Chin Mee Chin Confectionery

Probably the last of its kind left in Singapore, Chin Mee Chin Confectionery or CMC as it is popularly called in Katong is a old style Hainanese coffee shop serving beverages and bread served the traditional way.

 

Inside the 2 old style glass cabinets are trays of freshly baked buns

Authentic custard tarts.

And custard buns. These are good. Soft and the custard literally oozes out.

And they sell kaya too. Sickeningly sweet kaya. Damn shiok but don't eat too much though. Its really really sweet.

Its most famous item has to be the butter kaya bun where instead of the usual 2 slice of white or brown bread, the kaya and butter is spread onto a sweet bun.

And we not talking of a small thin slice of butter either. It is a thick thick slice right on top of the kaya which is spread on both sides of the bun. Yummy.

Another hot favourite of theirs is the lucheon meat bun but it was not available on this occasion.

Go try it if you in the area. Before the old owner retires and the shop makes way for another new style coffee joint.

Paul Bakery

Singapore has been seeing a influx of high class "artisan" or in local speak "atas" bakery from overseas. There is the weirdly named Tiong Bahru Bakery by an ang moh master baker from , a Korean outlet called "Paris Baguette" and several others scattered all over. And then there is Paul at Ngee Ann City.

When it opened early this year, it was perpetually packed. Despite its hefty prices, people flocked there to eat and be seen eating high class bread.

Me, after waiting for the hullaboo to end, I tabao home some bread including its most famous croissants. And I must said I am impressed with the flavour and texture but unfortunately not the price.

Johore Bahru Bak Kut Teh in Singapore!

Was out running and came across this place that proudly proclaims it sells Johor Bahru Bak Kut Teh. So that got me all curious. Was it going to be as good as those in the real JB or a dud like the Johor Bahru Bao? So  to satisfy my curiosity, we went down one evening to try out the food. The place was packed but a look at the tables revealed that most people were eating the zhi-char items rather than the bak kut teh. In particular, every other table was having the curry fish head. 

 Like any typical Malaysian stall, there is a cooking counter where the various items for the bak kut teh is cooked. Very "china" right?

But we were there for the bak kut teh and so will leave the fish head for another day.

Pullman Bakery

Cream Curry Bread (photo from Pullman Bakery's FB)

Another 'Japanese' bakery has hit our shore. Sick of Barcook, Provence or Oishii? Try the original Japanese bakery all the way from Hokkaido, Japan.

The famous Pullman bakery has opened an outlet at Millenia Walk though I wonder why there of all places. But then again because it is there, there wasn't such a long queue as compared to say Barcook with its perpetual queue.

Mini Croissant (photo from Pullman Bakery's FB)

So what is nice? Like all Japanese bakery, it has the cream cheese bun but it specialty is the Curry Bread. So I bought that and the red bean bun which looks good too. How did they taste? Not too bad. But what I like best was the mini croissant. At $0.40 a pop, it wasn't really cheap but damn, it went in damn well.

Mooshi Bakes

Went by this bakery at East Coast, thought the place looks interesting and went back after lunch for a look see look see. Turned out it belongs to the people from Awfully Chocolate and was actually a 3 in one outlet comprising the Awfully Chocolate which had relocated from Katong Mall; JooJoo (what an unimaginative name!) which sells yakitori and finally the bakery which attracted my attention, Mooshi Bakes.

Was awed into silence when I saw their cream puff was priced at $3.90! Now what type of cream puff is worth that price? Of course, curiosity sufficiently piqued, went back after work and bought 1 cream puff plus an assortment of other breads to try.

The cream puff was fairly big and filled with lots and lots of errr very creamy cream. Ha ha I know it sounds kind of crappy but that was really the only way to describe it. In fact, I asked for it to be taken away and eaten there and then but the staff insisted on putting it inside a beautiful white box claiming the cream will squirt all over. In the end not daring to having cream on my shirt, I took it home to share it with the family. Their unanimous verdict? Yummy! So how come half of it is still in the fridge? While it is nice, I think it is a tad too big and creamy and would have been nicer if it was half its size.

The other pastry that impressed my colleagues the previous day was the Mooshi Mooshi - a bun like version of the raisin cream cheese bun made famous by Barcook Bakery. Yes this one was good. Not too creamy and with just a wee bit of raisin.

The other one that I liked was the Gooey, a cheesed topped cinnamon bun. It looks a bit yucky but I am a big sucker for cinnamon so yummy. Trouble is, it cost $1.90 each which sounds like a hell lot to pay for a bun.

This picture from http://life-bite.blogspot.com/

With so many so called 'Japanese' specialty bakery sprouting all over, I seriously wonder how long this outlet with its much higher price buns will survive. But I really hope I will be proven wrong though.

Real Bread!

The Princess finally had her first success! After numerous attempts to make a proper looking and more importantly, decent tasting bread, she finally succeeded. Don’t it look good? 

Topped with cornflakes on top, we polished it off for breakfast this morning.

Tiong Bahru Market

Yah we on Singapore Tourist Board's Uniquely Singapore website.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/about_singapore/fun_stuff/multimedia1.html

Just look for Tiong Bahru Market Breakfast and click on it.

Cheap thrill!

Provence Bakery and Cafe

 

Finally had the chance to try the wassant from Provence Bakery and Cafe at Holland Village. Since it was featured once in a tv program, I had went twice without success to get it but on Saturday afternoon, on the way to dinner, was at Holland Village and walked into the shop and was surprised to see lots of it still available. the wassant was nice and soft. Really the melt in the mouth type. Nice. At $6.00 for a packet of 10, it is really good!