A new cafe with quite an interesting name has opened in Jalan Besar. Average Service isn’t exactly the name you would expect an F&B joint to adopt, especially in a demanding environment like Singapore.
Far From Average
But, as you guessed, the new Jalan Besar cafe is far from average. Even from the interior, they’ve included areas called conversation pits that can be used for skill-based creative workshops and community-driven events in the future.
There’s even bar seating near the open kitchen to encourage interaction between guests and the culinary team.
The opening hours are also far from average. The spot is open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. (yes, you read that right), making it perfect for those who want coffee in the wee hours of the morning or night. However, the kitchen is only open from 11am to 9pm.
Average Service Menu
The menu includes brunch classics like pasta and pastries, as well as beverages like coffee, matcha, and innovative tea-based cocktails. At night, they also serve bar bites.
Here are some items we tried:
For starters, we had the Bread & Butter ($12), which is great for sharing. The presentation was on point, showcasing sliced sourdough toast with a medley of homemade butter. There’s a chilli butter infused with house-made chilli oil and fish sauce, a decadent truffle butter and our personal favourite, the furikake butter.
Pastry-wise, we tried the scallion croissant ($7), inspired by Taiwanese scallion pancakes. It was flaky and buttery, but we did hope for a stronger scallion fragrance.
The Average Chilli Egg Toast ($20) comes with creamy Australian-style eggs with a drizzle of homemade chill oil alongside cubes of feta cheese that add a nice punch of saltiness with each bite.
If you want something heftier, they have a version served with a 180g slab of maple-glazed bacon on top of Australian-style eggs and a slice of brioche sourdough. For these 2 dishes, we thought they could’ve been paired with a small side of salad for better balance.
The Average Rice with Grilled Salmon ($24) is our pick for something heartier and more wholesome. It’s not your average bowl of rice. Instead, it’s made with a blend of red rice, couscous, and barley, which makes each bite texturally interesting. The salmon was cooked well and wasn’t too dry for our liking.
Don’t miss out on the Mentai Handkerchief Pasta ($24) which feature custom made sheets of handkerchief pasta coated in a creamy, housemade mentaiko sauce. The texture and flavours of this dish were *chef’s kiss*
Desserts at Average Service Jalan Besar
Our favourite dish from Average Service is their Maple Toast ($16), which features a caramelised honey toast baked and torched to perfection. It’s topped with homemade whipped cream and served with maple syrup.
The toast is slightly crunchy on the outside, while fluffy on the inside. The torched exterior added a nice burnt caramel flavour to the whole dish, and while it did feel sweeter than usual desserts, it was palatable and enjoyable.
They also offer cakes in custom cube shapes, such as the Strawberry Shortcube ($13) and the Hazelnut Valrhona Chocolate Cube ($13).
Drinks at Average Service
The drinks menu here is fairly extensive, with items like coffee, tea-based cocktails and mocktails, ceremonial grade matcha, and cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juices.
Fun fact: they use their own blend of beans from Brazil and Guatemala!
They have the usual coffee drinks, but we really enjoyed the Yuan Yeung ($8) made using oolong tea, milk and espresso.
Other more unique drinks include a Strawberry Cold Foam Matcha Latte ($7.50), a Baby Blu Matcha Latte ($7.50) and Caffe Shakerato ($7.50).
Average Service
315 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208973
Mon-Sun, 8am-12am, Kitchen open from 11am-9pm
