Ube catches on in Singapore cafes as Filipino restaurant Cafe Mary Grace launches its own ube series

Ube, the violet yam native to the Philippines, is showing up on more Singapore menus, The Straits Times reports, with Filipino restaurant Cafe Mary Grace launching an ube series in July while the Philippines' suspension of fresh ube exports leaves local cafes relying on paste and powder.

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Ube, a violet yam native to the Philippines, is finding a growing following in Singapore, with cafes, home-based businesses and dessert brands adding it to their menus, The Straits Times reported.

Chiara Dimacali-Hugo, executive director of Filipino restaurant Cafe Mary Grace Singapore in Tras Street, told the paper she noticed her Instagram feed flooded with ube products in May and told her team they needed their own version. The cafe launched an ube series in July, including an ube coconut cloud drink, ube cheese rolls and an ube ice cream ensaymada. "The global love for ube is so strong, which makes me feel really proud as an Asian, because it means that Asian flavours can really travel," she said.

The co-founder of an alcohol distributor that brought Ube Cream Liqueur to Singapore in 2024 told the paper that the Filipino community made up most of its early clientele, and that the general public only started warming to ube in late 2025.

Supply remains a constraint. The Philippines indefinitely suspended exports of fresh ube in mid-August to protect scarce planting stocks, according to its Department of Agriculture, so the ube reaching Singapore exists mainly in processed form. Most of the cafes and brands The Straits Times spoke to make do with ube paste or powder, as fresh ube is not available in Singapore.

Pampanga native Adrian Besa, who works in Singapore as a beverage manager, said he can now find previously elusive favourites such as ube pandesal, ube cheese tarts and ube soft-serve in Singapore, though "the ones back home feel deeper, richer and so much more authentic." The paste itself can be found at Filipino grocers, the paper noted.