Asian Coffee Break

SWOOSH, the server raises the shiny metal pot and a stream of boiling hot coffee gushes out and falls into another container. Swish, the server pours the coffee back into the metal pot; he repeats this process several times until the coffee is mixed exactly as he wants it. He then serves, mixed with sugar and milk, to the customer. No, you’re not in the hawker center along Amoy Street in Singapore.

You can see this at Kopitiam Korner, at Paseo’s Phase 2 down in Panagdait, Mabolo. Owner Raul Baron thought of bringing this traditional Asian coffee drink to the Philippines, after seeing this common sight in the streets of our Asian neighbor.

If you’re tired of the noisy Seattle-style coffee shops with the servers shouting out names of the customers, then Kopitiam Korner might be a good choice for you. “I wanted a more “Asian” version of the coffee shop. The stalls that serve traditional pulled coffee in Singapore seemed the best bet.” He explains, “It’s still coffee, but with a distinct Asian feel to it. And besides, Filipinos are more fond of sweetened coffee.”

Besides pulled coffee, Kopitiam Korner also serves the traditional pulled tea found in both Malaysia and Singapore, called tea tahrik or teh tarik. A variety of Singapore-style snacks are also served like kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs. No expensive deli-style sandwiches here, just simple fare for simple people.

Kaya toast is simply a sandwich spread with a Malay-style coconut jam made from coconut milk, eggs and sugar, which is spread on one piece of bread, with butter on the other piece. The taste is very similar to the Filipino coco jam, but the eggs and butter definitely add a lot more flavor to the spread, coming out with an interesting, somewhat creamy taste. The soft-boiled eggs, on the other hand, is served very differently from the way we’re used to. Where most people just break open the egg, sprinkle it with some salt and eat it straight from the shell, Raul suggests opening the egg, dumping the contents into a bowl, then giving it a dash of soy sauce along with some salt and pepper. Using a fork, mash the egg, stir it a few times to mix all the ingredients, and scoop the mixture onto a slice of French toast. Voila! Egg-sandwich, Singapore-style.

French toast is also available with a lot of different spreads to choose from. Filipinos being a snack-eating people, the food is a welcome addition to one’s afternoon coffee break.
While an afternoon at Kopitiam Korner is not a substitute for a visit to Singapore, it is a welcome change from the usual coffee shop: no noisy servers, more food choices and more importantly, a place where you can actually enjoy your coffee.