The Hainan Story Coffee House Tampines Mall

10/10 – Not Recommended Tried this place expecting Hainanese delight, but it felt more like Hainan Dein (海南癫). The mushroom soup? You could make a better one at home. Toast was just okay. Pasta? A hard no. Have you try your own food? Do you know how hard to swallow? Totally unpalatable. The only thing vaguely enjoyable was the Pandan Swiss roll. Even with a 15% discount, I wouldn’t come back. Overall, 1/10. Totally not worth it. Oh ya, the place and seat is comfortable, no ppl no queue no need wait. Probably the reason why.

Hainan Story offers a mix of hits and misses. I enjoyed the tomato spaghetti with fried chicken, which was well-prepared. However, the Scottish pork chop was bland and lacked proper marinade, which made the meat quite uninteresting. On the brighter side, the avocado bread was awesome and a must-try. Unfortunately, the service leaves much to be desired. I was initially given the wrong dish, which didn’t include the chicken chop. After it was replaced, the meal still lacked consistency in portion with huge amount of chicken chop. Customers are expected to find seats themselves and self-service to collect their food after making kiosk payments. The place is quite small and cramped with lots of tables and chairs, leading to a chaotic atmosphere. It was a bit of a challenge to navigate and find a spot amidst the crowd. As a newly opened restaurant, I think they need some time to fix these issues and improve their service, including better meal prep procedures to ensure consistent portions and taste. However, I will come back again for the avocado bread. 🇸🇬

I recently had the opportunity to dine at Hainan Story, and unfortunately, my experience left much to be desired, especially considering the price tag. Starting with the avocados toast — priced at around $8 — I found it to be underwhelming. The bread was standard white where you can get it from the supermarket, lacking any notable toasting or crunch, topped with a thin layer of overly ripened avocado. The accompanying egg mayo was tasteless and added little to the dish, making it feel more like an overpriced snack than a satisfying starter. The white beehoon was another disappointment. Priced at nearly $20, the plate consisted of just a few clams, some thinly sliced chicken, peanuts, and a handful of garnishes. The dish was surprisingly bland, with each component lacking seasoning and depth of flavor. For the price, I expected a more robust and well-rounded taste profile, but instead, it felt like a missed opportunity to showcase the cuisine's potential. On a positive note, the curry chicken and coffee did stand out. The curry was rich, flavorful, and well-spiced—just the right amount of heat without overpowering the other elements. The coffee was thick, aromatic, and expertly brewed, providing a much-needed highlight to the meal. In summary, Hainan Story seems to prioritize presentation and ambiance over value and quality. While some items like the curry chicken and coffee are commendable, the overall experience was marred by overpriced, small portions and average taste. For those seeking authentic flavors or generous servings, there are certainly better options elsewhere at more reasonable prices.

I would start out by giving my compliments to the other dishes that we ordered. It came as the pictures and were decent portion as well, furthermore, taste wise was still acceptable considering its reasonable price. The $5.80 sausage was nice too but definitely for sharing. However, what was NOT reasonable was their Hainanese Scottish Pork Chop. It was such a huge disappointment. First problem at hand, the restaurant RAN OUT of the ingredients (coleslaw and baked beans were missing, refer to pictures). I recieved the pork chop and was shocked to see the thinnest smallest slab of meat I have ever seen from a “pork chop” dish. I asked the staff on floor, and she could told me they ran out of the baked beans and the white radish they were serving now was part of a “new menu” and it was not updated. What is annoying is that these two information was not told to us even after ordering! And after asking the staff, the best she could offer was an apology. Furthermore, the mushroom soup was thick and lumpy but decently tasting. My opinions are if you know something is not in stock, or there is a change of menu. Let customers know before hand so they can decide whether they still want it or not. It will help limit angry customers as well. And when a customer complains offer something in return because we still PAID for the meal. All in all, I would rather visit the jewel branch.

The service is quite bad. The food took very long to arrive. We ordered the Hainanese Scottish Pork steak. Taste is not bad 7.5/10. But the portion are very little as you can see from the video. The stir fried glass noodle is not bad 8/10. The Mama Wee braised pork belly set is delicious like all other outlets, I’ll give it a 8.5/10. If they improve the service and speed of cooking they will get more stars. There is a 15% discount if you pay by Grab