Malaysia
Singapore
Thailand
Most people think of bread as plain and boring but if you imagine a bit your favorite pastas/pizzas all come down to the same ingredients; bread,flour and water. It actually is rather possible to turn your favorite carbonara/pizza/comfort food of choice into bread form.
Heck just look at the widespread availability of salted egg yolk buns because of the 流沙包 golden lava bun craze. In this guide I show you where when and how to get these buns at the best of prices, all $1.80 and below. I guess Nicki Minaj and i both relate in the sense where we both want none unless you got (the) buns hun.
1. Bread Talk
To be honest, I find BreadTalk a tad bit pricey for a go-to breakfast. However, from 9pm onwards, they have a wicked promotion where any 5 of their buns go at $7 and 10 for $12. For $1.20 a bun? Its a steal for the quality ingredients Breadtalk has to offer. I like the Black Pearl here, a charcoal bread bun with an azuki bean paste and mochi filling. The milky taste of the azuki paste complements the sweet runny mochi in the charcoal bun perfectly.
If you’re planning on the 5 for $7 combo, I recommend getting the Sunny surprise, Tuna bun, Mushroom cheese sausage and Curry bun. They’re all pretty darn good, a tad bit pricey at their original price – but for $1.40 a piece, very worth it. I like Breadtalk because they use fresh cheddar (instead of those in KRAFT pre-cut slices) across their buns, that way the cheese is a lot more chewy and it goes better with the soft dough.
Address: List of outlets here | http://www.breadtalk.com.sg | Opening hours: 8am – 10pm (differs between outlets)
2. Bread Society
Located at Suntec/Orchard, Bread society is a cafe cum bakery – similar to the Paris Baguette concept without the pretentious pudding. I always make sure to get their cinnamon buns ($1.80) whenever I am in the area. This is the only place I have seen that delivers the white sugar glaze on point. It even has shots of white chocolate for that sugar high. Unroll the bun and you can see the generous amount of white brown sugar and cinnamon invested in each layer.
Their pretzels are a hot favorite too, each come in 2 flavors; salted caramel with white chocolate and Chocolate with pistachio ($1.80). I would recommend microwaving the pretzels before eating them though, they taste really disappointing when cold. A good pretzel should always be enjoyed when hot.
Address: ION Orchard #B2-19, 2 Orchard Turn, 238801 | Suntec City Mall #01-301/302, 3 Temasek Boulevard,038983 | http://www.breadsociety.com | Opening hours: Mon – Thu: 07:30 – 22:00, Fri – Sat: 07:30 – 23:00 ,Sun & PH: 09:00 – 22:00
3. Baker Talent
Baker Talent isn’t as centrally located as the other bakeries in this list, they’re usually found around the neighborhood suburbs – but they compensate it with really cheap prices; their buns range from only $0.80 to $1.20. They carry a range of simpler buns here; butter sugar, Boluo Bao, hot dog, nothing too complicated.
Their custard bun ($0.80) here is the one to watch. The custard is of the perfect consistency, chewy soft and a shade milky in flavor. It isn’t drenched in syrup tasting like artificial egg tarts. In fact of all the custard buns I’ve tried in writing this post, I find them the best and cheapest. For the best custard bun in Singapore? This is it.
Mostly in the west around Clementi, CCK with some outlets at Yishun and Tampines, refer to a full list of their outlets here | http://www.bakertalent.com.sg | Opening hours: 9am to 10pm
4. Genius Cafe
Another one of those bakery-cafes on the block, Genius cafe tries to stay more economy class by having a good range of buns priced between $0.90 to $1.20 – mostly with fillings, custard, salted egg yolk, coffee cream cheese. You can only do so much with a limited budget. They have some interesting pastries like yolk in the whole priced more steeply at $2.30, those are worth checking out.
Bun-wise, none of their buns particularly stand out but what I find really interesting is the $5 promotion they offer; a free cup of coffee/tea with every $5 spent. Sure its a silly marketing gimmick but I am more than happy to stretch the value of my dollar. Heck, if you’re feeling fancy have some truffle fries or rainbow cake for takeaway. I love the genuinely economical 2 in one cafe/bakery concept.
