movement section of the menu. Beverages listed on the menu would include drinks split into sections dedicated to Crafted Coffee, Specialties Coffee, Iced Thirst Quenchers and Teas.

With all the hype surrounding that of Warabi Mochi especially ever since the opening of Warabimochi KAMAKURA all across the island, it does seem that the folks at Sinpopo Coffee is riding on the hype train by offering three different types of “Warabi Mochi” at their Tampines 1 location (we hadn’t come across this offering at their other locations prior). Available in three (3) flavours, a single portion would see six (6) pieces at a price of $6.50. Amongst the Bandung, Gula Melaka and Pandan flavoured Warabi Mochi, it was the Bandung one that stood out to us the most. Unlike the usual Japanese Warabi Mochi, it does seem that the Bandung Warabi Mochi here does come with the flavours and colours infused into the rice cake flour — the typical Warabi Mochi would have seen a plain base for the Warabi Mochi to be rolled in some form of powder instead. Considering so, this would bear a texture and appearance similar to the traditional Jie Hong 结红 that can be found in some old-school bakeries. These were pillowy soft; almost to the point of lacking some sort of firmness — the slight note of floral notes typical of rose syrup also being pretty evident apart from the powdery texture that it carried. We had also given the Chendol Ice-Cream Sundae a go as well; this wasn’t exactly our ice-cream sundae of choice — we only ended up with it considering how it was the only ice-cream sundae flavour that is available for the day when we made our trip there on a Friday evening. This came with the usual suspects; chendol jelly, Gula Melaka, coconut cream, and Vanilla ice-cream all in a cocktail glass.

Replicating that of a typical Chendol with a slight modern twist, the Chendol Ice-Cream Sundae comes with that earthy sweetness of the Gula Melaka and the aromatic note of coconut cream — the chendol jelly also coming in a shade of pale green that doesn’t seem to be particularly like those that are commercially-made either. Of course we had to give the coffee a go; we were a little bummed that they didn’t carry their usual selection of “Sinpopo Style” beverages like the Fresh Pressed Kopi-O with Sweet Milk Foam — that being said, they do have rather interesting concoctions like the Kopi Kohsui, Chendol Latte etc.. Going for the Flat White, the Flat White was nothing much to shout about; we were alls rather surprised with the inconsistency of their cuppa here considering how we were served with one that came with latte art during our previous visit to their Scotts Square some time back. It does seem like that the folks at Sinpopo Coffee are able to find a niche within the market for themselves; we still remember the concept that Sinpopo Brand had started out being early in those days — itself being a really different concept to what they are now. With all that attention on heritage foods and flavours, it does seem that the emphasis on Kuehs that Sinpopo Coffee has taken of the late is particularly relevant — definitely one that would return back again for more!