7 Kickstart

Pleasantly surprised by the cold brew, which has been strongly recommended along with the likes of old hen and oriole. The downside is that you have to add the milk yourself, which may not be a good thing for those who prefer their brews white as one may not be sure of the optal amount of milk to be added to the coffee.
They have 7 different brews for you to choose from, and each brew is carefully dripped overnight. Would reccomend the Indian Monsoon ($ 7), which was a strong brew that had a rather unique taste. Good for people who like their coffee thick and strong but special at the same time.

I was initially really excited to eat here. I saw a website recommending their salted eggs toast, and I love salted eggs so I just had to try it.
Pros: Great location. Right beside bras besah mrt, walkable distance from city hall mrt station.
Cons:
1) The salted eggs toast was not what I was expecting. It tasted nothing like salted eggs. Another disappointing this about the toast, I saw some pictures online that made it look like the salted eggs would ooze out when you cut into it. Nope. Didn’t happen. The salted eggs inside were gooey and not a very generous serving.
2) Ordered portobello mushrooms, it tasted like something you could easily make yourself at home. $ 9.90 for 2 small portobello mushrooms with some herbs and a slice of cheese not very nicely melted on top.
3) Captain Crunch burger, it had a star beside it, so I assumed it would be good. It was dry, bacon was not crunchy, in fact it was dry and really hard to bite off. Didn’t finish that too.

I was not very happy with this place. I was told about the «nitro coffee» and was excited to try this creation, however when I received my coffee from the unfriendly lady («got a dollar» — no please, no thank you) it was bitter, the glass it was served in was not filled to the top (use smaller glasses if you need to). The labels on the «cups» for water were peeling off, tables and chairs had seen many better days and it did not seem to be the most clean with stock placed under tables out of the way and it was pretty untidy.
The coffee was very bitter and tasted, well old and stale.
I will not be returning.

As I am always on the lookout for new good coffee places I decided to try 7 kickstart. The location is easy to get to, next to Bras Basah MRT and it is fairly spacious so good for larger groups, when checking the menu I was impressed by the range of different beans they offered. Not sure about the staffs knowledge though as I was asking a bit about the roast dates and they were not sure (always a bit hesitant when too much is on offer in a location that does not seem super busy as it may then be old) but appears there is mainly one person in charge of the coffee so perhaps she knows.
I decided to sample a few different things. The Ethiopian as a pour-​over was nothing to write home about. The roast was too dark for my liking and it had killed off most of the flavors I am looking for in an Ethiopian coffee. The cold nitro coffee in tap was a more interesting experience. It is one of the better nitro coffees I have had (although the one at the magic roundabout in London was a tad better) and perfectly smooth and refreshing. The flat white was also nice and would opt for that instead of a pour-​over here as the dark roast profiles fit better with milk. They also have an impressive selection of cold drip coffees on bottles. The Ethiopian was really nice so will sample the others as well.
The food was a bit strange, salted egg yolk custard french toast but where I was expecting something exciting it was more bland and nothing to get excited about. The breakfast options are however decent. The service is a bit up and down and for me this place is between three and four in rating but as it is one of few good places around here that actually opens in the morning (so not at 11 or so) I will give it a four.

Singapore has seen a growth in the hipster café. You know the style: raw concrete, exposed ceiling fixtures, denim shirt baristas, serving the same Australian coffees: piccolo latte, flat white, cortado, etc. with an assortment of brunch foods (think Oriole). There’s a time and place for this, of course, and it’s nice to have options beyond Starbucks. But few are truly original, and you wonder if it’s still hipster when it’s the default.
Come 7 Kickstart.
First, the roasting: this is one of the few places in Singapore to prefer a very dark roast (Italian style). The beans break up like chips of butter in my hand grinder. You either like it or you don’t — people get split into the light and dark roast camps. Varietals are numerous with frequent experiments, especially on the drier, more herbal side of things. You can get your coffee by the espresso shot, drip, or even by the tap like a beer, lightly carbonated (actually probably nitrogen since they call it nitro), the latter being particularly refreshing in our eternal tropical heat. There’s a selection of strange experiments involving milk products and a coffee base. There’s even butter coffee. Prices are pretty good, at $ 17 for beans this is a full 35% cheaper than Oriole…
Then, the food. Hit or miss I’d say. It’s definitely unique. There’s some kind of orange sauce drizzled over your eggs on toast. The BLT is fantastic and quite cheap. The burger not so much, but they at least try. Icewater comes in plastic beakers, why not.
Location is good — spacious, clean and quite chilled out as befits a museum café.
5* for taking risks, being different from the mainstream and getting many things very right, especially for a museum café (they’re supposed to be boring), without pricing yourself through the roof for it.

I really like their coffees. They have a butter espresso which is simply adding a slice of butter into your espresso. And boy, it’s yummy! An awesome blend of savory and bitterness hits you. I find their iced coffees great too, and they come in fairly large glasses which is fantastic. Some establishments serve iced coffees in teeny glasses and I feel ripped. Here, I feel I can have a really good cuppa in a good size (btw, they only have one size, no Venti whatever). Recommended place to chill.

Coffee here’s pretty good. They actually pride themselves on the number of choices they have when it comes to coffee– drip, brewed, nitro-​filled.
I personally love having their flat white. Drips and all are a bit pricey for a student.
Will be cool if the place comes with wifi though. Am sure business will be better (though understandably there’ll be people staying for longer periods of time)
But still, wifi please!

