Mother-daughter duo Sophia and Nicole built heritage food brand Tiap Tiap around family, hospitality, and home

Food brand Tiap Tiap’s new Joo Chiat store feels less like a shop and more like walking into someone’s elegant living room. 

There is vintage china lining the shelves, tables with sewing machines as legs and elegantly-presented cakes behind the counter. Every detail feels deliberate, reflecting the warmth and nostalgia at the heart of the brand.

Six years after Tiap Tiap started as a humble home-based business during the Covid-19 pandemic, founder Sophia Yeow and daughter Nicole Lian have opened their first permanent storefront at East Coast Road. 

The heritage food brand is best known for its pandan chiffon cake, ondeh ondeh cake, and Peranakan-inspired treats such as fish keropok, alongside savoury offerings such as seafood yuteow and paper-wrapped chicken. 

But meet the family behind the business, and it becomes clear that Tiap Tiap is about far more than food.

At its heart, Tiap Tiap is a family story — one built around hospitality, heritage, and community. As Sophia puts it: “Putting food on the table is one of my love languages.”

From home business to East Coast store 

The road to this Joo Chiat storefront began with no grand business plan. Sophia started Tiap Tiap in 2020 after friends repeatedly asked her to cook for them. She launched with just three products: pandan chiffon cake, yam kueh, and radish kueh. 

Sophia had also built a reputation through her private dining concept Butterfly Table, which opened in 2023, and her 2021 appearance on Masterchef Singapore’s second season. But even then, she never rushed towards opening a cafe. 

The catalyst came in 2024, when daughter Nicole left a successful career in systems engineering and product design to join the family business full-time.

“My first reaction was shock, and then a lot of concern,” Sophia laughs. “Nicole had left a very good global job to join a startup. I thought: ‘This is a promising young lady. Why would she want to do this?’” 

For Nicole, however, the decision was a no-brainer. She recalls her mother inviting the family to experience Butterfly Table as guests, wanting them to see the dining concept she had created through fresh eyes.

“I just stood there in complete awe of her,” Nicole recalls. “It was one of those ‘that’s my mother’ moments. I was extremely proud.”

Nicole had a very clear vision of what Tiap Tiap could become, and was confident in what her mother had built. The product was too special to stay small.

She adds: “I felt almost a sense of responsibility to help turn it into something that could last for generations.”

Over the next two years, the pair built a central kitchen, expanded operations, and strengthened the team before finally committing to a retail space.

Finding a home at East Coast 

The location itself carries deep personal significance.

“For me, East Coast Road is a street I’ve known since childhood,” says Sophia. “It’s the street I walked after Sunday church with my family.”

She adds: “Joo Chiat as a neighbourhood made complete sense. It’s one of the most organically Peranakan parts of Singapore and Tiap Tiap is rooted in that heritage.”

That sense of belonging extends into the store design. For example, the table legs resemble those of sewing machines, and are modeled after ones belonging to Sophia’s grandmother.

“My grandma was always on the sewing machine,” Sophia recalls. “Every time I see this beautiful object, it connects me back to her.” 

Beyond the sewing machine tables, many of the decorative objects throughout the space also come from the family’s personal collection, gathered over the years and thoughtfully incorporated into the cafe.

Together, these heirlooms and keepsakes give Tiap Tiap its lived-in charm, making the space feel less like a carefully styled concept and more like an extension of the family’s home.

A family affair

If there is one thing that defines Tiap Tiap, it is the family’s belief that food exists to bring people together. 

Growing up, Sophia’s home was always filled with dishes to share. 

“Tiap Tiap is inspired by the beautiful, wonderful gatherings we had,” she says.

Sophia’s son Nigel, 22, who helps out at the store whenever he returns to Singapore from his overseas studies, also describes Tiap Tiap as an extension of the family itself.

“Whenever I’m working at Tiap Tiap, honestly, it doesn’t feel like work,” he says. “We’re always laughing and having a good time!” 

For Sophia, having both her children actively involved means a lot. She tells us how Nigel — who studies computer science and finance at the University of Auckland — always rushes down to the store whenever he returns to Singapore.

“There are not many children who would want to do this,” she says. “Yet, they believe in what I built. To me, that is very special.”

The Lians’ hospitality extends beyond the immediate family. Now that the store has a physical space, Sophia loves finally meeting long-time customers who had supported Tiap Tiap online for years. 

“My mum has the ability to make anyone feel immediately at ease,” says Nicole. “It’s not a skill she learned — it’s just who she is.”

She adds: “As her daughter, I sometimes joke that she never runs out of things to say! But as her business partner, I’ve come to deeply appreciate it. She’s an extraordinary storyteller, and knows how to draw people in, hold a room, and leave them wanting more.”

