Bulletproof Coffee @ Heap Seng Leong Kopitiam ☕ Singapore's Time Warp Coffee Shop

Decadent kopi gu you (butter coffee). Image credit: With thanks to Edde Edeleden Chan

Kopitiam or coffee shops are ubiquitous in the Singapore heartland (and in Malaysia). In Singapore, almost all have kept up with the times except for a precious few like Heap Seng Leong 協勝隆 (at Blk 10 North Bridge Road) that exists in a strange time warp.

Blk 10 North Bridge Road

There are about 1,200 coffee shops at the ground level of Housing & Development Board flats. There will be less, not more of such kopitiam as the Singapore government is no longer building such ground floor coffee shops for long term lease.

Heap Seng Leong is like a rare specimen of an endangered species.

It's a nondescript, unembellished shop front except for that traditional black and gold carved calligraphy signboard overhead.

Stepping inside, it felt dark because of the blazing sun and heat outside. The small cluttered space is cooled by whirling creaky ceiling fans and lit by naked fluorescent tubes. Decor is non existent - not even minimalist. There was a time we didn't concern ourselves with aesthetics.

Heap Seng Leong is run by Mr Shi Pong Shu (right) and his son Shi Ting Chow. The elder Mr Shi is always seen in his signature green & white stripe pyjama pants, white singlet and rubber slippers (flip flops). Nowadays with (and after) the Covid-19 pandemic, they have their masks on.

The elder Mr Shi is Hock Chew (Fuzhounese) and came to Singapore from China at age 12 in the 1930s.

The Shis had been running this coffee shop since 1974 but it is actually older than that. The Shis bought over this coffee shop from its previous Hainanese owner, the Heaps 協 (hence, the coffee shop name Heap Seng Leong).

For nearly 50 years, the Shis have been toasting bread over charcoal, poaching eggs, and making traditional Nanyang coffee with sock and long throat kettle (some are served in the few surviving floral cups).



So, every six months right....., I will be photographing uncle Shi as he goes nonchalantly about his daily routine. When I think he has warmed up enough to this annoying whoever, I will sheepishly ask "Boss, please may you turn to look at me (i.e. the camera)". Uncle Shi will always turn to face the other side instead 😂 Then, I will melt away and quietly disappear through the back door (leading to the hawker centre next door 😂). Come back 6 months later. Wash, rinse and repeat 😅

So, you think blogger life very good ah?

(Update 2025: The elder Mr. Shi has retired and his son is now helming the shop, making the kopi, toast and eggs, with a helper.)



Heap Seng Leong doesn't have a fancy menu - it serves just the bare essentials - no, it's the "trinity of Nanyang kopitiam". Different variants of traditional Nanyang coffee, kaya & butter toasts and poached eggs. (There's also a Malay food stall serving epok epok.)

Kopi gu you or coffee with butter is the hottest thing here. It's either kopi (coffee with milk) or kopi O (black coffee) with a slice of butter thrown in.

The bitter Robusta coffee sweetened either with condensed milk / evaporated milk / sugar is given a layer of buttery savoury flavour which makes the bitter-sweet jolting caffeine fix more appealing. The butter also adds body and greasy slick to the coffee. The aroma of melted butter and hot coffee is the scent of the good ol days, a blast from the past.

It is fun to poke around Heap Seng Leong and find little reminders of a more laid back, if leaner past. At HSL, they still pack takeaway coffee in used milk tins. The flap is literally razor sharp but we keep our fingers and lips out of harm's way.

Photo by Wilson Wong

No tone leh.... .

Today, we take mobile phones for granted. Back in the 1970s, only better off families even have telephones at home. Many relied on the coin operated payphone at the coffee shop, when they need to telephone somebody.

The Shis still tally the bills with an abacus (ancient Chinese calculator).

There are still a couple of these iconic kopitiam round marble top tables at Heap Seng Leong. The wooden back chairs didn't survive and were replaced by stackable plastic stools and chairs.

Singapore kopitiam scene 1963. Image credit: National Archives Singapore

There was a time people rely on the wall clocks at the kopitiam to tell the time as not everyone had a wrist watch. Yes, it is true that we take many things for granted nowadays.

What other things in old coffee shops remind you of the good ol days?

History of Singapore kopitiam coffee shops 👈 click

They also have bulletproof coffee in Kuching, Sarawak

Restaurant name: Heap Seng Leong 協勝隆
Address: 10 North Bridge Rd, #01-5109, Singapore 190010
Nearest MRT station: Lavender (East West Line)
Tel: +65 6292 2368
Hours: 7:00am - 5:00pm

No pork, no lard, no Halal cert

 

Date visited: 7 Aug 2020

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