Culture
In Turkey, coffee is never just caffeine. There is an old saying: a cup of Turkish coffee is remembered for forty years — meaning the hospitality around it matters as much as the drink. The coffee itself is brewed slowly in a small copper pot called a cezve, grounds and all, until a thick foam rises to the top. It is poured unfiltered into small cups and left to settle. You sip slowly. You do not rush it.
Then there is çay — Turkish tea — the true fuel of daily life. Served in tulip-shaped glasses, brewed strong in a double teapot called a çaydanlık, and refilled endlessly. In Turkey, refusing a glass of çay is nearly impossible; it arrives before you ask, at breakfast, after dinner, in shops, at barbers, everywhere.
At LAYALI we keep both rituals exactly as they are back home. Turkish coffee brewed the slow way, çay poured hot and endless, and baklava or künefe alongside if you know what is good for you. It is the most peaceful way to end a meal in Kampong Gelam — and the most Turkish thing we serve.
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Everything we write about, we cook daily — 10:00am to 1:00am at 257 Beach Road, Kampong Gelam. Charcoal-fired, family-owned, five minutes from Bugis MRT.