Straits Times Kopitiam

What a great place. We were staying in White Chapel during our trip to see the Bills play, and Straits Times Kopitiam immediately became our group’s stop every morning on the way to the tube. My favorite was the simple but amazing smoothie made with milk, avocado, and coconut sugar. I was so pleased to find something nutritious and filling that wasn’t based on flour.
Oh, but don’t worry — there were plenty of cakes, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and other «flour based» goodies for those looking for them! The service was great — the owner is so kind and focused on customer satisfaction. It only took her 2 days to begin to remember everyone’s order and we were genuinely sad to say goodbye on our last day. Definitely worth frequenting!

I love this relax little café place with home made cakes and lovely owner. Great coffee too. Perfect for a short fix on the way to work during the week, or a little newspapers read on the weekend.

Kopi = ‘coffee’ and Tiam = ‘shop’ in Chinese Dialect, Hokkien… spoken in Singapore too. A really sweet little coffee shop near Aldgate East and just opposite Whitechapel Gallery.
From their Facebook page it would seem they’ve been open while so quite surprised I’ve not noticed them till now! The staff are very friendly and attentive, frequently joking with their loyal regulars! Which is a great sign, if you know your customers well, means they’re visiting regularly! Though I only stopped for a quick coffee break, I really liked the fact that they have «Kopi-​C» on the menu, Asian Coffee with Condensed Milk, really does bring back happy memories visiting Malaysia & Singapore. Now that I have this place imprinted on my mental foodie map, I’ll always be sure to pop in when I’m in the area!

My new favourite local coffee place. It’s tiny and I love it it so much. The sandwiches, cakes, juices and coffees are delicious. The lady that runs it has a no nonsense warmth about her that is so endearing. There is something about her and the venue that makes me so desperately want it to succeed, which I am sure it will if the food is any guide.

So I’m gonna be totally honest — I love this little coffee shop/​café. I mean — I really really love it!
Reasons: Delicious selection of drinks, salads, sandwiches, bread types and cakes. Including fruit and crisps.
I happened upon here on one of my lunchtime walks and picked up a smoked salmon with cream cheese and rocket on onion bread. I took it to my office and oh my — it was so good. I went back a week later, then the next week where I also picked up a brownie — which is now in my top ten of brownies (I have a top ten — one or two my be my own creation!). So I told my boyfriend and we decided to drive there one Saturday (from Kent!!!). I had the same, he had a chicken and mango salad on a seeded roll. We both had that brownie and a slice of pineapple cake. Yup — still amazing.
I just love it. Really friendly ladies behind the counter, everything is fresh and you see it put together in front you. Cakes are a mixture of brought in and made, but they have done extensive tasting on the brought in cakes. There are plenty of salad and sandwich options — oh, they also serve breakfast. They will adapt something to your tastes.
Love it!

I enjoy visiting this sweet little sandwich shop near Aldgate East station, just at the southern end of Brick Lane on Whitechapel Road. As you walk in, it immediately hits you that something is different from a standard sandwich shop. First of all, the products on display look quite a bit better than most, and the board on the wall is massive. There are so many possibilities, and in addition to the friendly and competently excellent service, I think working my way through the choices on offer is what’s kept me coming back.
Its unusual name has to do with the name of the trade route near Singapore, which is where the owner hails from. And the word «kopitiam» has something to do with coffee, I believe.
So far I’ve tried several sandwiches, mainly based on olive loaf bread or the delicious wholegrain bread. The smoked salmon was delicious, as was the ham and cheese. I’ve also taken coffee to go when I’m in a hurry to jump on the tube.
In the morning, I’ve seen people pop in for a quick breakfast, and even seen someone take out a bowl of breakfast porridge.
Although I haven’t done so, it looks like a great place to sit and work or read for a while, and they even had a copy of Monocle magazine on one of the tables, which I found unusual but not surprising.
As mentioned, there’s so much to still taste — I’ll be back for more.

This is a really sweet little café. The staff are super friendly and seem to really care about what they’re doing. I popped in today for a coffee and a bagel when I saw that they served bagels with homemade cinnamon butter. That’s right: homemade cinnamon butter, dripping off a toasted bagel on a miserable October morning. It was every bit as delicious as it sounds.

Across from the Whitechapel Gallery you’ll find this adorable newly opened café. I have literally walked past here a thousand times as it’s conveniently located a few feet from one entrance to Aldgate East station. Today I finally stopped in.
The menu is huge, the blackboard spans the whole length of the wall with various breakfast and lunch options, especially sandwiches and wraps. The drinks menu is small and limited to a corner on the left side which tells me this is more of a place to eat than to drink. There is only one grinder with no label of where the beans are from, further indicating this is not trying to be an artisan coffee shop. The brownies they have on the counter look so tempeting but since my mission was to try their coffee I just order a flat white.
There are two large tables in the back of the café and they offer free wifi (password is on the blackboard under the menu). With tons of space to spread out, this seems like it would be a great spot to work while having lunch.
Since I live so close and pass by this place everyday I had high hopes it would become my new spot to grab coffee on my way to work. Though I may not be coming here for the coffee, I will come back for their pasteries. Judging from their facebook page they seem to rotate their selection of baked goods and all of them look delicious.