Knockhouse Café located at the heart of Upper Thomson has recently rebranded itself with a brand-new colour, interior and menu.
From blue to green.
Perhaps you have not been to this part of Singapore for a while (like years) and still remember this cafe as “Pacamara”. Yup, it was previously formed by the team behind Oz Specialty Coffee and their Thai counterparts.
The name “Knockhouse” comes from the action of ‘knocking’ which is associated with the sound of our barista team utilising the knock box during the coffee preparation process.
I was slightly surprised there was no much social media buzz on the renewal.
Perhaps café hoppers are really spoilt for choices in this hood, from the securely-popular Columbus Coffee Co., to newer names of State of Affairs, Oaks Coffee Co. and Hello Arigato all within walking distance from one another.
Even with the new look, there is still that contemporary almost-minimalist vibes, sleek white interior with green as its other main colour, and barista bar.
With natural daylight coming in with the ceiling-to-floor windows, it makes an instagrammable and comfortable venue to sip on your cuppa and have some brunch.
This is quite a homely space for hearty brunch items featuring Breakfast Platter ($24), Buns & Eggs ($12), Egg Florentine ($19), Duck Confit Hash ($22), Steak & Egg ($23) and Shrooms on Toast ($19).
While it still seems like your typical western-style café, there are additions of Japanese-style food as well.
Other than more typical choices of Chicken Katsudon ($13), Chicken Katsu Curry ($14.50), Cha Soba ($12), and Buta Kanuki ($16) which is braised pork belly on noodle or Japanese rice.
There is also more unusual choice of Gyu Tongue Steak ($25) of wagyu beef tongue with wasabi and green chilli miso. Interesting.
If you prefer nibbles, there are Japanese ‘Tapas’ items of Shiro Ebi Gobo Karrage ($16) which are white shrimps with burdock, Tori Karage ($10), Tako Satsuma-age ($13) – deep-fried handmade octopus fish cake.
We got a safer choice of Mentaiko Fries ($12) for sharing.
While we wished there was more mentaiko sauce in proportion to the shoe-string fries, we were glad there was real mentaiko (rather than a generic factory-style mentai-mayo) which packed that seafood essence.
With options of Crème Brulee ($9), Milk Pudding ($7) and rotational choices of sliced cakes, we went for the French Roast ($13) with salted caramel, seasonal fruits and ice cream.
They used to have a more show-stopping Salted Pear and Gula Melaka French Toast, though they switched to a more straight-forward version.
There was that pleasant caramelisation with fluffy bread, but the overall presentation and ingredient components appeared more basic.
A place with great vibes, would be keen to try out more of the newer range of food in future.
Knockhouse Cafe
185 Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574333
Opening Hours: 9am – 10pm (Mon – Tues, Thurs – Sun), Closed Wed
Other Related Entries
State of Affairs (Upper Thomson)
SOD Café (Upper Thomson)
PocoLoco (Upper Thomson)
State of Affairs (Upper Thomson)
Oaks Coffee Co. (Upper Thomson)
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