So apparently in Singapore corporations like to have little office bonding get togethers in coffee shops. I didn’t know this so we kept walking back and forth in front of the shop waiting for them to leave. Long story short. We got hot and thirsty and walked in anyways. Apparently, they are still open for business. The company just occupies part of the room.
In the short amount of time that I was in Singapore I managed to try out three different coffee shops/​cafes and 7 Kick Start is definitely my favorite. They specialize in cold drip coffee and have all of these interesting coffee related knick knacks strewn about the store. Some functional and some just for looks. The staff is friendly and helpful in the kindest way. We ordered a Latte and a Cappuccino that came out in the prettiest blue mugs. I usually order black iced coffee in new coffee shops so that I can taste their coffee at the simplest level but I felt adventurous that day. Their coffee wasn’t acidic in the slightest which I appreciate. I can’t remember which of the two I liked best but they both had this richness and fragrance that I can’t find anywhere else. A nice cup of coffee and a relaxed atmosphere makes this place perfect. I will be back the next time I come to visit!

The food menu is decent and cheaply priced, and I really want to support local. But unfortunately even though they try very hard, the food quality is a bit hit and miss. The burger I had before was obviously handmade and the sauces were good, but the meat was just a tad too gristly. The mac & cheese I had today would’ve been good if it’d been heated up properly — it was ice cold in the middle. I understand prepping the lunch special ahead of time — makes perfect sense. But make sure it’s thoroughly heated lah.
The brunches I had there are good cos they’re obviously cooked to order.
BUT. The cold drip coffee here is DA BOMB. Richly flavoured, enough caffeine to keep you buzzed for the next 12 hours.
So if you’re gonna pop by, the coffee is worth the trip. If you’re hungry, choose your food items carefully. Pick stuff that has to be cooked to order.

I am a repeat customer here. What brings me back?
Well, its cappuccino ($ 4) has been consistently delicious! It is a mom-​and-​pop business with a super friendly and helpful staff. Based on what I see other happy customers having, the pastries, sandwiches and drinks here must be pretty good, too. Locals come here for breakfasts, lunches…
SERVICE and FRIENDLINESS
Its great tasting cappuccino (s$ 4) and its friendly, helpful staff brought me here 3X last few days. Its staff is exceptionally friendly. In my last visit, one opened the door for me, greeted me cheerfully, set me at the seat of my choice and took my order with a smile. Another one brought my cappuccino to me with my change AND a SMILE. Later, when I got up to ask for a cup of hot water and a napkin, a staff promptly came over to help, and brought them to my table! I even ordered a 2^nd cappuccino that day, which was also brought over to my table. I heard the crew greeting other customers coming through the door, and saying «thanks» to them at departure. That’s good business training and practice.
SEATING AREAS
It has a very nice ordering station, an attractive display case of goodies, and a corner wall with a collection of coffee beans from different regions. There are several floor-​to-​ceiling picture doors giving a partial view of the patios. Seating in the patios are much more comfortable.
Its interior seating area is cramped with long tables and short stools without back support. It can be DIFFICULT to NAVIGATE between occupied tables. At any rate, it does NOT give the impression of a traditional coffee shop; rather, more like a «food court» setting, not too inviting. However, the floor-​to-​ceiling picture doors do give a pleasant view of the patios. I wish they’d use more traditional square or small round tables and backed-​chairs for the interior and make the place more inviting and comfy!
— At any rate, the regulars don’t seem to mind this, as the place was pretty full in my visits.
Yes, when in Singapore, I’ll be back for more cappuccinos again, and perhaps even their food items.
Additional info:
1. Like most places, it does not have wifi.
2. It closes on Sundays
3. They offer Frequent Visit Reward Cards
4. They give occasional seminars/​demos on the culture of coffee (s$ 32pp).
— I asked a staffer if their seminar would perhaps include discussions on the following question related to the culture of coffee: Is there any truth to the rumor that «No self-​respecting Italians would drink cappuccinos after 11am!»?
— Well, she said she had not heard of such rumor, but would look into it.
Feb 2014
—

Still great with slight changes to the menu cos now they have a full kitchen after having moved to the Singapore Art Museum. Love the food & enjoy the new atmosphere though it lost a little of its personal touch with the owner Swee now hidden in the kitchen most of the time.
They have recently added cakes to their list of desserts. More reason to hang out here now.
All the best to Swee and team! Love love love! :)

This little place is quite nondescript from the outside– the super tinted glass and the heineken chalkboard makes it feel like you’re going into a pub instead.
It’s a very casual setting for days where you just want somewhere to relax and ignore the world. One thing you’ll notice is the odd and wonderful objects they’ve used for utensils — the soup spoon was a measuring spoon, the soup bowl was something you might use for crème brûlée, but funniest of all was the plastic measuring jugs that they used to serve water in, and an even bigger version for the main course soup! Well you’ll definitely know how much you’re drinking at any one point…
Lunch sets were going at $ 12 — Main + Drink + Soup — I had the fish wrapped in banana leaf along wtih peranakan pineapple soup and glass noodles. Pineapple is a tad odd for me eaten hot and in liquid form, but it did prove to be quite interesting. The fish was very thin but nicely cooked. They also have quite an extensive sandwich list which are served open and with a ton of salad on a metal dish.
They’re usually only open for lunch, but if you have more than 7 people, they’ll stay open till dinner for you, so it’s a nice place to hang out with friends that’s not too packed.