The Place Visiting new cafes every week seems to be a habitual affair these days for theRantingPanda and guess what, the excitement of exploring new cafes keeps us going every occasion. Up in town this week is the newly opened Common Man Coffee Roasters, which is by the same man behind hipster cafe 40 Hands in Tiong Bahru. Australian owner Harry Grover latest coffee place is a collaboration with Australia coffee roaster 5 Senses, and the story behind the name is a rightful tribute to the common man who harvest and drink coffee.
Compared to 40 Hands, this Martin Road (near Robertson Quay) cafe is thankfully much more spacious. I like how the coffee making space is designed like a bar, where customers can sit around the bar area and chat with the Baristas. The various kinds of coffee making equipment such as filters, French press, machines and beans keep me intrigued as well. The crowd is also slightly more sophisticated, not the usual hipster crowd, which makes the environment pretty diverse.
The Food If there is one difference between Common Man Coffee Roasters and 40 Hands, it has got to be the food, as CMCR aims to present a more complete and diverse food menu as opposed to its sister cafe. From the lunch menu, tRP spotted the Common Man Burger, which consists of rib-eye steak in a fluffy brioche bun, served with fries. We are somehow more keen to try from the All-day breakfast menu, which include the likes of French Toast ($18) and the Common Man Full Veggie Breakfast ($18) served with free-range organic eggs, chestnut mushrooms and sourdough toast.
As for the much anticipated coffee, Common Man Coffee Roasters boasts single origin beans from Sumatra and Ethiopia for the strong coffee lovers. I was not in a strong coffee drinking mode today, which makes me more inclined to settle for CMCR home roasted blend of coffee beans.
The Flat White ($5) is medium body in my opinion, its taste is smooth and I like the aroma of the coffee. Latte art is something I take note of whenever my coffee is served in a specialty cafe.
If you prefer your coffee with more milk, I would recommend the Latte ($5) which is equally good. The acidity of the coffee is strong, and I like the richness of the coffee taste.
I decided on the Organic Eggs Benedict ($24) for my brunch, which took awhile to be served. The wait was definitely worthwhile as this dish is way too awesome. The picture does not do justice to the dish unfortunately, but the combination of the poached eggs, tender braised ox cheeks and the artisanal sourdough toast is done to perfection. The egg yolk flows out seamlessly (check out tRP Eggs Benny Instagram Vid), and we really love the ever tender braised ox cheeks as well.
Rants The slow serving of our food, with a more than 30 minutes wait, made us slightly hungry at the beginning but I guess this is the initial teething problem during the opening phase. 

Will I return again? Seriously, this is one of the few new cafes to leave an impression on us. The food and coffee both impressed us, and we definitely will be back for more nibbles and caffeine. With other specialty coffee joints such as Chye Seng Huat Hardware and Loysel’s Toy, it will be interesting to see who survives in this coffee battle eventually.

TheRantingPanda says:
Taste bud: 4/5
Hole in the pocket: 3.5/5
Ambience: 3.5/5
Overall Experience: 4/5

Common Man Coffee Roasters
22 Martin Road #01-00