Review: September Coffee’s new Craig Road cafe is a glow-up — just skip the sweets maybe

The backstory

September Coffee first opened its doors in September 2022 in a shophouse unit along South Bridge Road. Before that, the space had housed a nondescript 7-Eleven store for years, so the opening of a vibey, modern cafe in its place had caused quite a stir.  

The cafe is run by two sisters, who have opted to stay out of the spotlight, but quickly built a devoted following. 

Whatever the early growing pains were — as chronicled in our review of the original spot in November 2022 — they didn’t seem to slow things down. 

In less than two years, the duo opened a second concept in the form of June Coffee in Katong. Beyond continuing the calendar-themed naming convention, this sister concept gave the sisters a substantial foothold in the east, too. 

With both names now somewhat established in the local cafe scene, September Coffee recently packed up its original Chinatown home and resettled a short walk away on Craig Road, in a considerably larger shophouse unit previously occupied by Australian-inspired cafe Bearded Bella. 

Where September Coffee’s former decor leaned into a brighter, more Scandi-minimalist palette, the new space feels warmer and more intimate — think timber-lined walls, earthy reddish-brown tiles, paper lanterns, and a wider spread of seating built for everything from solo coffee runs to bigger group meals.

The bigger space has also given the kitchen room to grow, with September Coffee expanding its original brunch and dessert repertoire to include heartier, all-day dishes, whether it’s udon, pasta, or a protein-focused main. 

September Coffee at Craig Road’s menu leans harder into the cafe’s Japanese and Korean influences, with its udon section doing a lot of the heavy lifting through items such as the rose tonkatsu (S$25), aburi scallop uni (S$28), and mentaiko (S$26), alongside pasta dishes such as squid ink crab pasta (S$22) and lamb ragu bianco (S$24).

You can still expect its familiar lineup of pastries and photo-worthy speciality coffee beverages, but the heartier dishes now make September Coffee feel more like a spot for a proper sit-down meal than a quick coffee break.

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Our verdict

For a Wednesday lunch, I didn’t expect a queue — but there was one, and it seemed to be made up mainly of Gen Zs. It’s not a knock against the place, but the demographic skew was hard to miss. September Coffee is clearly resonating with a younger crowd. 

The wait was about 30 minutes, but we appreciated the flexibility from the crew in allowing us to choose our seating location when it was finally our turn, as opposed to being shoved into the next available table. 

Dining time is capped at 70 minutes during peak hours, so don’t expect to be able to linger over a long catch-up. 

Once seated, service was quick. We placed our orders via QR code, and our food arrived within 10 minutes — so quickly that I barely had time to take in my surroundings.

Overall, prices here are reasonable, with every dish under S$30 and portions lean on the generous side. The places aren’t specifically designed for sharing, but we’d recommend doing so anyway, especially if you want to try more of the menu in one sitting.

Drinks, on the other hand, are less wallet-friendly. The honey cereal matcha’s S$9.80 price tag is enough to give me pause (and I’m sure many cafe-goers would feel the same).

Still, I’d return for the food at the newly shifted September Coffee at Craig Road, preferably once the hype around the refresh has died down a little. 

What it’s good for

I started, unsurprisingly, with the fried chicken French toast (S$19), one of the dishes that put September Coffee on the map in 2022, and one that many have agreed is worth revisiting.

When we last reviewed this same dish back when the cafe first opened in Chinatown, it left something to be desired, but it’s clear this version has been reworked for the better. 

Instead of a spicy honey drizzle in its earlier version, this dish now comes generously drenched in soy maple instead.

The portion is also noticeably heftier, with every surface of the French toast blanketed in juicy, fried chicken strips.

The fried chicken was crispy and sufficiently moist within, while the toast itself was impressively fluffy and eggy. Despite being doused in a good amount of sauce, the chicken impressively managed to retain some of its crunchiness.

Between the protein and carbs, there is a thin layer of tangy pickled shallots and butter, in place of the previous pickled cabbage. The tangy shallots lent just enough brightness to keep things from tipping into one-note savouriness. The butter felt a bit of an afterthought — barely detectable against toast this thick — but that’s a minor gripe against a dish that’s more than earned its keep.

The unanimous favourite of the afternoon, though, was the sake Asari linguine (S$23), which has had me thinking about a return visit since I first tried it. 

It comes with a generous portion of fresh clams tossed with al dente linguine, in a deeply savoury seafood-forward sauce. 

There’s an abundance of umami and seafood sweetness running through this dish, and the clams themselves were fresh, with meat that slid easily from the shells. 

The portion is sufficient enough to share, though I won’t judge if you decide to keep it to yourself; once I had my first bite, I contemplated the same.  

Unsurprisingly, this was the dish that disappeared fastest.

While it was previously on September Coffee’s menu, the udon section has evolved and expanded since the move.

