Department of Caffeine

Breakfast called and I’ll admit the picture of bacon and the promise of good caffeine was the lure that brought me here.
A short wander from our hotel and I got a seat straight away, ordered a latte then checked the menu — even though I knew what I really wanted already (I did mention the picture on their profile here, right?).
My coffee arrived promptly and was ok, a little bland and too milky for my tastes so I ordered a flat white for my next drink, only to get something very similar. Not great but not bad either, just be aware if you are real coffee snob. ;)
My food then arrived after a short wait and, wow, quite a portion!
I really liked the sweetness of the waffle with the eggs (maybe 3 scrambled?) and crispy bacon — actually CRISPY BACON, a minor miracle! — but I struggled to the end as this is a LOT of food, tasty as it was!
Service was ok, if a little impersonal, and price wise it was pretty reasonable, but for a place called Department of Caffeine, I’ve had expected a much better coffee experience. Thankfully the food made up for the shortcomings in that ‘department’…

Department of Caffeine serves excellent coffee for $ 5 – 6 a cup. I tried the Toffenut Latte and Cappuccino, both of which were excellent. I have not tried any of their food items but hope to do so next time I visit!
Do note that they take Cash and NETS payment only ($ 10 minimum)

Okay, I probably am not an expert of what is out of the way and what isn’t in Singapore, but this is certainly one of those places that unless you have heard of it you would probably not even know it existed. Thanks to the internet I discovered that this place existed and decided to give it a shot to see what coffee in Singapore was like (not that I would consider myself a coffee connoisseur). Anyway it turns out that this place is really, really popular, and it seems that you actually need a reservation to have a drink here. Not that they just sell coffee, it is a full blown café that even has a selection of craft beers. However I went for the coffee, which I must admit wasn’t bad at all. They staff even gave me a table, despite the fact it was reserved (though I was only here for the coffee and that was basically it). If you can get in I would definitely recommend checking it out, but it would probably be best of make a reservation beforehand.

Excellent coffee and salads. I had a hazelnut latte that was delicious.
My salad was hearty, with a choice of poached salmon or roast chicken as an accompanying mains. I picked salmon. Choice of salad was cauliflower and soba (i do love my buckwheat!) and the portions were generous. The soba was nicely flavoured with some citrusy soy based sauce (ponzu perhaps?) with wakame. The salmon was lemon scented and the yoghurt dressing was flavoured with dill. I was so full after and truly satiated. Will be back.

Walked over to this little gem with my husband last weekend… and though I found it to be a bit pricey, I really liked the menu selection. They has a vast array of options and even the unexpected pairings sounded delicious. I ordered the dried tomato and herb waffle with fried chicken and boy was I glad I did. The waffle was savory and paired with the crispy chicken… I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a place I would come to for the occasional higher priced brunch… or when I have a craving for the best savory waffle ever!

Located right around the corner from Duxton hiIl this place fits nicely in the neighborhood. It is nicely designed, has a very modern feel to it and they do as many of the good cafes in Singapore serve both good coffee and food. The service is friendly and knowledgeable. The place seems to be constantly full but they still manage to provide fast service with a smile. I also like that they still ensure that they keep the quality level high even though they are busy.
The coffee is usually from Common Man so no roasting of their own is done. I did however find that they usually executed the coffee better here than at Common Man. The selection of coffees is however smaller here. Usually there are three options for the hand brew and then one additional one, usually a blend, for espresso based drinks. The hand brews have been excellent quality as well as the cold brew. Especially the cold brews have been really nice and flavorful yet without a hint of bitterness. The other beverages that I tried have also delivered good quality.
Food selection is good and they serve both delicious full dishes such as pastas as well as more standard café fare like pastries and sandwiches. Everything I had here has been very good so can easily recommended it for both food and coffee. As mentioned it is very popular and that in combination with not that comfortable seats makes a place I do not really hang out for that long at. Free wifi is available but it does not feel as if it is ok to sit and work or study he

Decided to come here after a pretty positive weekend brunch experience… WORST DECISION OF MY WEEK.
One friend ordered a zucchini salad because she wanted a salad with a main, but they ran out of main course, and ran out of other salads (at 12.30pm on a Friday). It was supposed to come with toasted nuts on top, but of course when the salad came there were no nuts to be seen. So she asked them about the nuts, and suddenly they were out of toasted nuts too. Then they came back and asked if she wanted some peanuts on the side to sprinkle on her salad. God what a JOKE the «side of peanuts» was! It was practically powdered peanuts. They should probably be awarded a Nobel prize for coming up with the smallest unit of peanuts possibly created by mankind.
Other friend ordered waffles with bacon and scrambled eggs. Waffles were burnt, bacon looks like the pig went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico after an oil spill. I mean ok, bacon should be sinful. but this is taking it to another level.
Then the service… nano peanut incident and aside, after both my friends were done with their meals, my Piggy & eggs dish had still not been served! Afterwards we realized that they probably killed the last pig in Singapore for the bacon, and were sourcing for another pig from neighboring countries to make this dish, because this was definitely a different pig than the one the bacon came from. Maybe it came from the Gobi desert, since the pulled pork had no moisture to speak of.
Scrambled eggs were nice though. Not sure I’ll come back for scrambled eggs.

