House Downstairs is a new café that’s, ironically, not located below some houses. It’s a misleading name for a place that’s located at the entrance of Ulu Pandan community centre—more “community centre downstairs”.
Regardless of name, it’s really nothing like the typical Singaporean house. House Downstairs is housed in a beautiful minimalist space dyed in white and wood tones, reminiscent of décor at Apartment.
The space is not just “instagrammable”, but also a vivid realisation of the best of Kinfolk and Pinterest’s understated aesthetics.
It’s a decently-sized café that can seat 42 people, and the cosy atmosphere would make you feel more at home than at house downstairs.
While the décor makes House Downstairs look like a typical café, the menu is anything but. Built on an “East meets West” concept, the menu is an adventurous mishmash of both halves of the globe.
For the “East” aspect, the most frequently featured one has to be their House Signature Craygee (S$18). Essentially a pao fan, it’s cooked with short-grained rice and served grilled Feiji Prawns and crayfish.
Besides that, they also have put some quirky spins on popular dishes in the region. For example, the Laksa Goreng (S$16) is a combination of laksa and mee goreng, while the Gochujang Chicken with Rice (S$16) is prepared like a stew.
If you’re less adventurous, classics like the Homemade Scallion Pancake (S$6) and Mantous with Sweet Sambal Sauce (S$16) are also on the menu.
Moving on to the “West” aspect, House Downstair’s menu becomes a bit more toned down. But no one’s going to complain about the time-tested brunch choices such as the hearty Morning BB (S$20) breakfast platter or the Smashed Avo on Sourdough (S$14).
If you’re looking for something lighter, there’s also a sandwich section. The Bacon, Egg & Cheese Sandwich (S$10) is the most popular one, mainly for its crispy, flaky croissant.
House Downstairs may be another gorgeously-decorated new café but it has a bit more than style going on for it. It’s not often you get local fusion twists in a café not in the gimmicky “salted egg chilli crab” vein. With the nice ambiance and creative ideas, House Downstairs is surely a place to look out for.
HOUSE DOWNSTAIRS
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???? 170 Ghim Moh Rd, #01-03 Ulu Pandan CC, Singapore 279621
????️ 10am–5pm (Daily)
The guy who will go on a 30 minute monologue about artisan coffee when you ask if they want Starbucks.