Drips

The huge writing saying how they specialise in tarts made me chuckle, and the bright and breezy looking interior welcomed me in. I did not try a tart in the end, but I did have a coffee. The tarts did look amazing, but for the size a tad pricey.
The set-​up is a bit odd with one counter for coffee and another for payment and cakes — strange, but hey, if that works for them, it works for me…
I ordered a flat white and it was not that great. There was no foam at all and although it tasted ok, it was not strong, and lacked any depth. I was a bit saddened.
I did like the light and airy skylights and the comfy sofas that made you feel at home and the old-​school mixture of furniture. They lose a star for the plug sockets being padlocked — padlocked! I was in disbelief…
Water is available in plastic cups as self-​service.
Not great, but I would like to try the tarts still.
EDIT* I just got a call from the café — I left my phone there (yes — silly me!) and they ensured it was charged and gave me a call to pick it up — great service! Thanks drips — I will be going back sooner than I thought for that tart!

The tarts in this place are incredible and such quality is rarely found outside of Europe. Unfortunately, portions are small (minus one star) and the price is high. $ 8 for a small slice is a bit touch to ask. Too bad because it’s a great place that could earn 5 stars.

Drips Bakery Café isn’t joking when they have this huge decal that screams «We specialize in Tarts» to everyone that walks by. Located in hipster land, near Chapter 55, is Drips, which is a pretty huge shop.
There’s quite a lot of seating, so fear not and the ambience of the whole place is very classy, with $ 7,900 paintings decorated on the wall which are for sale, and colourful stools.
Powersupply sockets are locked with a TSA lock so no one can steal their power lol. Looking at their display of sweet awesome tarts, I wanted to try them all! But at $ 8.80 each, my bank account didn’t concur with my stomach. They don’t serve alot of cooked food, but they do serve some sandwiches and a waffle item.
1. Chicken Mushroom Pie $ 5.50
This was more of a snack sized pie, it’s really tiny and for $ 5.50, I didn’t see or taste any chicken or mushroom. Wasn’t impressed by this.
2. Seasonal Fruit Tart $ 8.80
I loved the sweet fruits, the strawberries were huge, but to command an $ 8.80 price tag, it’s a bold move! The tart itself was crumbly and it wasn’t too sweet. They definitely can make good tarts, I did enjoy it! But will I come back here for this again? Probably not.
3. Chocolate Tart $ 7
Supposedly highly raved about, this was an interesting one, it was chocolate mousse on the inside but it wasn’t too dense/jerlat/heaty/“makes you feel like you’re going to get a sorethroat”. So I actually liked this one, as I normally stray away from chocolate tarts.
All in all, a good place to chill and if you like tarts and have a deeper wallet than your stomach can hold, go for it and try Drips! I know for a fact, I want to try alot more of their tart offerings but I just can’t bear to fork out $ 9 for another one!

This quaint little café is on one of the busier roads in Tiong Bahru. Prices are fair game for the area, with drinks around $ 5 – 8 and tarts and pastries around $ 7. I got the cinnamon egg tart which was absolutely delicious along with the drips crushed iced lemon drink — also very tasty. Friends got the lime meringue tart and a piece of peach pie; neither were as good as the egg tart.
It is not as hipster as some other cafes you will find in the area, and the space was rather cramped and crowded. Atmosphere is light with crisp decorations. A little too busy for my taste but the fare was great!

Drips has script on their window that clearly proclaims, «We specialize in tarts.»
Perhaps it was out of desperation that I came here looking for a savory, as I thought I’d given Tiong Bahru Bakery too much of my money throughout the week. Additionally, I was pressed for time so I was hoping I could grab something quick nearby to hold me over.
We all make mistakes. Today, mine was buying the ham and cheese pizza.
From the looks of it, I figured it’s been sitting out for at least a few hours. After ordering, I thought the cashier would make the extra effort to heat it up for me. She didn’t.
So after paying $ 7.80 (cringe) I hightailed back to the office and nuked it in the office microwave. The result was a still-​tough piece of bread with horrible melted cheese and overcooked pieces of ham. Trying to eat it with a fork and spoon (due to a lack of butter knives and uneven hotspots) proved futile. I took 3 bites and my appetite was ruined.
Kids, listen to the proclamation and just stick with the tarts.

