Review: All Hands Cafe brings shokupan and matcha magic to Telok Ayer
- All Hands Cafe replaces Telok Ayer’s Boeuf with a brighter, more casual concept
- The cafe specialises in housemade shokupan, brunch plates, and matcha-based desserts
- Dishes we recommend include the kaya with butter snow shokupan, blue spirulina matcha, and matcha banana pudding
Matcha and shokupan (Japanese milk bread) are two staples that have headlined Singapore’s cafe scene of late.
There’s something undeniably comforting about the cloud-like softness and fragrance of Japanese milk bread, as is the mesmerising green and sophisticated earthiness of quality matcha, whether dusted over desserts, mixed into ice cream, or in a drink.
Both have become fixtures in Singapore’s cafe scene over the past few years, and honestly, I’m all for it.
Now, bringing both of them together is All Hands Cafe, the latest addition to Telok Ayer’s cafe, and possibly, breakfast scene.
The backstory
All Hand’s pretty cobalt-blue shophouse space on Telok Ayer was, until September, occupied by Boeuf, a steakhouse that chef-partner Carlos Gan ran for some four years.
Now, he’s swapped ribeye for shokupan and somewhat dim lighting for something more vibrant.
I stepped in on a Sunday morning to the smell of freshly-baked shokupan, which is always a great start to the morning — that, plus the R&B hits from Daniel Caesar and Ravyn Lenae blasting from the speakers.
Past the Victorian-style bar counter at the entrance you find some booth seating, rattan chairs, faux marble tables, and walls plastered with menu highlights.
As mentioned, the menu centres on shokupan as both sweet and savoury foundations. Think PB&J, Milo Dino, Smoked Salmon Berry, and hot honey pepperoni, which come served with eggs for the classic versions (from S$8.94), and fries or salad for the more innovative takes (from S$14.49).
Mains start from S$19.49 for fish & chips, and there are also several Boeuf-inspired dishes for the beef lovers.
Don’t miss the desserts and drinks (leaning heavily into matcha category) too — this is a cafe after all.
Our verdict
All Hands strikes a nice balance between being a quick breakfast spot (the cafe opens at 8am daily) for CBD warriors and a leisurely brunch on the weekends.
It’s well-priced, and feels a lot more accessible than its previous iteration as Boeuf — after all, I reckon a nice steak dinner, even just once or twice a week, isn’t exactly reasonable for most of us.
Even those who don’t usually eat a lot of bread will probably like the soft, fluffy shokupan with a nice little crisp on the edges.
It’s clever because it works as a base for both sweet and savoury creations, and there are also pastas, proteins, and matcha desserts for a large variety. Plus, service is friendly and efficient, and the food comes out at a reasonable pace.
What it’s good for
The signature dish here is the kaya with butter snow shokupan (S$8.94), a delicious upgrade on the classic Singapore coffeeshop breakfast.
Toasted shokupan is topped with a generous layer of housemade kaya that’s custardy and lightly fragrant from pandan and coconut, then salted butter that’s shaved into thin snowy ribbons that somehow stays solid for a long time.
It’s a textural thing: A creamy mouthfeel combined with lightly crisp and fluffy bread underneath.
There are sous vide eggs with reliably runny yolks, but it’s the special kombu-infused soy sauce for umami depth and seaweed furikake that make this quite the umami bomb.
The open-faced toasts are where things get more interesting.
The hot honey pepperoni shokupan (S$14.49) takes pizza logic and applies it to shokupan, and it works better than I imagined: Marinated tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, beef pepperoni, a drizzle of hot honey, and tropical fruit salsa. The hot honey and beef pepperoni brings that sweet-spicy thing that makes you keep going back for another bite, and the mango-tomato fruit salsa cuts through the richness with a tangy-sweet brightness that stops it all from becoming too heavy.
And as expected of a former steakhouse, All Hands serves very good hand-cut fries (each open-faced shokupan comes with a choice of either fries or salad) that are the right balance of hot, crispy, and salty.
At this point, you’ll want a drink like the picture-perfect blue spirulina matcha (S$8.49). It’s Instagram bait, obviously, but it’s also perfectly drinkable.
Rather than your classic matcha latte, this is somewhat different, with the spirulina adding oceanic and umami notes to the already earthy and grassy matcha; the drink is also sweetened with maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt for extra flavour.
If there’s one thing here that can be considered a signature dessert, it’s the matcha banana pudding (S$6.49).
It’s undeniably pretty, arriving as a small bowl of pandan-flavoured banana pudding — part crumbly, part soft and creamy — surrounded by matcha foam and topped with biscoff crumbs.
The balance is good here, and the whole thing disappears in just a few bites.
The basque cheesecake (S$6.49, check with the staff for the flavour of the day) is a carry-over from Boeuf, and it’s easy to see why they kept it. The matcha version, with its soft creamy centre, has a proper earthy bitterness that balances the rich sweetness of the cheesecake. The portion is a tad small, but the taste is spot-on.
What it could improve on
The laksa Barramoodi (S$23.49) has promise, but doesn’t quite deliver, especially at this price point. The barramundi (I’m not sure why it’s called “barramoodi” here when there’s no beef in the dish”) is nicely wet-brined, with skin left properly crispy, while the flesh remains tender and flaky, but that’s where it ends.
The “laksa broth pasta” is really just salty linguine replacing the usual yellow Chinese noodles (which have a more alkaline flavour). And the sauce, while spicy, lacks the complexity you want from laksa, with the only other ingredients being tau pok (beancurd puffs) and bean sprouts — no depth, no layers.
That said, most of the other dishes are great, and I’ve barely dived into a quarter of the menu at All Hands. I’ll be back to try other offerings such as the A5 sukiyaki shokupan, Boeuf’s bourguignon, and peanut butter hojicha latte.
Our quick takes
Is it conducive to conversation? Yes, though the tables can feel close together, especially during peak hours.
Is a reservation necessary? Walk-ins only, so arrive early if you’re visiting for brunch on weekends.
How to get there? All Hands Cafe is a four-minute walk from Telok Ayer Station Exit A. Look for the distinctive cobalt-blue facade.
HungryGoWhere paid for its meal at this restaurant for this review.
For more ideas on what to eat around town, read more about the opening of Malaysia’s popular Vietnamese chain Pho Vietz in Bugis Junction and Hvala’s new decaffeinated-focused cafe at Tanjong Pagar.
Tue 8am - 5pm
Wed 8am - 5pm
Thu 8am - 5pm
Fri 8am - 5pm
Sat 8am - 5pm
Sun 8am - 5pm
- Telok Ayer
Gary eats and knows things, which he attributes to over 30 years of eating and drinking — surely that must count for something, he surmises. He was previously the deputy editor at City Nomads and content lead at Burpple.
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