Lola's Cafe (Simon Road)

Lola's Cafe on Simon Road is a neighbourhood café in Kovan, in the north-east of Singapore. It serves brunch, comfort food, coffee and cakes, with a separate dinner menu in the evening.

Foo Choo Kiat and June Tan, who both studied at Singapore Management University, opened it in 2013. This first outlet was refitted in 2023, after ten years here. Lola's now also has cafés in Holland Village and Tampines Mall.

What to order

Lola's calls its food honest comfort cooking, and says much of it is best eaten by hand. The starters are good for sharing. The honey paprika crispy wings have been on the menu since the early years. Truffle fries and nacho cheese tater tots are other easy picks.

Brunch runs from the morning into the afternoon. Good choices include:

• Crab cake benedict: a crab and prawn cake on an English muffin with poached eggs.
• Shakshuka: eggs poached in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, with sourdough.
• Tsukune sando: a brioche sandwich with a chicken tsukune patty and Japanese-style omelette.
• Mushroom grilled cheese sandwich: a meat-free choice on buttered sourdough.

A few mains are served all day, such as the spicy tomato crab rigatoni and a miso salmon grain bowl. In the evening, the dinner menu adds dishes like battered fish and chips, mushroom and ricotta ravioli, Tuscan seafood stew and duck leg confit with truffle mash.

Save room for dessert. Cakes and tarts include lemon meringue tart, black sesame tart, carrot cake and lemon basil cheesecake. There are also waffles with ice cream. The house coffee is roasted by Dutch Colony Co, and there is a seasonal bean too.

The setting

The café is on Simon Road, a residential street in Kovan. After the 2023 refit, the room has soft curved lines and earthy, terracotta-toned colours, like the Holland Village branch. Tables come in different sizes, so it works for a couple or a larger group.

Good to know before you go

• Bookings: the café takes reservations through its website.
• Children: there is a kids' meal menu for under-12s, with dishes such as chicken and mash.
• Vegetarians: the menu marks vegetarian dishes, including the truffle fries, shakshuka and mushroom and ricotta ravioli.
• Cakes to go: cakes and catering are sold through a separate online shop.

Find more ideas in our cafés and coffee guides.

Getting there

Kovan MRT station is about a five-minute walk away. Kovan is on the North East Line, so you can get here from Chinatown or Little India without changing trains. Our guide to the Singapore heartlands explains what these neighbourhoods are like.

Nearby

For a hawker dinner, Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Serangoon Gardens is a short taxi ride away. Further north-east, Punggol Waterway Park is a pleasant place for a walk or bike ride. Browse more cafés and bakeries, or see all places to eat in Serangoon and Punggol.