Cute place, a lot bigger than expected.
Lets get down to it…
No free wifi boohoo
Fruit Tarts (had the strawberry blackberry)
Fruits are plump, fresh and delicious, custard can be a little smoother, but the pâté sucree base is buttery and light.
Chocolate brownie/​cake
Quite dry and chalky…
Skinny Cappuccino (smooth, good)
The overall space is light and airy… but I am very disturbed by the amount of fruit flies that are hanging around every nook and cranny… whats up with that?
One of them is hanging on the wall right beside me… and his friend is just a few inches to the left. They’re just chilling out, buzzing only when disturbed.
Please get this place cleaned up a little better… You’re lucky the health board isn’t here right now.

Okay so the tarty tarts are still unspectacular and coffee HORRIBLE but DUDES (and DUDETTES) you have to try:
a) Sticky Cinnamon Bun
This should be called their sticky cinnamon caramel BOMB instead. It’s fantastic. Cinnamon is light but detectable, and SO MUCH GOOEY CARAMEL you’ll feel your heart race.
b) (fancy name) Chocolate Tart
HOOOOLY COW that was good. Rich, with a firm, tasty pastry base, I was quite full when I was eating this and it was so rich it was a bit much but it was so good I couldn’t stop myself. It was one of those OMG SO GOOD TOO MUCH BUT SO GOOD I should probably stop BUT I CAN’T.
Why am I not bumping this up a star?
After you’ve tried their coffee, you’ll understand.

I almost always come here only for one thing — their tarts (sliced, whole minis), some of the bests I’ve had around.
First discovered their tarts and pastries from the tiny neighbourhood store at Tanglin Halt — Fredo Galaxy some years ago, so when Drips opened up at Tiong Bahru (near me), I was thrilled. It’s located a little away from the «main attraction» streets where 40 Hands, Books Actually, Tiong Bahru Bakery, Orange Thimble are… so it’s usually less crowded, a good thing if you’re just looking for somewhere to sit down without having to queue or jostle with others.
Drips dons a modern, white-​tiled, high ceiling décor, a nice space to chill but honestly, not one that I dine-​in frequently. I do swing by often enough to get their tarts to-​go for friends’ home parties, picnics, birthdays and such, but that’s about it. Looking pass the pastries display to the menu on the wall, you’ll find there isn’t much else that excites — a tiny selection of sandwiches, coffees and tea-​bag teas, mostly somewhat overpriced.
I will still highly recommend Drips for their tarts and cakes, but for a tea time outing that’s a little less damaging to your pocket, here’s what I usually do: have your pick and splurge on one of their delicate bakes, pack it up in a box… then hop on over to Tiong Bahru Food Centre, order a local soul-​warming cup of Teh (milk tea), find a nice big table and dig it. Bliss — economical version ;)

With all these cafes popping up around town, I didn’t really find anything outstanding about Drips. Décor and ambience wise, it is decidedly ordinary.
Although I heard many good things about the dessert and coffee at Drips before going, i found the coffee decent but not to the standard of other competing cafes in the area like Forty Hands. The tart I tried was well made, but what more can you really say about a fruit tart. It wasn’t anything very special.
The prices at Drips are also higher than average and I didn’t think my overall experience really matched the price tag.

Drips makes a good cuppa with their intricate siphon technique. I’m still sticking to my espresso blends though. Not quite the coffee connoisseur yet. Hopefully the coffee workshop that i’m attending next week will increase my understanding of Mr. Joe! Aromatic latte ($ 4.80) that is not too acidic and lightly sweetened by the milk. Pretty smooth on the palate. I didn’t need sugar with this one.
So desserts before the mains! Had the Mixed berries tart ($ 7) which was amazing. I love the crunchy shortbread crust, which has the right amount of butter and salt. I tasted a hint of a nutty almond paste in base. Perhaps that’s their secret. The cream custard was smooth and slightly eggy, goes perfectly with the plump sweet strawberries and blackberries. Perfect summer dessert alert!
The chocolate tart is made from a high percentage of cocoa. Same pastry base as the Mixed Berries tart but this time with a rich dark solid filling. I like my chocolate dark and slightly bitter and this has the right balance of sweetness.
Desserts are better than the mains. Gotta have is the Avocado cheesecake which they only make to order. If you’re lucky there may be extra from the batch that they sell.

