I want Kouign Amann – Tiong Bahru Bakery

Ok finally another Singapore post, I don’t think I will ever get through all my posts and stories that I would like to share with you guys! I still have posts from Europe too sighhh wished I had more time! This quick trip to Singapore was really more an eating trip, I literally planned all our activities around where we wanted to eat And to save time it was good to go to one place and be able to cross a couple of places off our list ~

Raffles City 

Raffles city was one of them, thanks to Lianne, my personal Singapore tourist, I was able to visit Brotzeit for some delicious German food and pork hock then we made our way to Tiong Bahru Bakery and Smoulder Soft Core Bakers in the food court in the basement ~ But let’s start with Tiong Bahru Bakery first

When I first heard of Tiong Bahru Bakery, I honestly thought it was going to be an Asian bakery selling steamed cakes such as Kuehs or maybe more Japanese style sponge and chiffon cakes. But to my surprise when I arrived at Tiong Bahru Bakery, it turns it that it was a bakery that has worked in collaboration with young French patisserie Gontron Cherrier. I wished I had known about Gontron Cherrier earlier so then I would’ve been able to visit his patisserie in Paris at the start of the year as well and compare it to the baked goodies in Singapore~

Display of Cakes

There was a lot to choose from – cakes, tarts, bread, pies, brownies, savoury or sweet basically you name it and it was there on display. We really didn’t know what to choose, so I asked the girl serving us what their top sellers  and she said “our Kouign Amann that’s our best seller”. Without thinking I replied “one of those, that tart and that one too and the croissant”. There done I finally ordered

Did I order too much for 3 people? But there’s 3 of us! I’m sure we can demolish it! Actually, I think I could demolish it myself hehe

Kouign Amann $3.5SGD ($2.90AUD)

I was intrigued by this mysterious Kouign Amann so that’s the first time we’ll tackled ~ Turns out was like a breton cake, made from bread dough then layered with butter and sugar. It tasted like a larger, fluffier version of a palmier. I was overwhelmed by the buttery, sugary and flakiness. I think I went to heaven for a second If you like palmiers you will like this even more! Trust me! Of course I bought another one and had it for pre-breakfast snack the next day.

Chocolate Croissant  $3.2SGD($2.67AUD)

Next up was the chocolate croissant the puff pastry was so flakey and crispy on the outside but still moist inside. Our only complaint would be the tiny piece of chocolate in the pastry, it would have been better if there was more ~

Pandan Flan $6SGD ($5AUD)

Kirk and I were quite excited about the pandan flan because it was tall standing, light green in colour and smelt absolutely divine. I eagerly grabbed my fork and took a bite, but I was immediately disappointed, the tart had a very rubbery texture and left a strange feeling on our tongue. It didn’t have that intense pandan flavour we expected either and was rather bland

Lemon Tart $6SG ($5AUD)

The lemon tart was another recommendation by the waitress, unfortunately, it was a disappointment. The pastry case was very dry and quite dark, it was so hard we weren’t even able to cut through it with a knife. The filling was also a little strange as it was like a lemon mouse, very sour with a bitterness towards the end.

Coffee menu

We really liked the coffee menu on the wooden board near the cashier, it explains all the different types of coffees and the amount of coffee and milk for each one. I didn’t know there was more milk in a cappuccino compared to a latte

Left – Magic $6.5SGD($6.5AUD)
Right – Mocha $6.8SGD ($5.65AUD) 

Kirk and I ordered the mocha (on the top right), where we found it to be rather watery and not as chocolatey as we expected. While Mr Bao ordered the magic and was very surprised to see that the ‘magic’ coffee is not only a Melbourne cafe drink but can be found internationally. Mr Bao commented the coffee was quite good, but was very light tasting given that it had a double ristretto.

We found Tiong Bahru Bakery to be a great place to have afternoon tea, but can also be a hit and miss.  The puff pastry was made very well considering the fact that it’s very humid in Singapore and I have heard that it’s quite hard to make puff pastry when the weather is so warm and wet. I am definitely on the hunt to find a Kouign Amann in Melbourne and if I can’t find it, I will bribe, force and coerce my friends (hint hint Kirk) to make it for me

Tiong Bahru Bakery 
252 North Bridge Road (branch)
#B1-11/12 Raffles City Shopping Centre
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 6333 4160
Daily: 9am – 10pm

Raffles City Shopping Centre
252 N Bridge Rd  Singapore 179103
+65 6318 0238