Sabana Coffeehouse: Mei Ling Food Centre drinks stall with back sesame kopi & pistachio yuan yang
What do you expect when you go to a hawker drinks stall? Usually your old-school kopi-o, teh peng, lemon tea, and other familiar drinks, right?
Well, things are a lil’ different at Mei Ling Food Centre.
Here, you can order black sesame kopi and pistachio yuan yang at one of its stalls, Sabana Coffeehouse.
Sabana Coffeehouse is not your run-of-the-mill kopi stall: It first started off as a home-based cafe, before it took over the drinks program at Baker X, an F&B incubator space for aspiring bakers, in early 2025.
The brand was left in limbo after the Baker X concept shuttered in mid 2025, but it eventually announced a new standalone space in February this year.
Mei Ling Food Centre might not feel like the most appropriate location for Sabana Coffeehouse given its unique beverage creations, but our chat with the founder revealed that its regular older crowd has actually shown quite a bit of interest.
Sabana Coffeehouse’s founder, Nah Jiang Ming, who is 27 this year, says: “Most of my crowd come in from social media, but actually a lot of the older folks are willing to try our drinks — their favourite is the gula melaka Cloud latte!”
Coffee, tea or… pistachio yuan yang?
Okay, to be fair, Sabana Coffeehouse is not merely about trendy newfangled beverages.
The the menu does contain staples such as kopi (S$1.30 hot, S$1.80 iced), teh (S$1.30 hot, S$1.80 iced) and Milo (S$1.50 hot, S$1.90 iced), which is to be expected for a drinks stall in a food centre.
That said, from what we can see when we swung by for drinks, most people do come specifically for the specials at Sabana Coffeehouse, of which there are six in total.
These six signatures are basically layered drinks with different bases, such as kopi, teh, or yuan yang, coupled with flavoured cream layers.
One of the most unique ones that attracted a lot of social media traction is the pistachio yuan yang (S$3.90), which comes adorned with pistachio cream and crushed pistachio, giving it an extra dose of nuttiness.
Another fun special that many people go to Sabana Coffeehouse for, is the black sesame kopi (S$3.50), which mixes the roasted fragrance of kopi with the earthiness of black sesame cream.
This one sports a deep nutty flavour and is perfect for those who like a little bit of extra “oomph” in their drinks, though this nuttiness can also lean mildly astringent.
For sweeter options, the Biscoff teh peng (S$3.50) is a great choice, with Biscoff cream and its cookie crumble amplifying the milky flavour of the teh base.
Other than all the kopi, teh, and yuan yang bases, Sabana Coffeehouse also has a jasmine Cloud (S$3.50) that kinda feels like a drink you could find at a bubble tea shop such as Chicha San Chen.
The drink is a harmonious blend of jasmine green tea with osmanthus buds and vanilla cream, resulting in an elegant and pleasantly floral drink.
It’s so light, refreshing and easy to drink that we would return to Sabana Coffeehouse just for the jasmine Cloud!
If you are staying or working in the Queenstown area, you should probably drop by to try some of Sabana’s unique drinks, too — after all, a young hawker trying out something new in a mature estate is definitely something worth getting behind.
For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on the new KFC Samyang Buldak Carbonara collab and the newly reopened Orh Gao Taproom, now with a daytime alter ego!
Tue 8am - 2pm
Wed 8am - 2pm
Thu 8am - 2pm
Fri 8am - 2pm
Sat 8am - 2pm
Sun 8am - 2pm
- Queenstown
Evan started off writing about food on Instagram, before joining outlets such as Buro and Confirm Good to pursue his passion. His best work usually comes after his first whisky shot in the morning.
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