For three years, Borderless Butter has been a familiar sight at fairs and markets across Singapore, drawing crowds with its inventive flavored butters. Now, the homegrown artisanal brand is setting down roots: its first physical space debuts this weekend at Sprout @ AMK, offering face-to-face tastings, a four-sandwich menu, and an unexpectedly stellar drink lineup.
Founded by Arden Zhuo, Borderless Butter built its reputation on compound butters made from a French butter base. Varieties like chunky miso shiitake, whipped seaweed brown butter, and smoky maple chipotle are sold in jars or bundles, meant for spreading on toast or tossing into pasta, meats, and seafood. The new outlet, part of Enterprise Singapore’s incubator program, gives Zhuo a low-risk, one-year test bed for a physical presence. “I wanted more face-to-face time with customers,” he says. To that end, the space features a small tasting booth where patrons can sample three to four rotating butters before buying.
The weekend menu offers four sandwiches designed to showcase the butters’ potential. We tried the mala kani tartine ($9.90) and the smoky maple chipotle tamago sando ($8.90). The tartine impressed with its punchy, numbing XO Mala butter, made from at least five spices. The tamago sando reimagines the Japanese classic, cutting back on mayo and replacing it with housemade smoky chipotle butter. Both sandwiches are flavorful and indulgent, though they could benefit from more texture—chunkier egg and crabsticks or a refreshing crunch from fresh vegetables, plus a thinner, crisper base for the tartine.
The drinks, however, emerged as the surprising highlight. Borderless Butter offers a menu of 15 beverages centered on cold brew coffee (brewed in-house with Tiong Hoe coffee beans), matcha, and refreshers. Many feature light, zingy flavors and airy foam that cut through the richness of the savory sandwiches. Two standouts are inspired by the brand’s yuzu pistachio butter: the yuzu pistachio cloud cold brew ($8.50) and the yuzu pistachio cloud matcha ($8.90). Neither contains butter; instead, yuzu bits and pistachio paste create a nutty, citrusy combination that pairs beautifully with the matcha latte’s earthy creaminess. Other intriguing options include the Golden EVOO cloud cold brew ($8), Tokyo Fog matcha cloud ($8.50), and Lime Spritz cold brew ($8).
A Low-Risk Experiment, Not a Full-Fledged Café
It’s worth noting that this is less a fully formed café than an incubator experiment. The brand is using the year to test what a physical presence can be. If you’re in Ang Mo Kio, drop by the tasting booth. But if you’re making a special trip, go for the drinks—especially the yuzu pistachio cloud matcha—and treat the sandwiches as a bonus rather than the main event.
Location and Hours
Borderless Butter is at 713A Ang Mo Kio Ave 6, #01-05, Singapore 561713. Hours: Tuesday to Friday, 10:30am–7pm; Saturday & Sunday, 10am–6pm. Closed Mondays.