Food Review: Tiong Bahru Bakery | Best croissant in Singapore

Posted on September 5, 2012 by theRantingPanda in Food

The Place This post is kinda passe as TheRantingPanda acknowledges that it should have reviewed this much earlier given the much hype the past few months. I finally had the chance to grace the flagship store of Tiong Bahru Bakery along Eng Hoon Street in the charming Tiong Bahru estate.

Does Tiong Bahru Bakery serves the best croissant in Singapore?

The man behind this successful bakery is Gontran Cherrier, a celebrity baker who had previous stints at Michelin-starred restaurants. The birth of Tiong Bahru Bakery is the successful collaboration between the Spa Espirit Group and Gontran Cherrier. Proudly displayed at the front of the bakery is the profile cum credentials of this man.

Insane is an understatement when it comes to describing the Saturday weekend crowd in Tiong Bahru Bakery. It does not help that the space is fully maximised to house patrons, judging by the close proximity of the tables and chairs. The walk-in crowd was incessant, and the ambience of the whole place simply feels too intense and haphazard for a relaxing weekend afternoon bread and coffee. The poor sound acoustic and blasted music does not help at all in the noise level. Be warned that this is not the best place to chill on weekends and I will most likely patronise the newly opened Raffles City branch on my next visit. We waited for about 15 minutes before we are shown to our table.

The Food I am surprised by the wide selection of pastry and bread at Tiong Bahru Bakery, which leaves me spoil for choice. It is somewhat the epitome of artisan bakery in my opinion. I shall let the pictures do the talking from here.

Generally, I feel that the prices are reasonable given the creative creations and effort made in serving the wide variety and flavour of bread and pastry.

As for drinks, there is also a handful of coffee types to go for. The quality of the coffee at Tiong Bahru Bakery is pretty much assured as its coffee beans is sourced from the nearby renowned cafe Forty hands.

We decided to try the Mocha (Large – $8) which in my opinion is one of the best around in Singapore. The blend of the cocoa and coffee is perfect as it has the right mix of proportions.

It will be a sin not to order the much acclaimed Croissant ($2.50) here, which is the most talked about item at Tiong Bahru Bakery. Does it leave up to the high expectations? I would say yes, as the croissant is fluffy enough and not too oily for my liking. As for whether it is the best around, I will not proclaim so yet until I have the chance to try its other competitors such as Maison Kayser and Paul Bakery.

I was also having a sweet tooth that day so we ended up ordering the Chocolate Mendiant ($6.50). I like the richness of the dark chocolate layer, which has nuts and dried fruits within.

Another food item we tried was the Ham and Mozzarella Focaccia ($8.00) which is akin to open sandwich. I find that the texture is too tough which makes eating and slicing it a little difficult. The cheese layer is also not cheesy enough for my palate.

Will I return again? On the whole, I am sure that I will definitely return to Tiong Bahru Bakery again to try its other creations but I am almost certain that I will be checking out the Raffles City branch on my next visit. There are a lot more reasons to patronise Tiong Bahru Bakery other than its croissant.