Toby’s Estate, Singapore

Coffee is braving the throngs though you are loathe to do so.

On a balmy weekend morning, we visit Toby’s Estate, an Australian café situated at Robertson Quay in Singapore. Just like its headquarters in Sydney, this coffee hotspot draws in the crowds. Even though it is still early, most of the outdoor tables are already packed.

After a brief wait, our server seats us at the window bar. We sit on high stools looking at the human traffic outside. Inside the central communal table has hungry diners elbow-to-elbow.

There are white murals on black-coloured walls (it’s also their menu); a roaster and bags of coffee in one corner. The smell of roasted beans being ground and then brewed is intoxicating.

Sunlight spills in through the ceiling-high windows; the natural lighting is stirring. Our coffees arrive. The long black, dark and serviceable.

We also have a single origin drip, which comes in a small jug and goblet. This is certainly a first. The brew is mellow-tasting, slightly acidic. It goes well with our eggs Benedict.

Though the people come and go, we linger, watching the river and the faces disappearing, chatting happily over our cups of coffee. Unwittingly, an entire morning slips away this way, happily.

Toby’s Estate，一家坐落在Robertson Quay的澳式咖啡館。
和悉尼那的總店一樣，慕名而來的人潮非常多。
我們到訪時正值週末，連戶外那的幾張桌子都已經座無虛席。
等了一會兒后，侍應生將我們安排在落地窗前的高腳椅那。
在等待咖啡得當兒，細細觀察了這家咖啡館。
中央的黑色墻上繪了壁畫，同時也是菜單。
左邊的一角放置了烘焙機和那一袋一袋的豆子；
自家烘焙的豆子，總是吸引著人們的目光。
而右邊則是他們的人氣商品售賣區，
從咖啡豆到T-shirt，從咖啡壺到杯子，應有盡有。

陽光從落地窗灑了進來，室內裡頭一片明亮。
點了long black和一杯單品。
這還是頭一遭用高腳杯來喝單品咖啡。
香醇的口感，帶點微酸。
如果是單喝咖啡；再淺些，我會更愛。
不過拿來當早餐咖啡，配著班尼迪蛋一起吃，那就剛好。
雖然店裡頭人潮不斷，可是坐在窗前的我們卻依然感覺悠閒自在；
邊喝咖啡，邊看著河畔來往的人群，然後有一搭沒一搭的聊著。
一個上午就這樣不知不覺的溜走了。