Sinmei Tea Room

Tea runs deep in the cultures of Japan and China. This is what attracted Sinmei Cheung to it.

Cheung has tearooms in Singapore and Hong Kong. Building on this experience, her cafe inside Scrumptious Reads offers a blissful combination of tea, cake and books.

Cheung specialises in matcha tea, turning it into lattes, green hot chocolates, virgin mojitos and all manner of baked goods. She also imports a selection of loose-leaf teas from China, including a 2003 vintage puerh, a rare oolong, jasmine pearls and zheng shan xioa zhong – the first tea to ever be exported out of China.

All loose-leaf teas are served in a traditional Chinese manner from a gai wan – a small porcelain bowl used for brewing tea.

A selection of herbal infusions and an all-day brunch menu rounds out the offering. More substantial eats include Hakka Thunder Tea Rice made with a matcha paste; vegetarian bibimbap; ribbon sandwiches; and fresh rice-paper rolls.

To end, the counter is topped with homemade matcha lamingtons, Earl Grey angel cake and matcha melting moments.