What’s your favourite type of bread? Mine’s the ‘croissant’ (pronounced as ‘kwah-son’). Who can resist those delicious pillowy, flaky layers of buttery, crisp yet chewy bread… well, people with more willpower than me, that’s for sure.
Besides (various types and flavours of) croissants, I do enjoy most of the other similar breads in the Viennoiserie (or sometimes more loosely termed as pastries) family as well – from the kouign amann to the pain au chocolat and the other swirly ones.
Over the past year, during the circuit breaker and various phases of life in the ‘new normal’, I kind of gave up on my previous low carb diet and allowed myself to indulge in these pastries that I love so much (and paid for it by putting on maybe like 4kg or so, sigh, but that’s a story for another time).
So here are some places I’ve tried croissants and other pastries from and liked:
Well, this neighbourhood sure likes their bakes, if the queue at the little bakery under a HDB block in Farrer Road is any indication. One day during the circuit breaker, I suddenly had a craving for croissants and spontaneously hopped on a train to get myself some pastries.
I tried – the Triple Cheese Ham Croissant (S$6), Almond Croissant (S$5), Ferrero Rochor and Lemon Curd Cruffins (S$5 each). Their cruffins are popular items but I much preferred the two croissants that I had. Superbly done, I liked how they were so flaky and crisp. Felt like they were on the less buttery side but I guess this made them light and easy to finish.
On a side note, the Burnt Cheesecake is amazing.
2. Brotherbird
Known for their innovative flavours that change every month, Brotherbird is no stranger to many Singaporeans who have camped by their computers or phones every weekend during the circuit breaker to snap up one of their popular pastry boxes.
Weirdly enough, I haven’t actually tried their normal croissant I think, just their special flavours like the Ferrero Rocher, Almond and Peach Twice Baked, Mentaiko Prawn Twice Baked and Strawberry Daifuku ones (all around S$6 each).
I liked them all, especially the Mentaiko Prawn one, with the rich and savoury paste oozing out of the slightly chewy, buttery pastry. The Daifuku one with the gooey mochi within was really enjoyable too!
My friend also raved about the Ferrero Rocher as the thick chocolate filling really oozed out of it upon the first bite.
When Le Matin first appeared on the food scene, its proposition was seductive – pastries by a chef who used to work at the world’s best restaurant (at least, for 4 years in a row), Noma? Yes, please.
I first ordered a box in May 2020, when they were still starting out, at S$34 for 5 pieces. They’ve since adjusted it to S$30, probably because of economies of scale, which is great.
Similarly, I’ve not tried a regular croissant from Le Matin, but I’m a fan of their Kouign Amann. It’s super crisp, flaky yet chewy and was a lovely sugarly but not cloying kind of sweet.
Not so much of the Smoked Cruffin and the Lacto Plum ones though, thought the former was maybe a tad too smoked and slightly bitter and the latter was on the sour side.
My favourite from the current box is their Almond Croissant – constructed in a way that’s different from the usual, and actually, makes it even more delicious, in my opinion. Crunchy almond slices were concentrated together at the top and the pastry went around it, with a slightly sweet almond paste in the centre. It was so delicious!
Initially came here to try their Burnt Cheesecakes, but wasn’t too impressed with them. Then heard about their signature Sor Hei (S$3.20), a pretty looking twisted pastry with chocolate chips layered into it.
I really liked the Sor Hei, it was a good mix of slightly savoury and sweet and the melty chocolate parts were so good. I also tried the Almond Croissant, which I seem to remember being quite nice, but otherwise, not much impression of it.
5. Baker & Cook
This isn’t one of those super popular, always with a line kind of place, but it does its job in terms of providing lovely bakes on a regular basis. I also love that they offer Multigrain Croissants on top of the regular ones, makes me feel a little healthier.
I know bread isn’t quite the same thing, but they really do make good bread. I especially like the multigrain one which usually come with the also very delicious Spanish Omelette that’s chockful of chorizo, bell peppers, cheese and such.
It’s somewhere you can rely on to provide quality breads and pastries on a regular basis, in my opinion.
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Some others I’ve tried include breadyard, Bread & Hearth, The Bakehaus and they were not bad too, but I just prefer the ones I shared above. I also just had an interesting Hae Bee Hiam (S$8) croissant from Percolate that was surprisingly really tasty.
What do you think, have you tried any of these and which do you like best?
Recommend your favourites to me below!
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