Sophia also has warm words about partnering with her daughter. She still remembers the presentation deck Nicole created to persuade the family that expanding Tiap Tiap was the right move.

“There’s a part of me that beams with pride when I think of how systematically and organised her presentation was,” she says.

Nicole adds: “My mum built something with real soul. My job is to make sure that soul doesn’t get lost as the business grows.” 

For her, that means building the right structures, teams and processes — but always in service of what Tiap Tiap fundamentally is: A place that feels like coming home.

The menu and what we tried

The menu at Tiap Tiap reflects the foods the family genuinely enjoys eating. Including the pandan chiffon cake (S$3.80 for a slice, from S$20.80 for a Baby cake) was never in question, as it has been the heart of Tiap Tiap’s food from day one.

“I wanted something that could uplift people during Covid-19, something light, sweet and reminiscent of better times,” says Sophia, on the dish’s origins. 

It’s easy to see why this remains Tiap Tiap’s signature item. The pandan cake is light and remarkably fragrant, thanks to Japanese cake flour, fresh-pressed pandan juice, and coconut milk.

The separately served gula Melaka drizzle allows diners to control the sweetness, adding a rich caramel depth without overwhelming the cake itself.

Besides slices, Tiap Tiap’s cakes come in three sizes: Baby, regular and Giant.

Bright, citrusy, and refreshing, the orange chiffon cake (S$3.80 per slice, from S$18.80 for a Baby cake) offers a lighter alternative. The sponge remains impressively airy, with enough orange flavour to remain distinct without veering into artificial territory.

One of our favourites was the banoffee pie (from S$30 for a Baby pie), Nicole’s personal contribution to the menu. Built from scratch, from the base to the dulce de leche, the pie balances rich caramel notes, fresh bananas, and cream without becoming overly sweet.

The ondeh ondeh cake (S$9 per slice, from S$68 for a Baby cake) captures the familiar flavours of the classic kueh in cake form. The earthy gula Melaka and coconut flavours come through clearly, delivering a nostalgic flavour profile that many Singaporeans will instantly recognise.

If you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll want to grab a slice of the indulgent chocolate cream cake (S$9.80 per slice, from S$69.80 for a Baby cake). The cake reimagines the heartland roll cake in an elevated form, with Van Houten chocolate rice and Valrhona dark chocolate.

From the shop’s snack counter, we also loved the DIY muah chee (S$16.80 per set, including peanut and sesame mixes). Sophia’s interpretation of muah chee leans slightly different from the traditional version. Soft, chewy, and coated in a fragrant peanut and sesame mixture, it retains the comforting familiarity of the classic snack, while feeling a little more refined. 

Designed to be eaten cold, customers can store it in the fridge for up to five days without it hardening. 

A light but satisfying snack, the fish keropok (from S$13.80) — that uses mackerel — had a robust savoury flavour and satisfying crunch. Paired with sambal belacan (S$10.80 per bottle), it quickly becomes one of those snacks that’s difficult to stop eating.

There’s also a savoury take-home range (sold frozen with cooking instructions) which draws on Sophia’s Peranakan heritage and personal culinary history, all made from fresh ingredients.

The paper-wrapped chicken (S$28.80 for eight pieces) was one of the savoury standouts. The chicken remains juicy and aromatic when cut, carrying a deeply savoury flavour that makes it particularly suitable for sharing.

The seafood yuteow (S$24.80 for 12 pieces) is a crunchy crowd-pleaser, packed with flavour. The filling is generous and well-seasoned, making it an easy addition to family gatherings.

And don’t leave without taking home a bottle of their delicious Nyonya kaya (S$12.80 per bottle) made hand-stirred with an egg-yolk-only base. Spread over toast or paired with crackers, it makes for a rich, fragrant burst of Peranakan flavours.

More than a shop

For both Sophia and Nicole, the new store represents far more than a business achievement.

“Six years is a long time to build something quietly,” says Sophia. “This shop is proof that if you’re honest about your product and patient about your growth, the right thing happens at the right time.”

“More than anything, having a physical home means we can finally let people experience Tiap Tiap the way it was always meant to be; not just something you order and receive at the door, but something you sit down and savour,” adds Nicole.

Ultimately, they want customers to enjoy the experience of being served coffee or tea from Sophia’s china collection, in a space designed to feel like her home. 

As customers stream through the doors of Tiap Tiap’s new Joo Chiat home, it is easy to understand that Tiap Tiap is not just a heritage food brand, but a place where family recipes, family heirlooms, and family values come together — and where everyone is invited to pull up a chair.

For more ideas on what to eat in Joo Chiat, read about our top picks in the neighbourhood, including this unique bakery and this deli selling biltong, a South African snack.