In a city where new cafés open almost weekly and most of them blur into the same mental scrapbook of concrete walls, identical brunch menus and predictable latte art, it takes something quietly confident to stand out. Elephant Grounds does not arrive in Singapore shouting for attention. It does not need to. The Hong Kong-born café has spent more than a decade building a reputation not on spectacle, but on something far harder to manufacture, which is habit.
It started in 2013 as a small neighbourhood coffee counter in Hong Kong, founded by Kevin Poon and Gerald Li, two entrepreneurs who believed that cafés should mirror how people actually live rather than how they are marketed. Poon, a cultural tastemaker and art collector, shaped the brand’s lifestyle and design language, while Li built the culinary backbone. Over time, Elephant Grounds became less of a pit stop and more of a fixture in people’s daily rhythms. It was a place you went without thinking too much about it, which is the highest compliment you can give any café.
Now, Elephant Grounds has finally arrived in Singapore, opening its first local outpost at Guoco Midtown on Beach Road on 10 January 2026. The choice of location feels deliberate. This part of the city is evolving into one of those rare zones where offices, homes and public spaces overlap in a way that still feels human. The new space is designed as what the founders call a “third place”, not home and not office, but somewhere in between, a place to sit, to pause, to people-watch and to lose an hour without guilt. The indoor-outdoor layout is both pet-friendly and family-friendly, which already signals that this is not meant to be a grab-and-go coffee bar, but somewhere you are encouraged to stay.
Step inside and the heart of the space reveals itself not at the espresso machine, but at the bakery. This is only the second Elephant Grounds location in the region to feature an on-site production kitchen with its own baking team, and notably, it is the only F&B concept in the entire Guoco Midtown development serving breads and pastries baked entirely from scratch, daily. The croissants alone carry a quiet reputation from Hong Kong. Using a non-traditional lamination technique that blends French and Japanese methods, they emerge crisp, deeply layered and remarkably light, available in classic versions as well as chocolate, almond and banoffee. This is not a café that happens to sell pastries. This is a bakery-led space that happens to serve very good coffee.
And the coffee does matter. Elephant Grounds sources its house blend directly from Ijen Lestari, a Cup of Excellence-winning farm in East Java, and roasts it in-house to achieve a profile that is built around balance rather than bravado. The kind of cup you want every day, not just once for novelty. For those who want to bring that ritual home, the brand’s OG blend is also available as whole beans, drip bags and capsules, which says something about how Elephant Grounds sees itself not as a destination, but as part of a routine.
The food menu follows the same philosophy. It is structured around how people actually eat rather than how menus are usually marketed. Weekday mornings are designed for those in motion, with thoughtful comfort options like PB&J toast on milk bread, mango coconut overnight oats, breakfast burritos and a surprisingly refined Florentine Benedict built around mushrooms, spinach and yuzu hollandaise. Weekends ease into a Brunch & Chill rhythm, pulling together the brand’s long-running favourites like the farmer’s omelette, Buddha bowl, corned beef hash and even an indulgent truffle baked pork chop rice that nods gently to Asian comfort food. Then there is the all-day menu, where heartier plates like tuna poke donburi, steak gyudon, linguine carbonara and the wagyu-based EG Burger make the café feel just as appropriate for a slow lunch or an unplanned early dinner as it does for coffee.
Later in 2026, Elephant Grounds will also introduce its ice cream sandwich programme in Singapore, a cult favourite in Hong Kong that captures the brand’s personality perfectly. Nostalgic without being childish, playful without being sloppy, and serious about craft without taking itself too seriously.
There will be a merchandise corner too, offering tumblers including collaborations with MiiR, apparel, tote bags and coffee grounds for those who want to extend the experience beyond the café. But that is not really the point.
What Elephant Grounds is bringing to Singapore is not just another place to eat and drink. It is bringing a different relationship with time. Singapore’s café culture has matured. People are no longer impressed by novelty alone. They are looking for places that feel good to return to, places that do not rush them, places that become part of the week rather than a one-off visit.
Elephant Grounds has always been built around that idea. Its arrival here does not feel like a brand expansion. It feels like a quiet insertion into the city’s daily life.
Elephant Grounds Singapore opens on 10 January 2026 at Guoco Midtown, 124 Beach Road. More information is available at https://www.elephantgrounds.com.