Wheeler’s Yard Cafe is Balestier area. It is a bicycle shop cum cafe. I find the entire setup very cool.
You will probably entered via the entrance at Lorong Ampas. From the look, as the doors were closed, there isn’t any obvious signs of operation, it might easily fooled you that it was closed. When you faced the blue metal door, turn to your right to look for the sign “This Way To The Bicycle Atelier” that is shown in my photo below.
Wheeler’s Yard occupied a considerable large area.
The entire buidling hold both the cafe and the bicycle shop.
There are three sections in Wheeler’s Yard Cafe, there are the Indoor Seats without aircon at the middle section and with both ends for the Al Fresco Seats and the Indoor Seats with aircon, each occupies one end.
The cafe has uncoordinated furnitures, very much everything goes. You can find retro furniture, community centre like tables and chairs, sofa seats, communal tables and some very interesting furniture.
Next come to the menu. A very important part of a cafe. They have three menu; one for drinks,
one for brunch served between 10.30am and 5pm
and one for dinner served from 6pm till last order.
You need to note that their kitchen closed between 5pm and 6pm daily.
The brunch menu is pretty extensive, you could find virtually every varieties, from breakfast items to pasta to burgers to main to salad to snacks.
Maybe the missing food item is soup and sandwiches, if you want to be picky and nasty. LOL.
I was actually looking for something lighter, something lighter than the burger, probably a sandwich was a good idea and I didn’t want to have breakfast food like eggs. Since they didn’t have sandwiches, I ordered the Beef Yard Burger and my favourite drink, Cappuccino.
There was a “W” sign of mayonnaise on the burger, so interesting. The beef patty has a strong beef flavour but I find it a little too bland though there were some coarse salt in the patty. When it was eaten with the caramelised onions, it tasted awesome. The caramelised onions has a sweetish taste when paired off with the beef simply bring out the beef flavour to the ultimate level. The fries were pretty normal though it was considered pretty delicious. What about the coffee? At first sip, my immediate reaction was “Wow, so bitter”, but with subsequent sip, somehow the bitterness was turned into caramel, nutty flavour and with more sips there were some hint of dark berries. The coffee has a pretty full body with a medium to low acidity. I would rate the coffee as pretty decent.
Overall experience was pleasant. The cafe ambience and decor was cool but it was a pity that it was operated fully on self service. I didn’t like the idea of having to collect my own order from the designated collection counter, especially the drink. My coffee was full to the brim as I wasn’t professional waitress therefore I was struggling to ensure that it does not spill. I certainly hope they could change the way of operation by serving the diners the food and drinks. I am fine with self order at the counter. With the self service, I didn’t find that the food came at a cheaper price. My conclusion, great food, great ambience, Wheeler’s Yard is certainly a good place to chill out with friends. If they could serve us the food and drink, it would be excellent.
Wheeler’s Yard
28 Lorong Ampas Singapore 328781
Tel: +65 6254 9128
Website: http://wheelersyard.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/wheelersyard
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Thursday, Sunday 1030 to 2200 (last order 2100); Friday – Saturday 1030 to 2300 (last order 10pm)
*kitchen closed daily from 1700 to 1800
Closed on Mondays
Getting There
By Bus:
- alight at Shaw Plaza or HMI Balestier Hospital along Balestier Road 21, 130,131, 145, 186
*Walk into Jalan Ampas and turn right into Lorong Ampas and the building is on your left.
Rating: 8/10