From ayam penyet to matcha: 10 home-based businesses in Tengah
An intriguing ecosystem of home-based eateries has sprung up in Singapore's newest HDB town with no malls or hawker centres yet.
(Photo: Mummy Anggun, Met Your Matcha)
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Carved out of a former military training ground in the west, Singapore’s youngest HDB town Tengah is still very much a work in progress.
Its first neighbourhood centre, Plantation Plaza, only opened in mid-2024 with a Giant supermarket, Koufu food court, a McDonald’s outlet and a handful of shops.
Hawker centres? None yet. Malls? Still in the pipeline. For now, some residents still trek to nearby Bukit Batok or Jurong East just to grab dinner or do a grocery run.
In this gap, a new kind of ecosystem has taken root. Scroll through Telegram or TikTok and you’ll find a surprisingly large number of Tengah homeowners doubling up as bakers, cooks, and cafe owners, whipping up everything from ayam penyet to pandan waffles and matcha lattes right out of their flats. By our estimation, there are more than 30 F&B home-based businesses operating in the neighbourhood.
A GROWING MARKET
“The lack of cafes in our area has definitely contributed to demand,” said Levine Lee, 30, who runs Met Your Matcha, a home-based matcha latte biz, with his wife.
“But I think part of it is also just our neighbours having fun with being able to order matcha within our own estate.”
Another HBB owner, Belvis Ang of Cuppa Coffee, agreed. “We've definitely noticed a surge since moving here late last year, especially as more residents move in,” said the 33-year-old insurance agent.
“We've supported quite a few of them, and we're really happy to see that many are offering great-quality products.”
MOSTLY PASSION PROJECTS
Of the 10 home-based businesses (HBB) we spoke to, only three operate full-time. The rest juggle day jobs – from banking to early childhood education – or run weekend-only operations squeezed between work and family life.
While they represent just a slice of Tengah’s growing HBB scene, one thing’s clear: Most are driven by passion, not profit. For some, it’s a creative outlet without giving up the stability of a full-time job. For others, it’s a way to meet neighbours or share a love for food.
Since starting Met Your Matcha, Lee said they’ve met “so many amazing people”, including “the cutest (fur and human) babies”, even swapping matcha for brownies with fellow home bakers.
“It’s honestly just so fun and really made us feel like part of a community here.”
“I’m just doing this as a hobby,” added Jeremy Hiew of J’s Coffee & Bakes. The 28-year-old who used to work as a baker in a cafe plans to run his weekend bakery long-term.
“I enjoy staying at home on weekends. Doing this from home allows me to have a more flexible schedule compared to opening a physical cafe or bakery.”
And with new home-based cafes, bakers and cooks popping up every month, Tengah’s most exciting eats or drinks might just be coming from someone’s kitchen down the block.
Here are 10 worth checking out. Note that all offer takeaway or delivery only.
1. MUMMY ANGGUN
When Fitri Rozlyana, 31, moved into her Tengah Drive flat last July, she quickly realised how few halal makan options there were nearby.
So, the mother of two and owner of Mummy Anggun – originally a kueh biz she ran from her in-laws’ Jurong East home – decided to add hearty staples like ayam penyet and nasi goreng to the menu.
Interestingly, Fitri only picked up cooking two years ago. “I didn’t want to order takeout every day (after moving to Tengah), so my mother-in-law and my late grandmother taught me their recipes,” she chuckled.
The former student-care teacher now juggles Mummy Anggun full-time while caring for two young kids.
Another highlight is the Kuih Bakar Lauk Seafood (85 cents each, minimum order of 20 pieces) – a custard-like savoury Malay cake topped with squid, prawn and crabmeat. She also sells dessert versions of the mini cakes made with pandan.
Order via Instagram.
2. MET YOUR MATCHA
Met Your Matcha was started by a couple who “drink way too much matcha”. Levine Lee, 30, who’s currently between jobs, and Lee Yi Lin, 27, a civil servant, launched their weekend biz in August 2025 as a way to meet neighbours and share their green tea obsession.
Their menu focuses on iced lattes made with ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha and houjicha, with the latter toasted in traditional pots. Every drink is made with Oatside oat milk, which they prefer for health reasons and balance of flavour.
