Café Gyoen, once a viral sensation in Serangoon Gardens for its Tokyo subway-inspired bathroom, has found a new home in Maxwell. While the original outlet drew crowds with its uncanny resemblance to a Japanese train station—complete with ‘directions’ to the Oedo and Ginza lines—the café was equally known for its comforting teishoku sets featuring tamago, miso soup, and mini onigiris. However, after less than a year, the café announced it would be vacating the Serangoon space due to an unsustainable rent hike. Its last day of operations at the original location is June 7.
Thankfully, the café isn’t closing its doors entirely. As of May 1, it has reopened as a rebranded specialty matcha and coffee bar on Club Street, right in the heart of town. The new Maxwell outlet introduces a fresh aesthetic, trading the previous all-white look for warm wooden tones and leather seating. A standout feature is the bar counter, where customers can watch baristas hand-whisk matcha. Highlights include the matcha flight, which features three types of matcha from Kagoshima, Mie, and Uji, along with take-home tins. For those less familiar with the robust flavour of matcha, the menu offers sweetened options like strawberry matcha and a variety of iced matcha drinks, as well as coffee.
The revamped food menu brings in new dishes such as softshell crab egg mayo focaccia sando, spicy rosé ebi udon, and wagyu don with onsen egg. Longtime fans will be pleased to know that the teishoku sets remain a mainstay, now with eight different protein choices including Hokkaido pork, softshell crab, and wagyu hamburg. Both the new Club Street and original Serangoon Gardens outlets will operate simultaneously until June 7, offering patrons a last chance to visit the café’s much-loved first home before the transition is complete.
