Celebrate SG60 With $0.60 Kopi, Dim Sum, and Kaya Toast Sets At Your Favourite Heartland Coffeeshops

Show your neighbourhood coffeeshop some love this SG60

What puts the “heart” in heartlands? An immediate answer might be the perseverance of kampung spirit. This enduring sense of togetherness is still found across the multicultural HDB estates across our little red dot, even if the ramshackle villages where this spirit took root are no longer around. But suppose you ask us, at Eatbook, the same question. In that case, we’ll point you to the humble neighbourhood coffee shops, where food and drink stalls fuel quotidian rituals, offering busy Singaporeans moments of respite and connection over good, affordable food.

This SG60, we’re turning our attention to the everyday spaces that quietly define us, like the humble coffeeshop. As we celebrate 60 years of nation-building, homegrown chains like Broadway Food Centre, Chang Cheng Mee Wah, Foodhub, Koufu, and Select Group are marking the occasion with special deals that honour their role in fueling our communities.

For many Singaporeans, a cup of kopi and a meal from a coffeeshop are so woven into our daily tapestry that we often forget how central—even essential—they are to local culture and history.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore

According to Lai Ah Heng’s essay, “The Kopitiam in Singapore”, street hawkers have been powering our island’s pioneers since the 19th century. These establishments were like social hubs where one could get affordable meals and a hot drink while on a break from work. The latter usually came from a makeshift sarabat stall, where tea-based drinks like teh halia were prepared by Indian and Pakistani immigrants.

In our early colonial days, coffee was not an everyman’s beverage—this would come about slightly later. Brought to Singapore by the British, coffee was reserved only for the upper classes, and brewed with expensive Arabica beans. It was only through the ingenuity of the Hainanese that coffee became a drink for the masses.

Image credit: National Archives of Singapore

The Hainanese arrived late to Singapore, with significant migration from the Hainan Islands happening in the latter half of the 1800s. Many lucrative blue-collar trades were taken up by other ethnic groups, so the Hainanese turned to domestic labour, working for British colonials as cooks.

This exposure to Western food culture, including coffee, laid the foundation for what would become Nanyang-style kopi, which reared its head at street-side drink carts and, from the early 20th century, in coffeeshops across the country.

In her Substack Singapore Noodles, local cookbook author Pamelia Chia shares that the Hainanese made kopi using the more affordable Robusta beans—roasted with margarine, then brewed through a sock filter into a long-necked kettle. This ingenious method transformed a colonial luxury into one of the nation’s most accessible caffeine fixes.

Today, the pairing of kopi with soft-boiled eggs and kaya toast has become the quintessential Singaporean breakfast. The latter two dishes also trace their roots to the Hainanese, who adapted the classic British breakfast of buttered toast with fruit jam and soft-boiled eggs using local ingredients and flavours. Instead of pricier berries, they used local coconuts to create the custardy kaya we know and love today. The ritual of enjoying this set in a bustling coffeeshop is more than just a meal, it’s a cultural touchstone.

With SG60, it’s time to toast to the places that make our country so special. After all, the theme for our nation’s 60th birthday is “Building Our Singapore Together”, and there are few better ways to put that into practice than to show some love to our city’s building blocks, like your neighbourhood coffeeshop.

In the spirit of celebration, participating Broadway Food Centre, Chang Cheng Mee Wah, Foodhub, Koufu, and Select Group outlets will be running special discounts on their kopi, teh, breakfast sets, small bites, and more.

Participating Broadway Food Centre outlets, for example, will offer a hot drink and a Big Pau for $1.60, or $0.60 cups of Kopi-O Kosong and Teh-O Kosong. This promotion is valid from now until 31 December 2025, from 7am to 11am daily.

Get the same drinks for $0.60 all day at Chang Cheng Mee Wah establishments islandwide, from now till 6 June 2025.

They also have an SG 60 Heritage Sips Bundle for $6, a promo that will run from 1 July to 31 August 2025, between 6am to 11am daily.

Each set comes with either a Kopi-O Kosong or Teh-O Kosong, kaya toast, and half-boiled eggs.

Present your PAssion Silver Card, Pioneer Card, or Merdeka Card at any participating Koufu outlet and enjoy a $0.60 cup of Kopi-O or Teh-O. This deal runs from now till 31 December 2025, from 3pm to 5pm daily.

At tea break from 1 May to 31 May 2025, bag a $0.60 discount when you buy four items from their steamed or fried dim sum range. Enjoy this deal from 2pm.

From 1 August to 9 August 2025, enjoy two Breakfast Sets for $6 total, from 8am to 11am.

So, as we celebrate SG60 and look forward to the future, let’s not forget the heartland spaces that have quietly nourished our nation for centuries. These deals are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to SG60 celebrations, offering countless opportunities to connect and reminisce with your fellow Singaporeans over the simple pleasures that have stood the test of time.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to the many local businesses who’ve stepped forward with generous discounts and offers to show their care and support for the community. As we mark this national milestone together, let’s continue to dine together, care for each other, and celebrate all things that make us uniquely Singaporean.