Chin Mee Chin 珍美真’s standard has drop.
This is supposed to be THE coffeeshop in Singapore. Forums and reviews shower rave reviews for it’s signature coffee, egg tarts and Kaya buns.
Located along East Coast Road, look out for the blue wall. Customers can park at the back alley, or head further in to park at the private estate.
We arrive early for our breakfast last Sat. With high anticipation, we help ourselves to cream puffs, kaya bun, half boiled eggs and coffee.
You can pick up the pastries on your own, but let the “auntie” count them before consumption 🙂
We ordered half boiled eggs, but all four were over cook ! Any decent coffeeshop would understand the difference between half boiled and full boiled.
Our kids were chopping up the egg white with their tea spoon (having fun), although Daddy would like them to scoop up the egg white, egg yolk with our favourite pepper and black sauce.
We heard egg tart is recommended. The egg is firm but we would prefer the traditional jelly-like egg tart (something like this). Crust is crispy.
We ordered the cream puff and something which looks like a rolled up crepe (no idea what is the name). The custard cream is not creamy enough, and the dough is not fluffy.
Good coffee defines a coffeeshop’s reputation. We love to wash down our egg and toast breakfast with a cup or aromatic coffee.
There was nothing fascinating about Chin Mee Chin’s coffee. Lukewarm, and there is very little coffee aroma to boast of.
Daddy is not a coffee connoisseur, but he can definitely find better coffee from neighbouring coffeeshops.
The only saving grace for our breakfast was the Kaya Bun. Chin Mee Chin’s do not serve the kaya in toast.
Spread the fragrant kaya and a single slab of butter onto the bun. The kaya will seep into the bun with every bite, feeling our mouth with sweetness.
Some folks are here specially for the retro old-school coffeeshop of yesterday. We heard some publications even recommend Chin Mee Chin to tourists.
We paid $12.80 for the above breakfast, this is not exactly value-for-money compared to Ya Kun’s (an example) set meals.
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On a 5 points scale, how does Chin Mee Chin fare against other coffeeshops (local and Malaysia).
Score 1.5 – Chin Mee Chin
Score 3.5 – Heap Seng Leong scores with it’s coffee and toast. The old uncle adds to the nostalgic charm (read our review)
Score 4 – Ya Kun, Nanyang and Killiney easily clinch 4 points, but price is mid range
Ipoh’s white coffee has set the benchmark for us.
Score 5 – Sin Yoon Loong is the only stall to get full mark. Read our Ipoh food hunt post.
Score 4.5 – Nam Heong (opposite Sin Yoong Loong). Both Ipoh coffeeshops serve piping hot egg tart and char siew soh.
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Our breakfast was disappinting, maybe we were unlucky last Sat, but we are recommending that you seek a second opinion before popping by Chin Mee Chin.
[updated 2013Nov26] On average, every 2 out of 3 patrons say CMC’s quality is good. We must be the unlucky ones 🙂