Address: Block 208 New Upper Changi Road #01-679, Bedok Central (Opposite Ntuc Entrance) | http://www.geniuscafebakery.com | 62430800 |Opening hours: 10am -10pm daily
5. Yamazaki Boulangerie Chaude
For the best mini pastries series promotion in Singapore, Yamazaki’s 5 for $3.30 promotion is for you. I love the chocolate glaze they use across their pastries, a faint taste of nutella with a little more cocoa. Whenever I have to choose my 5 pastries, I always opt for the ones with chocolate glaze; their donuts and danish with almonds. Their soya bean mochi is also worth noting – a mochi core enclosed in a soft bread layer dusted with white sugar and peanuts bits.
Its like the Singaporean Bee Chian Kueh in a mocha ball. Of course, their mini pastries series has savory items too – tuna, curry and sweet potato just to name a few. The pastries here are so filling more often than not it usually ends up as a lunch for me.
Address: Tampines 1 #B1-14, 10 Tampines Central 1, 529536 (Tampines Outlet) | JCube #01-18, 2 Jurong East Central 1, 609731 (Jurong Outlet) | Opening hours: 10am -10pm daily
7. Bakery Cuisine
Bakery Cuisine happens to be one of the more economical bakeries placed around the MRTs, most of their buns are priced at $1.20. However, with a budget so much they can only deliver a limited range of buns. Their prices though really deserve a shoutout, from 8am till 10pm they have a 1-1 promotion where 2 buns go at $2, across the whole day 5 buns run for $5 (where out of the 5 buns, only 1 bun can be priced at $1.50)
Their Salted egg yolk bun here is also my favorite and I dare say the best in the country. love how they use a thinner dough in their buns so the salted egg does not come off too jelak, you can evenly spread out the yolk paste with the bread. Also, it comes with this delightful yolk crumble on top for a little crunch. I say it with upmost confidence that it is the best in this island.
Address: Full list of outlets here | http://bakerycuisine.com | Opening hours: 10am – 9.30pm
8. Four Leaves
I love the Ham & Mushroom bun here ($1.50). Sour cream on top of thinly sliced mushrooms and ham with some onions sprinkled in between. There is this kick of pepper that goes with the mushrooms that brings a lot of oomph into this bun. It is like a Cabonara materialized into a bun. The only difference is that the pasta in this case is the bread itself.
Four leaves has a 5 for $3.20 offer on their mini pastries though, similar to yamazaki but I try to steer clear from it because they also have this tendency to use too much glaze on top of their buns. Hence the buns start to taste all the same after a while. Just opt for the Ham & Mushroom bun here.
With 31 outlets all over the island, refer to a full list of their outlets here | http://www.fourleaves.com.sg | Opening hours: 10am-10pm
9. Q Bread
Ingredient wise, Q bread is really really generous about their portions but similar to BakerTalent and Four Leaves, they tend to use too much sesame oil on their buns for browning. After a long day the bread can turn rather stale, so you have to be careful about your choices when buying from here. I like the mushroom bun ($1.50), the cream sauce they use with the mushrooms compensates for the drier bread.
The three layered sandwich (Ham/Egg mayo/Cheese) ($1.80) is pretty good too. They have something similar in breadtalk but I prefer the one at Q bread simply because they tend to be a lot more generous with the egg filling. They taste almost the same really. Presentation wise they might not live up to bread talk but in terms of cost savings, Q bread has got them beat.
Address: Outlets are also strewn across the island at Tampines, Boon Keng to AMK, refer to a full list here | Opening hours: 7am -10pm (daily)
10. DJ Bakery
Another bakery located in the heartlands, DJ bakery may not deliever in pretentious décor or superb presentation but they play their buns best the good ol fashion way; generous ingredients to keep customers back for more. DJ is my go to for the typical caterpillar bun ($1.80), For some peculiar reason the mainstream bakeries do not pick this up.
I am sure you have seen it before across different heartland bakeries. A bun shaped like a flower, sausages at the end with pork floss and cheese drizzled in the middle. I like DJ’s version because they go all out on ingredients and happen to be the most generous, it is comfort food of the best (and cheapest) things in life. Sausages, cheese and pork floss.
Address: Full list of outlets here | Tel: 62843860 | Opening hours: 6.30am – 9.30pm
