If you’re still contemplating whether to pay a visit to the iconic Bukit Timah Railway Station, a meal at 1932 Story Cafe should be good enough reason to start planning your visit.
For the uninitiated, 1932 Story Cafe is a 1930s-themed cafe which has found its home in what used to be the Railway Staff Quarters at the Bukit Timah Railway Station. Apart from dishing up some pretty decent cafe fare, diners would also get to enjoy the nostalgic decorations and train memorabilia around the cafe. Best of all, 1932 Story Cafe does not charge GST.
Being the only dining option at the Bukit Timah Railway Station, 1932 Story Cafe can experience reasonably heavy foot traffic during weekends especially when the weather is good. Thankfully for us, we visited 1932 Story Cafe on a drizzly Saturday morning so the cafe was only about 50% occupied.
1932 Story Cafe offers diners the option to dine indoors or outdoors. Those who dine outdoors will get to enjoy the greenery (and a healthy does of Vitamin D), and those who dine indoors will get to enjoy the cafe’s tasteful nostalgic decor.
When you first step into 1932 Story Cafe, you will feel as if you’ve stepped into someone’s personal museum. The selection and placement of all decoration pieces felt intentional, and we especially loved the feature of the old-school ticket station in the center of the cafe — such a statement piece.
To pass the time when waiting for your meal, you can wander to the rear of 1932 Story Cafe to have a tour of their heritage gallery. Here, you’d find plenty of train memorabilia including an old railway telephone and tickets from the former KTM railway.
Apart from the usual coffee and tea offerings, 1932 Story Cafe carries a range of specialty drinks for the adventurous such as the Charred Smoke Latte (S$6) and Rose Latte (S$6). But for those visiting with young children, you can order as per what we did — a Piccolo (S$4.50) for dad, Matcha Latte (S$5.50) for mom and a Babycino (S$2.50) for the toddler.
What is brunch without some poached eggs? We ordered 1932 Story Cafe’s rendition of the eggs benedict — the Eggs Benedict & Honey Chicken Ham with Sourdough Bread (S$15.90).
On balance, we thought that 1932 Story Cafe did a pretty good job with the dish. The sourdough bread was lightly toasted and the poached eggs had an adequately runny yolk. That said, we thought that the Hollandaise sauce was slightly underwhelming and would have preferred for the sauce to have a slightly stronger egg flavour.
If you’re keen to sample their local delights, we would definitely recommend ordering the Sesame Ball with Ground Peanut Filling (S$3.90 for 3 pieces). The sesame balls were freshly fried and the peanut filling was rather tasty.
Waffles are one of the best things to enjoy at a cafe. At 1932 Story Cafe, you can enjoy the Belgian Waffle (S$6) which comprises 2 pieces of waffles drizzled with honey and icing sugar. Whilst there wasn’t anything outstanding about the waffles, the waffles were crispy, light and fluffy.
1932 Story Cafe
1005 Bukit Timah Road,
Singapore 596121
Tel: +65 8766 4223