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The next time you find yourself in the East queueing for Beach Road Prawn Mee, do yourself a favour and visit Tiaptiap next door as well – the new snack store that has just opened along the same stretch.
If the name sounds familiar, it's because Tiaptiap has been around for six years, starting in 2020 as a home-based online business, selling snacks like pandan chiffon cake and radish yam kueh. This new unit at Joo Chiat will mark its first brick-and-mortar store, which functions more like a takeaway kiosk, with just a few indoor and outdoor seats.
The homegrown brand is run by mother-and-daughter duo Sophia Yeow and Nicole Lian. Some might recognise Sophia as one of the contestants on Season 2 of MasterChef Singapore, but the 55-year-old also runs her own private dining concept, Butterfly Table, where she prepares Peranakan tok panjang-style feasts for guests out of her spacious home in the East. She is joined by her daughter Sophia, 29, a former engineer, who left her corporate job in 2024 to help her run Tiaptiap.
The Joo Chiat store is warm and welcoming, the space anchored by display cabinets lined with rows of vintage English fine bone china from Sophia's personal collection, which she's moved over from her own home. But the real feast for the eyes is at the counter, stocked with fresh cakes and confectioneries, from pandan chiffon cakes and ondeh ondeh cakes, to orange chiffon cakes and banoffee pies.
We finally get a taste of the pandan chiffon cake (from $20.80), and we understand the fanfare. It's made with pandan juice that's painstakingly hand-squeezed, Japanese cake flour and fresh coconut milk. Each slice is delicate and airy, with a distinct but light pandan scent, and it's best enjoyed with a drizzle of gula melaka provided on the side, though there's the camp that prefers it au naturale.
But we are more taken by the ondeh ondeh cake (from $68), which has a generous coat of freshly grated coconut, a fragrant pandan sponge cake centre, a balanced gula melaka filling and layers of fresh whipped cream in between – a truly indulgent treat.
The coffee-free banoffee pie (from $30) is popular with kids for a reason. Think ripe King of King bananas and a luscious homemade dulce de leche, perfectly encased in a sturdy crumb base. It's finished with a touch of cooked rum and a dusting of cocoa powder for an extra velvety and silky bite.
And there are still other treats to pick from, including the 80s-style OG Chocolate Creamed Cake (from $69.80), the orange chiffon cake (from $18.80) for those who prefer something lighter and more citrus-forward, or bite-sized muah chee, meant to be eaten chilled instead of warm, just like Japanese mochi.
Savoury fans are not left out. Tiaptiap also offers a lineup of take-home dishes, prepared in a central kitchen, then sold frozen with cooking instructions attached. These are meant for time-strapped folks who still want a quality meal to come home to after a busy day. The selection will feature Sophia's personal recipes that draw from her Peranakan heritage, most of which are home-cooked dishes which she's refined over the years.
Highlights include paper-wrapped chicken, individually marinated and wrapped before being fried; olive truffle fried rice, a staple which Sophia often whipped up when Nicole's friends visited after school; Nyonya curry spiced midwings; Fuchow fishballs with minced pork; Teochew ngoh hiang and more.
But no matter what, make sure to pick up a tub of homemade mackerel keropok (from $13.80) before leaving. It's best paired with Tiaptiap's sambal ($10.80) – hands down the best we've tried, with a punchy belachan base and calamansi added to the mix.
Tiaptiap is open from 8.30am to 3.30pm on Mondays and 8.30am to 6pm from Thursdays to Sundays at 374 E Coast Rd, Singapore 428983. Find out more about Tiaptiap here.
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