Tiong Bahru Bakery

Been hearing/ reading a lot about Tiong Bahru Bakery, so decided to make a trip and see what the hype over chocolate croissants/ croissants were all about.

The latest brainchild from the Spa Esprit Group, Tiong Bahru Bakery boasts French celeb baker Gontran Cherrier who not only has a popular boulangerie in Paris, is the host of two baking shows on TV and author of baking books as the consultant chef.  Set in Tiong Bahru where sister outlets, 40 Hands and Open Door Policy also reside, this area is fast becoming one of my fave places here in Singapore.  Other delish bakes to try include the superb Almond & Chocolate Croissant and the squishy Green Bun with ground rocket leaves.  Oh and I hear that there’s another branch opening soon at Raffles City come August, so yay to that! 

Now back to bread-talk, I guess one of the advantages of not having a job is having the time to check out these places which may be way too crowded to go to over the weekend or during rush hour. I’m glad I have a couple of like-minded friends who are just as adventurous and willing to go suss out these places with me as well.

I arrived at Tiong Bahru Bakery a little after 1.30pm. Think we managed to miss the lunch-time crowds but having said that, the bakery was pretty busy with people coming in and out just to get their hands on the buns.

Famished, I made by way and queued patiently for the bread. Don’t be ‘put off’ by the long queues, it does move pretty fast.

The ‘must-have’ at Tiong Bahru Bakery is apparently the crisp and flaky croissant. There were only four of the chocolate ones and two of the plain ones left. I should have just grabbed everything and pack some of them home as the kitchen stopped baking pretty early and closed at 3pm for a company function on the day that we were there. Arh well, gotta come back here again then!

Other items that looked really good included these yummy focaccia topped with bacon/ tuna and hearty serving of rocket greens.

They also had a good mix of sweet tarts if you fancy something to go along with a good brew.

The lunch spread of buns and tart! We shared all of these of course! Verdict? The tomato bun with bacon and cheese felt like a hearty way to kick-start the raging appetite. I read somewhere that the squid ink bun was a must-order as well. I liked it for it was a little salty but the pal thought was a novelty gimmick for you couldn’t really taste the squid ink except for the black coloring.

Now the chocolate croissant! Was it really as good as what it proclaimed? I thought it was flaky, buttery and just enough choc chips for my taste-buds. The friend, on the other hand, thought the choc croissants from Maison Kayser were much better. I wouldn’t know but guess where I will be heading soon? And to end the meal, we shared the lemon tart which I thought was just passable because of it’s ‘cakey’ texture. The creamy lemon tart would have been a better choice.

And since we were there, I couldn’t resist packing some of the buns and sweets home for the rest of the family to try. Was shocked by the bill – S$40 for five pastries and three desserts – but I guess this was a ‘once in a blue moon’ type of treat.

Would I come back? Probably, to bag more of those croissants that I failed to bag this trip. ;p Are the crowds really that bad? I guess we were lucky but for the 2 odd hours that we were there, people just came in waves so it really depends if you wanna pack those bakes or sit around for a cuppa.

Tiong Bahru Bakery

Address: #01-70 Eng Hoon Street, Singapore

Closed on Tuesdays

 

About these ads