Neil Road and its surrounding area have no lack of good cafés. Two individuals, however, seemed to think that there is still room for more healthy competition there, and have joined forces to bring a heightened gastro-experience in the form of The Populus since late last year.
One half of the duo, Kang Yi Yang, handles the coffee part of the business. He grew up surrounded by the smell of coffee beans, with his family running a 38-year-old traditional coffee business. He knows coffee like the back of his hand, and seeks out beans from all over the world to satisfy your taste buds no matter how varied they might be. The Populus is designed as the official cafe that carries their in-house range of coffee blends and beans from their own roastery, 2 Degrees North Coffee Co.
At the Populus, one of the latest trends recommended to us was the cold drip white coffee. Arriving in a custom-made bottle for you to bring home as a memento, the coffee is not too bitter, and is good for non-coffee drinkers to enjoy along with your meal.
Moving on to the meals, there were many favourites to choose from. Andrew Lek, the other half of the duo who’s in charge of the food, has lived in many countries and been exposed to even more cultures such that his food is pretty much an amalgamation of influences. He is always revamping the menu, so the menu is never fixed. Be prepared to be surprised by new menus if you return after a long break.
Heirloom Rending Donburi
Our favorite dish has to be the Limited Edition ‘Heirloom Rendang’ Donburi, featuring Andrew’s grandma’s secret Rendang recipe. Andrew used to be able to only eat it once a year, but he has managed to convince his grandma to share the recipe. I wouldn’t have expected to enjoy a traditional Asian dish at a cafe like The Populus, but Andrew certainly knew what he was doing with his donburis.
It’s hard to cook good rendang, but Andrew’s version comes with tender meat and somehow complements all the other tastes in the bowl. I can’t imagine how much trial and error he had to go through before reaching this perfect combination. The trial stages included laying out all the ingredients and putting them together to see what would taste good and look good next to one another. I would give him plus points for the presentation of the food.
Spring Pancake and Fried Chicken
Another really popular dish is their spring pancake and fried chicken. I would say that this dish hails inspiration from Korean cuisine, which has a similar doughy vegetable pancake of the savoury kind, and of course everyone knows that Korean fried chicken is the bomb. Fried to crisp perfection, the fried chicken tasted absolutely delicious with a drizzling of their special ranch sauce. The spring pancake didn’t really look very appealing with its green color from the spring onions, but it tasted better than it looked. It helped balance out the taste of the crispy fried chicken, and is definitely a must-try if you only have space in your stomach for one dish.
With its good coffee and food, time will tell if The Populus will become popular.
The Populus Coffee & Food Co.
146 Neil Road
Singapore 088875
Tel: +65 6635 8420
Opening hours:
- Mon and Wed: 9am to 7pm
Thu and Fri: 9am to 10.30pm
Sat: 9.30am to 10.30pm
Sun: 9.30am to 7pm
Closed on Tue
