The well known Sando shop “Hello Arigato” recently opened its fourth outlet in Bukit Timah. Like its sister branches around Singapore, Hello Arigato specialises in Japanese sandwiches aimed to provide comfort and familiarity to its customers. The sandwiches are intended to be made simple, with ingredients of the best quality found in every sandwich.
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Thoughts on the vibe
The Bukit Timah branch is seated along the same stretch as the famous Atlas Coffeehouse and similarly has an indoor and outdoor dining concept. The eatery greatly utilises the sheltered space at the entrance and can seat more than 10 guests outside, of course if customers do not succumb to the Singapore heat first. The outdoor space accommodates pets as well, so feel free to bring your furry plus one out on a cafe date!
If I were to describe the vibes of the place in three words, they would be clean, minimalistic and relaxing.
We visited Hello Arigato on a weekday morning (around 11:30am) and to our surprise, the place was pretty much full apart from the outdoor seats. Initially, we were given a seat outside but the staff were really accommodating and shifted us in immediately when a table was available inside. The interior is formed by two levels, first floor for the open coffee station and kitchen, while the second held a long bar table and smaller tables. I really loved how the coffee machine was displayed right at the entrance and made the dining space feel even cosier for a catch up. As the space was quite enclosed, smells of coffee and toasted bread lingered in the air.
Thoughts on the food
The food menu had an extensive list of sandos and pastas with a couple of sides. We heard so much about the sandos hence decided to focus our attention on two choices of the signature Wagyu Hamburg Gyu Sando ($28) and Chicken Katsu Sando ($16).
Starting off with the Chicken Katsu Sando, we felt that the bread was fluffy and toasted to perfection. Together with the slaw, pickled apples and deep fried chicken katsu, there was a very satisfying crunch to every bite. The chicken was very juicy and coated in the Homemade Tonkatsu sauce which went well with the milk bread. On to the Wagyu Hamburg Gyu Sando, the hamburg steak itself was clearly the star.
Hello Arigato actually fried the hamburg as seen from the crispy breaded layer around the steak yet managed to retain the moisture and juice in the sandwich. Though I’m not typically a fan of mayonnaise, both Sandos (and all in the menu) had very minimal amount of mayonnaise which added a tang of sweetness to the bread without overpowering the savoury flavours contributed by the protein in each Sando.
We decided to top up our meal with a side of fries ($4) and Mentaiko sauce ($1.50). The fries were golden brown, battered well and really had that crispiness to it and tasted better with the Mentaiko sauce.
We decided to try the iced Matcha Latte ($7) and felt that it was smooth with mellow grassy notes. Just nice for a casual Matcha drinker!
Hello Arigato Final Thoughts
Hello Arigato offers something unique to the cafe scene with Japanese, Italian and local flavours infused into a sandwich. It is truly amazing how so much thought is put into making dishes that convey simplicity. You can opt to have breakfast, brunch or lunch here because the menu has food from sandwiches to pastas, coffee to beer! Hello Arigato deserves a visit, so hop on down when you can!
Cafe Details
Address
- 551 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 269692
Social Media
Opening Hours
- 9:00am to 5:00pm (Tues-Fri) / 8:00am to 5:00pm (Sat-Sun)
- Kitchen last order 4:00pm unless sellout
Price Rating
- $$
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