The Dispensary

We’ve seen some pretty hip and edgy places pop up in Tiong Bahru, but this might just trump them all – a former Chinese medicinal hall re-modeled into a bakery and a café, past a narrow hallway, in the back. They’ve retained a handsome chest of medicinal drawers as their counter backdrop and the baristas use traditional weighing scales to measure up coffee beans – the East meets West theme lies in their bevy of cupcakes ($3), macarons (six for $10) and artisanal breads; we also sampled a slice of the enticing black velvet cake ($7) coated with crunchy choco balls on our whirlwind visit.