House Downstairs: New Scandi Style Cafe at Ghim Moh
As someone who’s lived not too far from the sleepy neighbourhood of Ghim Moh housing estate almost all my life, I was surprised to hear that one of January’s new cafes, a Scandinavian-style abode, has opened up at the humble area. Enter House Downstairs.
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Though the name and neighbourhood cafe angle might suggest House Downstairs to be located on the ground floor of a housing estate, this cafe is actually located at Ulu Pandan Community Centre along Ghim Moh Rd.
I headed over for a Sunday brunch, and it was nice to see that House Downstairs has already started to attract a decent crowd, and is in that phase where it’s lively but not completely packed.
Inside, you’ll find daylight pouring in through the windows, albeit abated by the blinds, with clean white walls and light wood fixtures.
Food wise, House Downstairs offers a fusion of both East and West, with the House Signature Craygee (S$18) a popular choice. The dish features short-grained fried rice with clams, Thai feiji prawns and crayfish.
As someone not big on seafood, I decided to opt for the Gochujang Chicken with Rice (S$16) instead and was expecting to be served traditionally grilled chicken marinated in gochujang sauce. Instead, House Downstairs opts for a stew style take on the dish with a braised chicken thigh. Perhaps it was the stew element, but the dish ended up feeling quite light on the palette— perfect if you’re looking for something not too heavy yet a bit more filling. It was nice to dip each spoonful of rice into the stew, the way they probably intended for it to be consumed. The portion of chicken was also pretty decent, and I left feeling pretty satisfied by the end.
They do also have traditional Western brunch favourites, as well as several pastries on offer, though they ran out of almond croissants at the time of my visit.
The coffee here is pretty good as well, with a relatively simple menu on offer, though the coffee did register a little more acidic than at other coffee houses, which I quite liked.
I should mention that we waited quite long for our coffee, and only got served the cappuccino after a second reminder, though I should note that they were genuinely apologetic and offered the cappuccino on the house as an apology. To be honest, service recovery is not something many cafes bother to do, so I’m quite pleased with their service despite it all. It certainly added to that small business, local coffeeshop-esque homely feeling, rather than a clinical chain of cafes with impersonal service that has taken over the island as of late.
Speaking to the owner, they mentioned that their food menu is pretty much settled, save for some tweaks in ingredients here and there, so I expect the current food offerings will stay for the foreseeable future. It’s nice to have something new in this estate, and I’m sure crowds in search of a beautiful cup of coffee will soon be packing this cafe.
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WHERE | 170 GHIM MOH ROAD, ULU PANDAN CC, #01-03, SINGAPORE 279621