Add-ins are all house-made, from a strawberry compote that takes three hours to caramelise, to a salted vanilla syrup infused with real vanilla beans.
Recently, they expanded into baking with The Ultimate Cookie (S$4.50 for one; S$24 for six), which are sourdough brown butter chocolate chunk cookies.
“It’s definitely tiring (running Met Your Matcha),” admitted the younger Lee, “but it’s been quite fun through the chaos.”
Order via Instagram.
3. SILLY'S BAKES
After moving into her Tengah flat last year, Loh Supei, 36, finally had something she’d long dreamed of – her own oven.
“When I was living with my parents, I cooked a lot but never got to bake since we didn’t have an oven,” said the freelance writer and translator. “So when I moved here, I was really excited and started experimenting non-stop.”
This eventually evolved into Silly's Bakes.
A self-proclaimed “zero per cent sugar bubble tea girlie”, her bakes are all low in sugar, preservative-free and made fresh to order.
The menu is small but distinctive, featuring butter cookies in flavours like Pure Butter – which she said is “quite similar” to famous Hong Kong brand Jenny Bakery’s – and the bestselling Sea Salt Double Chocolate, made with Hershey’s cocoa powder and cacao nibs for extra crunch.
Prices start from S$8 for a bag (about 18 cookies) to S$15 for a bottle (about 40 cookies).
Our colleague who tried these bite-sized cookies described them as “very crumbly and buttery” – she likes the butter and chocolate ones best.
Loh also experiments with bolder flavours like Chilli Chocolate, which will be available soon as a limited Halloween special.
Order via Instagram.
4. CUPPA COFFEE
Coffee wasn’t always a big deal for 33-year-old Belvis Ang, who said he used to be a kopi-o kind of guy. That changed when his brother bought an entry-level espresso machine and started making lattes at home.
“Coffee’s always been a must for me on workdays, but that really got me interested,” he said.
One thing led to another, and soon the insurance agent had spent over S$1,800 on his own set-up, which includes coffee machines from Australian brand Breville. All his espresso-based drinks are made with beans from Common Man Coffee Roasters.
Despite having no formal barista training (“everything’s learnt from social media and my brother”), Ang receives around 20 drink orders daily from “mostly Tengah residents” every weekend.
He’s not too worried about the recent rise in home-based coffee ventures in the area. “Healthy competition is important – it pushes us to keep improving.”
Cuppa Coffee’s menu ranges from classics like Americano (S$3 hot; S$3.50 iced) to more inventive iced lattes like The Dirty Earl (S$5.50) – a twist on yuan yang (a Hong Kong-style beverage that mixes coffee and milk tea) with espresso and earl grey-infused fresh milk, and Maple Wave (S$5.50), a double-shot latte crowned with house-made salted maple cream.
You can also expect monthly specials like October’s Coconut Latte (S$4.50 hot; S$5 iced).
Order via Instagram.
5. AUTAMETI
Autameti might be a made-up word, but its desserts are the real deal. Seasoned entrepreneurs Raymond and Kiara Seng, both 45, have dabbled in other ventures before (they prefer to keep details private), and the couple now runs their HBB full-time.
Inspired by his wife and daughter’s favourite dessert, Raymond Seng began experimenting with banoffee pie (a British dessert made with bananas, toffee and cream) at home and eventually perfected a tangy cheesecake version.
The star is the Banoffee Cheesecake Pie (S$11.30) layered with fresh banana, caramel, chocolate sauce, cream cheese, and a wheat biscuit base.
Plus, look out for its spin-offs like the Banoffee Cheese Latte (S$10.30), and Banoffee Cheesecake Mochi (S$9.30 each, minimum order of 10 pieces).
Their stainless-steel kitchen even resembles a professional cafe. “We like the commercial feel, and it’s easy to clean,” Raymond Seng explained.
As for whether their nine-year-old lends a hand, he said, laughing: “No, she’s got too much homework!”
With 180 to 210 orders a week, he says Autameti has been “financially sustainable” enough to support the family. And while the plan is to stay home-based for now, they may consider moving Autameti into a physical spot once demand outgrows their kitchen.
Order via Instagram.
6. ROUND BELLIES
Started by 34-year-old Felicia Ong in August 2025, Round Bellies serves up homely comfort fare like spaghetti bolognese, Japanese-style bentos and soups.
