A compact 15-seater on the second level of Hong Lim Complex, Bullock Cart Coffee situated just a few minutes away from Hong Lim Market & Food Centre. The name Bullock Cart Coffee is derived from ‘Niu Che Shui’, the Chinese name for Chinatown which translates to ‘bullock cart water’ in English. Bullock Cart Coffee has a simple menu with classic offerings of Espresso, Black Coffee, White Coffee and Taro Latte. The cafe uses Arabica beans from local roastery Cowpresso and for nibbles, there are pastries sourced from local bakery-cafe Bread Yard.
The duo who runs this little venue are Esmond Toon and his mum, Mary Chan. Mother and son decided to open the cafe together as it has always been their dream to set up a business. Neither Mary nor Esmond had any F&B experience going into this – Esmond has a Bachelor of Science degree in banking and finance at the University of Essex, before working as a consultant at two Fintech firms — the first for one and a half years, the second for two months, before he got retrenched. He shares that he “was laid off during the tech layoff season in May 2023, so [he] decided to take this opportunity to start a cafe”. Meanwhile, Mary quit her job as a Procurement and Sourcing Manager at a shipping and logistics company to join the venture, “since her kids (she has an older daughter) are grown-ups now, and she had enough savings to do something she always wanted to do”.