Other than Xin Tekka Food Hall, one other space to look out for at the revamped (and somewhat quiet) Tekka Place is TRYna Café.
“TRYna” located on the 2nd storey of the mall does appear to be an unconventional name, which implies “trying to”.
It was set up by three friends who conceptualised the idea, gathered the funds, designed and built the set-up all within 10 days.
10 days.
Interesting point to note that all of their furniture was designed and made from scratch by Alexis Interior Pte Ltd, specifically for this cafe.
It was meant for a pop-up concept, therefore the light wood furniture can be easily dismantled and transported.
In terms of food and drinks, they partner with various local start-ups such as bakeries and cold brew businesses. (On a side note, I really hoped the owners did some proper calculations on food costing, profit margins and such.)
Desserts available on a rotational basis include Matcha Crepe Cake ($8), Baileys Crepe Cake ($8), Lychee Rose Cheesecake ($7.50) and various Tartlets ($6.50) in flavours of dark chocolate, matcha, mango, lemon meringue, classic fruits and cheese brulee.
The cakes are supplied from Taira Pastry, the pastry arm of 7th Heaven KTV and Café at Tampines.
The Lychee Rose Cheesecake ($7.50) came expectedly with a delicate floral fragrance, and people may like the contrast between the pink-jelly top contrasted with the richer cheesecake bottom – somewhat like Jelly Hearts.
I much preferred the 8-cm Mango Tartlet ($6.50), which had light creamy custard topped with fresh mango arranged to look like petals on a flower.
They managed to get the sweetness just right, though I wished that the tart base was more buttery and less dry – perhaps storage issues.
There is also a selection of cold brew coffees and tea supplied by Candour Coffee and Made Cold, with choices from Earl Grey Latte, Matcha Latte, Peach Oolong, Lychee Oolong, Japanese Sencha, Ruby Tuesday, Hojicha and Black Coffee.
To value-add the experience, TRYna Cafe offers free paint and canvas set-up for customers with minimum spending of $20 to paint (with an air purifying paint) and unleash their artistic talents at the space.
Whether a café that ‘gathers’ from various suppliers will work out or not, let’s not comment about for now. I think we got to give some credit to three young people for wanting to try it out, and hopefully gain some valuable working and life experiences.
TRYna Cafe
Tekka Place, 2 Serangoon Road, #02-36/37, Singapore 218227 (Rochor MRT Station Exit B)
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 7pm (Mon – Sun)
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