I love duxton area and i love brunches (who doesn’t?) so naturally I gave DOC a go one lazy sunday with my partner. I had the piggy & eggs and the pulled pork is a winner. Personally I dont like sausages so next time I will ask them to substitute with pulled pork instead. Wait staff is attentive and making reservations is highly recommended. The place tends to get packed on a weekend so make sure to book a table to avoid long wait times.

We ordered two sets of the fish dippers. It was bad, very fishy and unfresh.
We asked to change it to dessert and top up the difference. They refused and said we could only choose between a few items.
The lady boss (elderly lady with permed hair) was very indignant and upset and rude and said we said her fish was rotten (we did not) and that she had to check if it was really bad before she could change it for us. She was very sarcastic and defensive (she said, I know, you’re the customer, you’re the Most Important!)
Other things we ordered were ok, but the experience was So unpleasant. All over 7 dollar fish dippers! NOT coming back! If I could give zero stars I would!

A great coffee joint that serves good food. They serve proper food that is lunch worthy. I know many brunch lovers out there can have breakfast for all three meals but eggs royale can be kind of boring after a while (yes, I did just say that). I tried their grilled chicken with side salad, which was delicious!!! And their coffee was fragrant and oh so goooood. However… the HUGE drawback is that you can probably never get a seat at DOC when you want to. So I would only attempt a visit a really off peak hours.

D.O.C. is an interesting business while they clearly specialise in caffeinated beverages having dedicated baristas and food preparation staff; they also have a number of yummy food options — at least the lobster roll I tried was lovely, achieving a balance of flavour with a hint of chilli.
I gather they are quite popular, we arrived on opening and within 15 minutes the place was over half full.
I was however shocked that they only offered tap water, no bottles or sparkling water, which as a tourist I generally prefer.

I still baulk at the idea of $ 5 coffee but being the caffeine addict I am, I hand over my money in Singapore and then look like a lost puppy dog at the barista until I’ve had my hit.
The 5 ½ ounce coffee is a good choice here if you like your coffee strong with a bit of milk to round things out. It’s certainly not the best coffee I’ve ever had, but it did the trick.

D.O.C is certainly one of the caffeinated greats of Singapore; they do really know their stuff and since my first visit, they’ve consistently provided one of my favourite cuppas in the Duxton area.
However, just a little warning out to patrons who like their coffee a little stronger — paying $ 1.50 for an extra shot may be pretty «standard» in Singapore, but $ 6.50 for just one coffee hurts, especially when the same order would cost at least $ 2-​$ 2.50 less in Australia.
However, this place is worth picking your battles over — I can’t wait to come back here to eat; it would be a true winner if they were able to pull off both great coffee and a great menu. The décor is industrial chic and pretty spaced out, considering their relative real estate. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled — blink or walk too fast and you just might miss it!

Amazing food! Both breakfast options and healthier and fresh lunch choices. The only reason why this place doesn’t get 5 stars is because they ran out of half the things I wanted to order at about 2pm. Sorry, but breakfast foods should ALWAYS be available all day on Saturday & Sundays!
Otherwise amazing. Make sure you get there early or make reservations, otherwise you’ll be waiting.

A self-​declared beef-​tarian, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I almost became pork-​tarian.
Joke aside, you simply have to try their Pulled Pork Burger. I came here for two things — to try their coffee and the Pulled Pork Burger.
Verdict:
— Pulled Pork Burger — I didn’t know pork can be so soft. The meat was cooked to the point where it almost could melt in your mouth. The bun was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I have no idea what sauce they use but it was tangy and brought out the flavours of the pork. I must admit that it was a little hard to have a bite if you are using a fork and knife — the pork just fell all over the plate in a messy heap.
— Flat White and Cappuccino — Fantastic as usual. Smooth texture and rich in flavour.
DOC comes highly recommended and definitely deserving of its name.

