In recent years, the café industry has been shifting away from spectacle and towards substance. Across cities and neighbourhoods, people are seeking places that feel human rather than performative, where quality is experienced rather than announced. Coffee spaces are no longer just about speed or aesthetics, but about comfort, intention, and consistency. Within this evolving landscape, neighbourhood cafés have become anchors for everyday life.
Underscore Coffee fits naturally into this movement. Founded around 2019 by Shum alongside co-founder Shannon, the café began without a grand vision or strategic blueprint. It emerged instead from a personal need to keep moving forward. After noticing a row of abandoned shops in his neighbourhood, Shum made a simple decision to occupy one and start doing something meaningful again, with Shannon helping to build and shape the space from its early days. What followed was a quiet, thoughtful café rooted in service, sincerity, and an understated confidence that continues to define its identity today.
A Neighbourhood Café With Purpose, Not Pretence
Underscore Coffee was never designed to impress at first glance. Its foundation is deliberately modest, reflecting a belief in under-promising and over-delivering. The café embraces a neighbourhood style that feels approachable and unforced, where the focus stays firmly on what is served rather than how it is presented. Shum believes that genuine intention matters more than expensive interiors, elaborate plating, or aggressive marketing strategies.
This mindset shapes every aspect of the space. Customers arrive without inflated expectations, only to discover coffee and food that quietly stand out. The absence of luxury cues is intentional. Underscore Coffee does not rely on visual drama to validate its quality. Instead, it trusts that sincerity, consistency, and care will speak for themselves, creating a place people return to because it feels right rather than because it looks impressive.
Coffee Curation And Food Made From Scratch
At its core, Underscore Coffee operates as a multi-roaster café, a concept that was still uncommon in neighbourhood settings when it first launched. Shum wanted to bring a wider coffee experience to residential communities, offering access to varietals and origins usually found only in city centres or office districts. Seasonal trends play a role in selection, especially those emerging from coffee competitions where innovative processing methods and rare varietals often gain attention.
Alongside coffee, food plays an equally important role. The menu focuses on warm, comforting meals like rice bowls, noodles, soups, and in-house baked cakes. Around eighty percent of the offerings are prepared from scratch, with minimal reliance on pre-made or canned products. Familiar flavours are reimagined for a café setting using high quality ingredients such as Japanese rice and fresh market sourced chicken. The result is food that feels nostalgic, elevated, and deeply comforting without losing its sense of home.
Community, Equality, And What Comes Next
What truly defines Underscore Coffee is its approach to community. Shum does not differentiate between customers based on status, spending habits, or visibility. Whether someone walks in for a full meal, a single coffee, or simply a place to sit and wait, they are treated with the same respect. The café operates from a place of service rather than transaction, where fairness and openness shape every interaction.
Looking ahead, Underscore Coffee remains committed to its original intention. Expansion is not about scale or visibility, but about connection. The brand has no desire to move into shopping malls or impersonal commercial spaces. Instead, future plans may involve expanding the existing location to better serve its growing customer base. Any growth will stay rooted in the idea that a café should belong to its neighbourhood, serving it quietly, consistently, and with genuine care.
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