Chin Mee Chin Confectionery opened its second shop, and first outside Katong, at NEX B2-60/61 on 8 August 2026. The brand started in 1925, older than Ya Kun. It closed in 2018, then returned in 2021 with Ebb & Flow, the group behind Casa Vostra and Carlitos. Serangoon MRT sits under the mall. Hours are 8am to 9.30pm daily. HungryGoWhere's Evan Mua ate there at opening. CNA also spoke to operations manager Rachel Ng about the move.
Toast first, then the NEX-only pastry case
Toast sets are S$6.50, with kaya, peanut butter, or butter sugar. The kaya is mellower and eggier than most chains, with a chunkier texture. Mua thought it tasted slightly different from his last Katong visit years ago. The bread is airy. The butter is fragrant enough to carry the milder kaya. Kopi and teh start at S$2.30. That is still a kopitiam breakfast price in a mall basement.
Katong still does sugee cake, kaya Swiss roll, and the cream horn. NEX dropped the cream horn and built a modern case. Choux au craquelin is S$3, kaya custard or dark chocolate. The kaya custard reads as rich egg custard with pandan. The chocolate is malty, almost Milo. Savoury pies: curry potato and chicken at S$3.80, black pepper beef at S$4.80. That pastry list is why Northeast diners should not treat this as a carbon copy of East Coast Road.
Lunch plates if toast is not enough
Egg mayo with caramelised onion sandwich is S$7.80. Smashed fried chicken with sambal is S$8.80. Nasi lemak is S$10.80, with banana-leaf grilled otah at S$1.80 extra, peanuts, ikan bilis, sunny-side egg, pickled cucumber, and a fried or grilled chicken cutlet. Two sambals: a classic sweet-savoury, and a tangier chicken-rice-style chilli only at NEX. Calamansi Yakult is S$4.50. Pandan tea is S$3. Kaya Cloud kopi is S$5.50, the foam drink every cafe added this year.
The room is retro-chic, not the old Katong shophouse. That will annoy people who wanted the original tiles. It will work for a NEX basement breakfast before a movie. Ng's job is to keep family recipes while serving a younger mall crowd. The toast is still the test. The choux and nasi lemak are the extras. If the kaya goes too sweet or too smooth, the Northeast branch has failed. If it stays eggy and chunky, Serangoon finally has a reason not to ride to Katong for breakfast.
NEX already has a heavy Japanese and Korean floor, including the new Charcoal Grill Shinpachi. A 101-year-old kaya shop in B2 is the local counterweight. Go on a weekday morning. Weekend mall breakfast queues are the same everywhere. Takeaway toast travels. Nasi lemak is better eaten downstairs before it sweats in a bag on the NEL.
Practical Details
- Dates: Opened 8 August 2026, ongoing
- Time: 8am to 9.30pm daily
- Venue: Chin Mee Chin Confectionery, NEX #B2-60/61, 23 Serangoon Central, Singapore 556083
- Nearest MRT: Serangoon
- Price: Toast sets S$6.50; choux S$3; nasi lemak S$10.80; kopi from S$2.30
- Website: Instagram @chinmeechin.sg
