New in town: Heartland Nanyang-style cafe with mani cai mee hoon kueh & steamed kaya butter toast

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A couple of weeks back, our intern Norman, excitedly told me that a new eatery was opening around his hood at Avenue 4. We patiently waited and the moment it swung its doors open to the public, both of us made a beeline for Dongsheng Cafe.
There were flower stands outside, attracting many curious passersby and residents. We arrived on the second day of its opening. The signage was simple with a 'Nanyang coffee and toast' insignia on the side. CDC vouchers are also accepted here — woohoo!
The ambience of the place mimicked an old-fashioned kopitiam (but with aircon) fitted with retro-style tiles and no fanciful decors.
The local-centric menu is somewhat similar to those offered at mainstream Nanyang-style cafes. It features familiar favourites below S$8 without any embellishments. Let's dive into what we ate.
The with () (S$6.80) comes in dry and soup variants. We tried the dried version that comes with minced pork, ikan bilis, mani cai, poached egg, fishcakes, meat balls, and a fried beancurd pocket. The mee hoon kueh is made in-house and when orders come in, it's hand-torn on the spot.
The texture of the hand-torn 'kueh' wasn't floury and was nice and chewy. The seasonings at the bottom imparted savoury, fragrant notes while the disintegrated poached egg added creaminess to the noodles. The veggie's naturally-rough texture also gave a unique bite to the dish.
Kaya toast is pretty common everywhere but Steamed Toast with Butter (S$3.50)? Now, that's quite special. The 2 pieces were fitted snugly into a cute dim sum basket. The staff recommended that we consumed it within 30 seconds for maximum shiok-ness.
The bread was warm and fluffy, reminding me of the old-school white bread sold at neighbourhood bakeries. As soon as you sink your teeth in, you can taste the richness of the coconutty kaya and cold butter. The texture and contrast in temperature made it such a treat — I think I prefer this over the conventional grilled ones. We were told that they use Hainanese kaya which is made from 100% gula melaka.
If you would like a complete meal, you can order the Steamed Toast with Butter Set for S$5.50 that comes with 2 soft-boiled eggs and a choice of coffee o or teh o. Since the sun was blazing outside, we switched the beverage for a Dirty Ice Coffee (S$3.90 for ) by topping up an additional S$2.30.
The Chicken with (S$7.80) features blue pea rice, a glorious sunny side-up, ikan bilis, peanuts, and a chicken drumstick. Since it was just the second day, it's understandable that the kitchen team faced some teething issues as our plate didn't arrive with a piece of papadam (my takeaway order had it) and sambal.
Though the rice was fragrant with dominant notes of ginger, I wish that the coconut flavour was slightly stronger. The chicken drumstick, though, was cooked till wonderfully tender.
The last dish we had was the (S$6.80). All the usual suspects that you'd expect from this dish are present with an additional piece of fried beancurd skin.
The laksa was decent but if the gravy had been a tad more lemak, it would actually be a pretty solid bowl! But other than that, I had no complaints.
Dongsheng Cafe is just a short walk from Mayflower MRT Station exit 3, and a stone's throw away from Mayflower Market & Food Centre. Please show them some support and patronise them if you're around the area. Do note that they close by 5pm daily!
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