I’m a little torn on the number of stars to give this place and finally settled on 4. It used to be my favorite café, great space, easy parking and lastly, good honest food. Due to all those points above, it’s gained tremendous popularity and now I can’t get seats :(at times when we arrive in the afternoon, many items are all sold out.
We first started coming here on opening week and found their buttermilk waffles delicious! The caramel rum cooked bananas were awesome with the slightly crispy but oh so soft in the center waffles. My husband is in love with their carrot cake and will drive by just to pack a slice home.
For lunch, we like their grilled chicken with salad, there are a few salads in their display case with huge chicken legs resting there. It tastes great and the salads very fresh.
The only area I find a little lacking is their milk based coffees. I’ve tried it several times but for some reason, the milk foam doesn’t speak to me so I always get my coffee elsewhere.
All in all, this is still one of my fave places though I will need to try to come at more off peak hours!

Okay. So. Got dragged there after a mind-​numbing day at work, and I still enjoyed it! That alone should tell you how freakin amazing this place is.
Weekday evenings are perfect because there’s less of a crowd and you can appreciate the décor/​ambience better =P Tried going there on a Saturday (twice) and both times found the place too overwhelmingly crowded to stay.
Had Mocha latte, Caffe latte, Breakfast set (granola, yogurt, banana bread, milk, kahlua butter), and a soy cheesecake.
Coffee was fanf*ckingtastic, they really do take their name seriously– I went there around 6? And was so spaced out I asked for «de-​caf’ coffee… which earned me a «Ummm, that kind of goes against our name» from the probably mildly insulted barista. HAHAHA.
ALSO, do try the banana bread. Lightly toasted it is perfectionnnn. okay? Hands down best banana bread I’ve ever had, anddddd I do eat alot of banana bread. Must be eaten warm though.
All in all, you HAVE to try this place. Service is better at The Plain, but ambience is better here (weekdays). Also, cakes.
xxoo

surprisingly good food at this hipster coffee joint in chinatown. I do the following tick-​the-​box for these new joints: industrial wood-​chic, check; coiffed baristas, check; obscure (maybe not quite obscure any longer) locale, check. but what this place has, besides hipster ambitions, is good food and reasonable prices.
and for those latter reasons, this place is made disarmingly charming — well worth repeat visits — and an anomaly in its class.
I take a skeptical ‘tude to these new coffee joints that serve food — I’m too plebian to appreciate the intricacies of regional beans and different roasting techniques, so I only visit to try the food — and then judge it based on that alone. most places fail the test, but what did you expect? the overt emphasis on coffee-​making often leads to a less-​than-​competent kitchen, and in all fairness, they do sell themselves on that dark elixir.
so it’s a surprise when the food turns out good — as it did here. my morrocan salad was a decent serving (hey, food sizes for normal people!) and while a tad colder than I would have expected, it was rather delicious. as was the mushrooms on toast.
we had gone easy on the savouries to save space for the tantalizing cakes on display — but these were the weakest bit of the meal. not terrible, by any means, but we ought to have gone for those giant buttermilk waffles we saw going to every table. definitely a must-​order, next time.
and a next time there will be, which surprises even me. the food was great — and I have a weakness for buttermilk waffles.
and there actually was service — straight from the door where a waitress found us a table and food came quickly. perhaps the most laudable bit is their effective crowd control — which I appreciate (to the bottom of my weary soul) after having ventured to a few über-​hyped manic-​crowded cafés that clearly can’t deal with the crowds. worth a visit, or two, or three.

Coffee was good, fairly affordable (or at least, averagely affordable for joints of this nature).
The breakfast platter though, was delish. Just barely overcooked scrambled eggs (and only the middle bit was overcooked really, the top was still nice and gooey) over bacon-​wrapped meatloaf on brioche, served with a cooked tomato and these amazing mindblowing cheese tots. Too bad you only get two of the cheesy things, breaded, fried, and filled with molten cheesy goodness, because they were the best part of the platter.
The waffles also looked amazing, and I’m really looking forward to trying more of their offerings. If only it wasn’t so crowded and they had more comfortable seats!

Hello new joint. You’ve pitched your tent on some hotly-​contested ground, but I’m pleased to say that you’re making good impressions.
You look beautiful, and I guess it’s just keeping up with the Joneses, when every hipster magnet is trying to outdo the next with industrial wood+steel, so you’ve done well, DOC.
Your food and drink options are right up my alley — the pantry of Ottolenghi-​inspired cold salads are smart, and you’ve got my favourite toasted broccoli and chillies. I’d tell my friends to go green and have a salad platter — get two or three of the salads at a decent price, and feel good about that lunch.
That way, you can indulge me in a couple of sweets. My weekend visit allowed me to order some of your stuffed french toast, which was… pretty good, but what’s really got me craving is the buttermilk waffle. Its got that perfect crispy-​on-​the-​outside-​fluffy-​on-​the-​inside mix, and coupled with rummy bananas and some ice cream… WIN FOR BREAKFAST. Or any other time of day, really.
Of course you’ve got some pretty decent coffee here as well, with beans coming from 5 Senses, and on a cold, rainy day, there’s not much more I could ask for.