Strangers’ at Work

This place takes ages to find! But it is a lovely quiet café hidden in the depths of the Arcade of Raffles — an unexpected pleasure in this old school meandering shopping «corridor».
I missed the magic coffee (always my first choice) however had a good flat white. Not anything to shout about, but good quality and worth coming back to.
A good place for a quiet meeting with decent coffee that is not the standard commercial stuff that is in the area (but make sure you give them directions!)
Tap water is hep yourself which is always a good thing.

Oh, ho, ho
It’s magic! You know…
Never believe it’s not soooooooooo.
Strangers at Work have the Magic on the menu. Previously believed to have been invented in Melbourne, Australia, it was more-​than-​likely stolen from this place, and taken back to Melbourne where some hipster doofus started bashing on about how he’s come up with the idea of putting milk over a double ristretto base — and because it is so amazing he’s going to call it the magic.
Because I prefer my coffee milkless, I had the Magic sans milk, which meant that it was just a double ristretto. It was smooth, wonderfully rich and pure, and had that roasty punch that a good coffee should. I’m going to dub it the Sleight of Hand!

I’m updating my review and deducting 2 stars in the process as I feel that standards have dropped quite a bit. Quality control and consistency is lacking — different amounts of milk used for the same drink ordered, depending on the day and the barista making the coffee. The milk is sometimes merely lukewarm and gets cold very quickly. But the nail in the coffin was when the lid of the coffee cup was not closed properly by the barista and my colleague had coffee on his white shirt, pants and shoes when he drank from the cup. No apologies from the barista who swiftly proceeded to take the order from the next customer instead. And this was in the morning before work. Needless to say, that was an awful start to work. For all these reasons, regrettably, I will not be making this place my regular joint anymore but will probably still drop by from time to time to see if standards have improved.

Consistently good and comforting. It’s a tiny counter, Yen seems to be there everyday, usually 2 people on duty. Serious but with a smile. I rate the coffees. Get the loyalty card, 6 chops gets you a free drink. Magic is a double ristretto flat white but the volume of milk seemed to be more like a piccolo. I generally go for flat whites or lattes (depending on how full I am) for that extra bit of length in comfort. Ask for latte art (I ask if there’s no queue) and they’re happy to oblige. It’s $ 4.90 a drink. Brought my work friend there twice and she enjoyed her mocha then ice latte. She even made a comment about how she might be getting used to drinking coffee without sugar since Cindy kept bringing her there.*facepalm*
I try.
Easy in easy out. The setup is no frills, just order your coffee and imbibe. It works for a quick decompress between that dreaded thing known as work.
No seats though but if they’re not busy I stand and chat or sit outside the building on the grass edge. Sunshine — free!