Come to Tiong Bahru for whatever reason — all the hipster hangouts, the rockstar market, the hawker food, but make sure you step in here for the fruit tarts.
Yeah, they’ve got other things on the menu, but when you set your eyes on the tarts in that display fridge, you’ll know that there’s not much else you want to look at.
THEY ARE GORGEOUS. And I’m talking about pastry here. Chef Alfred’s done this for years, first at the Shangri-​La in Singapore, and then they sent him to work with and train their chefs in London for six years! He’s been home for a while now, and after opening a smaller first joint in the Tanglin Halt area, he’s come to hipster-​ville to show them what dessert should be like.
I’ve tried a good number of them tarts, and my favourites have to be the brandied cherry, and the pear ones. I could type a good chunk of text telling you about how luscious and full the fruit looks, the mirror-​like glaze, the flakiness of the crust, and the vanilla-​beany goodness of the custard, but I’ve said too much already.
They go quick, so make sure you order as soon as you get in the doors!

The coffee was decent, however, they don’t offer WIFI for those who like to work at Coffee joints. They even lock up the electrical outlets with a plastic box so patrons cannot use it as charging stations. The Pear Tart and Fruit Cake (which came highly recommended) (about $ 7 each) was disappointing, and nothing spectacular. The deco is nice — but these places usually have nice ambience, don’t they. Not a place I will come back to on a regular basis.

Popped by for lunch one day with a couple of colleagues, and found Drips to be bright and cheery. Cute retro furniture and bright seats, and the seating area at the back even boasts a terrarium. Menu is pretty limited, and I went with a smoked ham sandwich and pear tart. The sandwich was generously filled with ham and vegetables, and slathered with whole grain mustard; my favorite. Strangely, it also came with two cucumber slivers and a small tomato. Not sure if this is a weak attempt towards fulfilling their customers’ fibre intake of the day. Pear tart was ok, not bad. My colleagues found it way too sweet though, which I agree. I do like the firm tart shell and creamy filling though. Price wise, rather taxing on the wallet. Definitely not somewhere you could patronize on a weekly basis.

Having heard and read quite a bit on the fruit tarts at Drips, I finally visited the café one Monday afternoon. The café is pretty simply decorated, a little hippie and slightly retro with high ceilings that gives the café a spacious feel.
I was looking forward to their special fruit tart, which was unfortunately sold out. I settled for the blackberry almond tart and the cherry brandy tart instead. The blackberry almond tart was the better of the two. With a great balance of tanginess of fresh blackberries and sweet, accompanied with a slightly crisp yet crumbly crust, it was absolutely delightful. The cherry brandy tart was a little less exciting and I found it a little too sweet.
The coffee there is not fantastic but is good enough to go along with their yummy tart!

Having quite a fair bit of searches for Drips on my blog, I can tell that this place is still quite a place of interest among Singaporeans. This is one of the last few shops to open up in Tiong Bahru before there was a lull (and now there’s Tiong Bahru Bakery) but Drips specializes in fruit tarts. That is very obvious. The shop space itself is very large, which is rare. It almost felt like there is too much space and not enough furniture!
The décor is once again vintage and retro inspired. Pretty decent ambiance. However when I visited this place on a Saturday afternoon they have also ran out of almost everything! Can’t nobody get some decent food nowadays at a café?
When we were about to leave however a fresh batch of tarts came out of the oven. They looked absolutely delicious! I might revisit to try them.

Drips is a nice cosy café in which to start your day off or to simply while the afternoon away in. It’s got quirky retro furniture and lots of light, and is a great place to hang out with friends or even to get some work done.
I love both hot and iced coffee beverages, and the tarts are delicious.
Prices are a tad on the high side for a café in Tiong Bahru, but it’s a lovely place nonethless.
There are also fun accessories like clutches and bags for sale.

