A popular Singaporean cheese shop and café is opening a sister restaurant
Agak Agak Kopitiam, from the owners of Kiss My Pans, has come to Cabbagetown
East-enders who are also fans of Singaporean cheese shop and café Kiss My Pans no longer have to travel to Little Italy for their hawker-style cuisine. That’s because Jeanne Chai and David Burga have just opened Agak Agak Kopitiam in Cabbagetown—and the crowds are already crowding.
“Many of our regulars were telling us they had to trek across town, so we decided it would be a good idea to open something in the east so our customers from that side can pop in,” says Burga. “People know us and come from very far away—there are a lot of expats who used to live in Singapore and Malaysia who are seeking these flavours that remind them of home.”
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While Kiss My Pans is a more casual self-service and takeout spot, Agak Agak is a sit-down restaurant with a different menu. The name means “a bit of this, a bit of that,” and it reflects how Chai and Burga are paying tribute to family recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.
“Very often, when trying to document a recipe by asking for exact measurements, you’d be met with an exclamation of Agak agak!” says Chai. “Because that’s the way our ancestors have always cooked at home—it was always a pinch of this, a blob of that, and you wing it by tasting, smelling and looking.”
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The tight menu at Agak Agak consists of two appetizers, three mains, three deserts and, of course, Singaporean coffee (IYKYK). Guests can start with some rojak, a punchy salad of jicama, cucumber, pineapple, green apple, crunchy youtiao and tofu puffs in a spicy peanut dressing. Mains include a silky laksa made with yellow egg noodles in a rich, shrimpy and spicy coconut broth. For dessert, there’s ice kachang: shaved ice covered in sweet red bean cream, corn, grass jelly, pandan jelly and condensed milk. But, whatever you do, please don’t ask for any substitutions—there are no swapsies, spice-level modifications or babying of any sort.
“We’re purists,” says Chai. “We don’t dumb down our spices and flavours to suit the Canadian palate. We want Torontonians to learn, embrace and enjoy our cuisine the way we remembered and ate it at home.”
Leah Rumack has worked as the deputy editor of Today’s Parent and the features director of Fashion and has contributed as a writer to a long list of Canadian brands including Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, Chatelaine, Elle Canada, Zoomer, the National Post, EnRoute and Re:porter. Her work focuses on travel, food, pop culture, beauty and fashion.
