Trying every single café in Singapore would prove to be a near impossible task – especially with multiple new ones constantly materialising in various pockets of the island every single month. But if you’re on the hunt for some solid brews, you’ll want to cut to the chase and head straight to Apartment Coffee along Selegie Road. Why? Because this homely coffee roaster café has just been crowned the best coffee shop in all of Asia in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list for 2025.
Globally, Apartment Coffee ranks sixth, under a handful of coffee cafés from Australia, USA, and Europe. Taking the crown is Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters from Australia – which also happens to have an outpost in Singapore – followed by Onyx Coffee Lab in USA and Gota Coffee Experts in Austria.
Apartment Coffee also has bragging rights as the sole establishment from Singapore that has been recognised in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops. Asia-wise, only 13 coffee joints have been named, with the The Philippines having the most number of winners: Yardstick (#18 worldwide), El Unión Coffee (#61), Single Origin (#83), and Crema & Cream Coffee Roasters (#86). Malaysia also has quite a few awardees, with Story of Ono from Petaling Jaya scoring second in Asia (#9 globally), followed by Ome by Spacebar Coffee (#56) from Penang and Sin See Tai (#73) from Malacca.
We gotta say that Apartment Coffee’s placing is fully well-deserved; After all, it’s one of the 55 best cafés that made the list in our most recent Time Out Recommended campaign, where our team of Editors compiles our favourite tried-and-tested homegrown establishments around the city. This coffee studio near Rochor MRT station has airy, minimalist interiors that make you feel right at home, and on less sunny days, the backyard dotted with greenery is a nice place to chill out at. Right now, their space also doubles up as a mini art gallery featuring works by eight Japanese artists.
But this isn’t one of those places that’s just for the vibes. The good folks at Apartment Coffee pride themselves in sourcing the best coffee varieties, with great consideration on where and how the beans are grown. This care extends to the roasting and brewing techniques used in-house for the most robust flavours. Many have also praised the café for its friendly and passionate staff who bother to take the time to explain their coffees, should you need some help in picking one.
From time to time, Apartment Coffee also holds guest shifts with baristas from overseas, as well as hands-on workshops that’ll let you hone your own coffee brewing skills.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops is an all-new ranking in its debut year, and it judges entries from all over the world based on the following criteria: Quality of coffee, barista expertise, customer service, innovation, ambience and atmosphere, sustainability practices, food and pastry quality, and consistency. For fair results, a voting system that involves both expert evaluators and members of the public is put into place, with each individual allowed to vote only once during the open voting phase.
20 best coffee shops in the world in 2025:
- Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters, Australia
- Onyx Coffee Lab, USA
- Gota Coffee Experts, Austria
- Proud Mary Coffee, Australia
- Tim Wendelboe, Norway
- Apartment Coffee, Singapore
- Kawa, France
- Coffee Anthology, Australia
- Story of Ono, Malaysia
- Tropicalia Coffee, Colombia
- Espressolab, South Africa
- Hola Coffee Lagasca, Spain
- Casa Canela, Venezuela
- Alquimia Coffee, El Salvador
- Kross Coffee Roasters, Greece
- MOK Coffee, Belgium
- Prevail Coffee, USA
- Yardstick, The Philippines
- Veneziano Coffee Roasters, Australia
- Puku Puku, Peru
Best coffee shops in Asia in 2025:
- Apartment Coffee, Singapore
- Story of Ono, Malaysia
- Yardstick, The Philippines
- Koffee Mameya Kakeru, Japan
- Strut Coffee, Korea
- Espresso Alchemy, China
- Ome by Spacebar Coffee, Malaysia
- El Unión Coffee, The Philippines
- Sin See Tai, Malaysia
- Anomali Coffee, Indonesia
- Single Origin, The Philippines
- Rufous Coffee Roasters, Taiwan
- Crema & Cream Coffee Roasters, The Philippines
Check out the full list of The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025.
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