The single mum launched her HBB so she could spend more time with her six-year-old daughter before she enters Primary 1 next year.
Formerly an account manager at a multinational corporation, Ong runs Round Bellies full-time, but she plans to return to a corporate job in January while keeping the business alive on weekends.
As a cancer survivor, Ong takes pride in cooking her dishes from scratch. The menu changes weekly – sometimes dictated by her daughter’s cravings.
In-demand staples include Spaghetti Bolognese (S$9) with minced beef and pork or chicken in a house-made sauce made with fresh tomatoes simmered for four hours.
No, it’s not kopi – KoPi comes from “Koala” and “Piglet”, the nicknames of married couple Noel Teo, 32, and Karen Lim, 31. “Jjan”, Korean for "cheers", is a nod to their uni exchange days in Seoul.
They run this animal-themed drinks business after their corporate 9-to-5s and on weekends. (Teo works in a bank, while Lim is in the automotive industry.)
Their most popular drink is Choco Koala (S$4.90), a fresh milk-based blend with Oreo and hazelnut syrup, while Pinklet (S$5.90) is a refreshing bandung-watermelon mix.
They even serve house-made snacks like Original Pandan Waffle Sticks (S$4.90) with a peanut butter or Nutella dip, and Junior Wafu (S$5.90), pandan waffle cubes topped with fresh berries.
Order via Instagram.
8. BIRDIE'S CILOK
Never heard of cilok? You’re not alone. This chewy Indonesian street snack – made from boiled tapioca balls and served with peanut or chilli sauce – is a rare find in Singapore.
Birdie’s Cilok started in June 2024 after Syafiqah Yusof, 28, stumbled upon the dish on TikTok and decided to recreate it at home.
“I looked up different recipes online, compared them, and experimented until I got the right chewy texture,” she said.
On weekends, the assistant infant care teacher sells Plain (S$10 for 15 pieces) or Chicken (S$13 for 15 pieces) cilok – the latter stuffed with minced chicken for extra bite.
Every order comes with Syafiqah’s house-made Thai-style dipping sauce, a zesty mix of fish sauce, cili padi and lime juice, which is also available for purchase separately.
Order via Instagram.
9. J'S COFFEE & BAKES
Before moving to Tengah, Jeremy Hiew, 28, spent two years as a full-time baker at a popular now-defunct Aussie cafe in the east of Singapore.
While he ultimately decided against pursuing baking as a career (“it was fun, but the hours were too long – I wanted work-life balance!”), Hiew, who works in franchise development, continued baking as a hobby.
In August, he launched J’s Coffee & Bakes, a weekend-only venture pairing cakes with coffees made from a Breville machine and beans from local roaster Tiong Hoe.
A rotating selection of sliced cakes is available every weekend, including classics like Tiramisu (S$6). Whole cakes are also available for pre-order, like Tiramisu (from S$45 for 6-inch) and Burnt Cheesecake (from S$45 for 6-inch) in flavours like blueberry, black sesame and earl grey.
Order via Instagram or WhatsApp 82051325.
10. MEHMEH BAKES
“Every item has to be approved by my mum before it makes the menu,” quipped Meredith Sim, 27, who started MehMeh Bakes in 2021 after her mum encouraged her to share her cakes with others.
Originally based in Tampines, she now bakes from Tengah at her new flat – still a one-woman show balancing a full-time corporate job and about 10 monthly orders.
Sim originally specialised in Traditional Banana Cake (S$20 for 7-inch), her mum’s favourite. She’s since expanded the menu to include pound cakes like Matcha White Chocolate (S$18), and Basque Cheesecake (S$30 for 6-inch), all baked with her signature light touch of sugar.
“Every item has to be tasted and approved by my mum before it makes the menu,” she said.
A breakthrough baking moment came when she perfected her Sea Salt Brownies (S$12 for six pieces), which she describes as having a “melt-in-your-mouth texture”. They’ve since become a fan favourite.
“One customer collected the brownies, went home and took a nap – only to wake up and find his family had eaten almost all of them. He had to put in another order after that,” she happily recalled.
Order via Instagram.
Additional reporting by Pravin Ramesh.
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