An excellent place for tarts and other assorted desserts, Drips is located near Tiong Bahru market and is really more accessible than it actually looks. A five minute walk from Tiong Bahru MRT station is all it takes to enjoy the cosy indie café and should you drive, there’s ample parking lots to be had. So far, the service I’ve had is pretty top notch, considering there’s like only 2 or 3 staff (I’ve seen) that handles all the customers. Orders are swiftly taken and processed to keep wait times to a minimal and diners happy. The café is spacious and seating is spread out nicely, enabling you to have your own quiet little corner to just sit back and enjoy your desserts and drinks. So far, there are sandwiches for mains should you feel puckish, but they’re relatively cookie cutter and taste wise, nothing much to scream or rave about.

Wandering the increasingly hip streets around the insides of Tiong Bahru, I chanced upon what appeared to be a rather run-​of-​the-​mill café, so I walked in and it turned out to be anything but.
Maybe I exaggerate a little — there is nothing quite special about its interior — very modest, no real frills, but a typically modern clean look about it. Clearly the spotlight would be on their desserts.
I must admit to having been taken aback by the prices on display at the shop. Having just come from Tiong Bahru Bakery where I had a croissant for $ 2.50 (and what a croissant that was!), I was left quite confused when I found the price of a croissant at $ 4.50 here, and none of the cakes for anything less than $ 6, a little more than I felt prepared to. Nevertheless, I felt intrigued as to how a little café like this had planned to thrive in the Singapore’s increasingly saturated market with such high prices, so decided to give it a go.
I asked the man by the dessert counter what he would recommend if I was only going to get one thing and one thing only, and he was quick to point out that their signature dish was the mixed fruit tart ($ 7.80), so I duly asked for one before he could say another word.
On the walk to the back of the café to pick a table, I was captivated for a fair moments by a display of drip coffee by their coffee counter, a technique that I have found to be fairly trendy on my travels, but pretty rare in Singapore.
Back to the tart, and I guess you could say it was as good as it could get — pretty much perfect in fact, but genuinely nothing that really blew my mind. The tart was topped with such a generous castle of raspberries and blueberries, crowned with the most luscious of cherries, which was true to its deep colour. The berries were surprisingly sweet, especially when raspberries can often get pretty sour.
The tart was wonderfully made, not at all crumbly, but not rock hard either. This was filled in with a very consistent helping of custardy cream (or is it creamy custard?) that was not at all overly sweet.
As I said, this was as good as it gets, and if you’re willing to fork out to find your perfect fruit tart, you probably don’t need to look no further. I just didn’t feel, and maybe will never feel, like I would need to pay so much for dessert in a no-​frills café, and the simple man that I am would have been just as happy with the mixed fruit tart I’d find from the Delifrance around the corner from my house.

Best fruit tarts in town, hands down. Pastry chef Alfred Chan once baked in the kitchens of Shangri-​La, but prefers baking in the heartlands where he has the opportunity to interact with his customers. His years of expertise has made him a master in desserts, which led to the opening of Drips, a quaint café in the charming Tiong Bahru neighbourhood, to the benefit of us mortals who can’t afford to dine at Shangri-​La.
I am a big desserts fans (a girl always has stomach for sweets!), and fruit tarts are easily one of my most favourite form of after meal delights. I’ve always been a ice cream or cake kind of girl, until I discovered the fruit tarts at Drips. Sweet pastry shells are filled with delicious custard, then generously stacked with fresh fruits (the strawberries on their tarts are the biggest I’ve seen in Singapore). I don’t think my words will do the tastiness of these tarts justice. All I can say is, you don’t know fruit tarts until you’ve tried the ones at Drips. These precious tarts tend to run out quickly so I wish you all the best in coming at the right time.
The reason why I gave Drips four stars is because their mains are rather mediocre. I would suggest that you enjoy a cheap and hearty meal at Tiong Bahru market a few minutes’ walk away before coming here for dessert.