Forty Hands- Tiong Bahru

When one of my friends told me that Tiong Bahru was becoming the place to be in Singapore, I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical at first! But after visiting Tiong Bahru recently, I have to agree that it has become the new Ann Siang, with the residential neighbourhood slowly becoming the home to many quaint little cafes and shops. 

When I was in Perth I kept thinking how great it would be if Singapore had more cute cafes for us to try out instead of the usual chains that are found in every mall in Singapore...and I'm glad that my wish is coming true with more and more cafes springing up all over Singapore, all with their own distinct feel and image.

I was going to meet my friends for lunch one day and one of them suggested trying Forty Hands. I had never tried it before and I LOVE trying new things, so I was really excited to see the cafe!

Forty Hands is located within walking distance of Tiong Bahru MRT station and is small and easy to miss. However, when I stepped inside the cafe, the place was packed and the waiter could only offer us outdoor seating. There is outdoor seating both in the front and back of the cafe, but both aren't exactly very pretty and I think that could be an area for them to work on. Thankfully, one of my friends spotted a table inside so we moved in! 

We initially wanted to have a hot dog when we saw the list of different hot dogs on a board, however realised with disappointment that it was only available after a certain time! :/ 

In the end, we decided to order a drink each, 2 sandwiches and truffle fries to share. 

Xindi's drink- I think it was a Hazelnut Latte?

The little bottle of syrup that came with her Latte! Ultra cute! 

Val and I both ordered a Flat White

I really love having coffee in Australia and this was one of the best coffees that I had in a while, since I don't think there are a lot of places with good coffee in Singapore. However, after recently trying other cafes that serve very good coffee, the coffee at Forty Hands may not be as good as I thought! 

Val!

Xindi!

The counter where you have to go and order your food

Truffle fries and both our sandwiches

We ordered a lamb and a pork sandwich. We started with the lamb sandwich, and although I'm not a fan of lamb, I would say that the lamb was not as bad as I thought it would be! 

We were so full from our first sandwich that we barely touched our other sandwich which was a pork sandwich. I think the pork sandwich was actually the nicer sandwich, but because we were so full, we didn't manage to finish the sandwich! :/

The truffle fries that we ordered were nothing spectacularly as well. Not bad, not great! 

Both of us! 

Three of us outside! 

Anyway, forgot to add that the cafe is called Forty Hands because it requires an average of Forty Hands in the production of coffee - from plant to cup! 

To read more about Forty Hands, do check out their facebook page:
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Forty-Hands/132302986797069

After having lunch at Forty Hands, we really wanted to try Drips at Tiong Bahru as well! However, when we walked there, it was CLOSED!! But thankfully, I have managed to try Drips and will be doing a review on it very soon! :)

Price:

I'm not too sure how much each item was individually, but our total bill amounted to about $50 for everything

The Meal:

After visiting Forty Hands, I realise that there has been a lot of hype about this cafe, but food wise, I definitely did not think there was anything spectacular. 

The Ambience:

Quite cute and cosy, but as I mentioned before, they could work on their Al Fresco area to make it a little more comfy and cute instead of making it look like it was just an afterthought.

The Service:

Some of the staff were quite nice and friendly, whilst some of the others were not, so the service was a little bit inconsistent. But overall, it was pretty average! 

Overall:

As you can tell from the donuts that I have given in each category, Forty Hands is consistently average. The food, ambience and service is average but it still is quite a nice place to just go for a casual meal or for drinks with friends. 

Address:

Blk 78 Yong Siak St #01-12, Tiong Bahru Estate 

Tel:

62258545

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays: 8:30am – 6:30pm
Wednesdays & Thursdays: 8:30am – 10pm
Fridays and Saturdays: 8:30am – 11pm
Sundays 8:30am – 6:30pm
Closed on Monday

I do hope that you've enjoyed reading this post! Please leave us your comments as Huiyi and I would be more than happy to read them! :)

Love,

Tiff