1932 Story Café at Bukit Timah Railway Station

1932 Story Café is a new F&B outlet at the newly-reopened Bukit Timah Railway Station, situated in the former Station Master’s Bungalow. With rave reviews posted on the internet since its opening on 1 July 2022 (?), I headed down to have a taste of this new café for myself.

Let’s just say that it’s not looking good for railway-related F&B establishments in Singapore.

Entering 1932 Story Café with a new ramp installed before the original step, now providing barrier-free access into the bungalow.

Much of the façade of the Station Master’s Bungalow is kept, with only a small sign in front suggesting that a café is located here.

There was a queue to enter 1932 Story Café, and I was in it for about 15 minutes with 3 groups in front of me.

The interior of 1932 Story Café was almost full when I entered.

There is a counter behind the “ticket counter” which I thought was for placing my order. However, after a staff confirmed that I was dining in, I was redirected back to my table where there was a QR code on the side to scan to order instead.

Unfortunately, this was not pointed out to me when pointed to my table by another staff.

1932 Story Café Menu

Some Jollibee online order feels right here.

All mains were sold out during my visit on 11 July 2022. I also did not spot dishes reviewed here and here, as the only pastas on show (and sold out anyway) were Aglio Olio in spicy or non-spicy variants, and no pizzas were spotted.

The only food available were small bites, which I did not order any as I decided I would have a proper lunch somewhere else instead.

Most drinks were still available, including beer. As such, although no pork and lard seem to be in the food menu, this does NOT make it a so-called “go-to place for Halal food” as claimed here. This will immediately fail Muis’ Halal certification. Halal does not equal to no pork no lard.

Ice cream were also available, but waffles were out.

So basically there were only small bites, drinks, and ice cream available.

Ice Cream

Here’s the double scoop of ice cream of chocolate and chendol (S$6.20). The ice cream did taste like chocolate and chendol, but there’s nothing special to shout about it.

Smoke Coffee Frappe

Here’s the Smoke Coffee Frappe (S$8.00). This was served in a disposable plastic cup reminiscent of ABC catering on Timuran. (It’s not a good thing to be saying for an $8 drink.)

For a Frappe, the coffee was surprisingly not sweet. The coffee was also watered down by the milk and ice, leaving me with mainly a taste of soft, ground beans in milk.

1932 Story Café Heritage Gallery

The 2 tables in the Heritage Gallery are for prior reservations only. I’ve mentioned previously that the levers are not originally from Bukit Timah Railway Station.

I’m pretty sure this sign is a new creation. Missing the long stroke in the A too by the way.

Not all tickets in the frame are from this section of the railway in Singapore, Malaya, and Malaysia too.

Here’s a suspicious “STMB” ticket which a simple Google search led me to the Société du Tunnel du Mont-Blanc (STMB).

Ooh la la. Magnifique.

Also on display is an LNER monthly return ticket between London King’s Cross and Dundee via Berwick (-upon-Tweed) and Bridges (Forth). The Northern Lights certainly did not come to Singapore.

Another LNER monthly return ticket between Elgin and Edinburgh Waverley.

Ok but this is interesting but not as I was intending to learn on my visit to Bukit Timah Railway Station. An LNER monthly return ticket between Helensburgh and Partick. An LNER Advance Ticket would have saved me my fiasco in Helensburgh.

Want to know about it? Stay tuned right here on RailTravel Station.

With those unrelated tickets on display, even if this one was real, it’s now hard to believe that this is an actual Singapore Government Railway ticket from Johore to Tank Road considering that the Singapore Government Railway only existed between May 1909 and 31 December 1911, and the Johor-Singapore Causeway was only completed in 1923.

Conclusion

I had planned to have lunch at 1932 Story Café but this was not to be. On the contrary, I spotted more suspiciously unrelated artefacts in the Heritage Gallery than I had already did on 1 July 2022.

After the poor representation of French Afternoon Tea at Orient Express Road Café, and the unfortunate closure of Shinjuku Kissa Tetsudo, now at 1932 Story Café, it’s not looking good for railway-related F&B establishments in Singapore.