A noteworthy addition is the rose tonkatsu (S$25), built on gochujang (Korean red pepper paste), cream, and stracciatella cheese.

The menu flags it with a chilli icon, but don’t let that put you off; the spice is more of a gentle warmth on the lips and tongue than anything prohibitively hot, and I say that as someone with a notoriously low spice tolerance.

Here, you get savouriness layered with roasted pepper and sesame notes, plus a crisp, breaded pork cutlet that’s satisfyingly thick without being too dry.

It’s a rich dish, best approached as a shared plate, though it’s also one hungry diners can easily make a meal of on its own. 

On the drinks front, the Mont Blanc (S$8.50) stood out among the three signature beverages I tried, out of the four on its menu.

While the flavour has made quite the splash in the Seoul and Melbourne cafe scene, the double-espresso beverage — with vanilla yuzu, nutmeg foam, and fresh orange zest — is not yet a common sight on menus here. 

If you’ve yet to try it, you can think of it as a gentler, less citrus-forward alternative to an orange tonic espresso.

The vanilla yuzu foam cuts through the coffee’s mild acidity without overpowering it, while the orange zest lingers pleasantly. On a scorching day — like on the day I visited — it was exactly the kind of refreshing drink I wanted and needed.

The brown butter latte (S$8.50, additional S$1 for iced) appears to be September Coffee’s take on bulletproof coffee — typically made with coffee, grass-fed butter, and medium-chain triglyceride oil — but one that’s dressed up considerably.

Made with housemade brown butter syrup, brown butter whip, double espresso, and milk, it is a genuinely indulgent drink, with a fattiness that coats the tongue and might catch you off guard if bulletproof coffee isn’t already familiar territory.

It’s a beverage you’d want to slowly sip rather than down too quickly, especially if you’re pairing it with food.

Even though I chose a lighter oat milk alternative, I found the drink with the cafe’s hearty dishes a touch cloying, especially as I got fuller from the food. 

Perhaps it’ll be one to have with lighter sweets and bakes rather than a full-fledged meal, or if you’re looking to just have a single cuppa. 

What it could improve on

Not every order lands quite as well, and the misses we experienced both happen to be on the sweeter end of the menu.

The honey cereal matcha (S$9.80), made with cereal oat milk, Yabukita matcha, honey whip, and honey stars, promises more than it delivers. Based on its description, I expected a strong floral hit from the honey on the first sip. Instead, most of the honey flavour is concentrated in the whip topping, so you’ll need to give the drink a thorough stir before you can detect it.

Once mixed in, though, the potent, appropriately grassy matcha overwhelms any trace of honey or cereal, leaving you with little more than a slightly creamier matcha latte.

For a drink that nudges close to S$10, I would have expected more than just matcha notes. 

The strawberry matcha pistachio tiramisu (S$14) was another dish that fell short for us. 

With matcha-soaked ladyfingers, pistachio-imbued mascarpone, and a smattering of strawberries, it sounded like it had the makings of a solid dessert. But nothing here was memorable.

Granted, the ladyfingers were soaked just right, and the mascarpone was light and airy with a mild nuttiness. But given the ingredients — all with fairly strong flavour profiles — I expected a dessert with more intensity and depth.

Instead, it tasted surprisingly simple for a S$14 dessert. 

If you’re after a sweet finish, you might do well to order one of September Coffee’s signature drinks instead, such as the reliable iced strawberry matcha latte (S$8). When we visited, there were also other dessert items such as an original tiramisu or Basque cheesecake, though I didn’t get to try them this time round. 

Yet, despite the less-than-stellar items, it’s evident that September Coffee’s latest Craig Road outlet has levelled up on its food programme along with the move. The savoury dishes, in particular, suggest that the four-year-old concept is headed in the right direction.

Beyond expanding its seating capacity, the new space has also given the team more room to build a menu that stands out rather than simply chasing photogenic plates.

The drink pricing may still be a bit of a tug on your wallet, and its dessert section may need time to find its footing, but if you’ve been a longtime fan of September or even June Coffee, this might just be a queue worth joining.

Our quick takes

Is it conducive to conversation? Yes, even when it fills up, the buzz of the cafe didn’t interfere with our conversation.

Is a reservation necessary? September Coffee doesn’t accept reservations; only walk-ins are allowed. When it gets busy, diners can join its virtual queue system by scanning a QR code at the cafe’s entrance — something to account for if you’re looking to dine around a specific time. 

How to get there? September Coffee is a five-minute walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT Exit A.

HungryGoWhere paid for its meal at this restaurant for this review.

For the latest eats, read our story on Halo Ube & Matcha, a speciality cafe with a matcha- and ube-focused menu, and our list of Seoul bakeries worth queueing for on your next trip to South Korea.