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Christine’s Bakery opened its doors to the public in 2017, with its first location being Sunway Geo. This was a smart move, as the mall sits in the middle of Sunway City, a bustling town filled with students and shoppers due to malls and a university campus that sit within the city’s limits.
The cafe was an instant success— it was one of the first in the Klang Valley to make specialty bagels more known and accessible to the masses. As of 2023, they now have a total of 5 outlets across Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, a testament to their quality eats and the existence of a loyal customer base.
When I first stepped foot into Sunway Geo, I was shocked by how empty the place was. Compared to Sunway Pyramid, Geo clearly isn’t as established as Pyramid, despite being a stone’s throw away from each other.
Christine’s Bakery is located in the centre of the mall, by a side entrance. At the time of my arrival, the cafe was relatively empty apart from a couple occupied tables. It was, after all, a random Wednesday evening. I’m sure it gets pretty busy on the weekends.
What I tried at Christine’s Bakery
The first of 2 to arrive was the Torched Banana (RM17.80) bagel. Christine’s is known for their bagels, and we were given the power to choose which bagel we wanted. The available flavours at the time were sea salt, pumpkin, cheese, seeded, walnut, and of course, their original bagel. Given the fact that we were ordering a dessert bagel, I asked for the original flavour to act as a plain base for the flavours to come.
Looking at the cross-section alone was already satisfying. They must’ve used the world’s sharpest knife, because the heaping portion of almond flakes were cleanly sliced, leaving no crumbs on the wooden tray.
The bagel itself was good, a perfect example of what a bagel should be— airy and chewy on the inside with a nice, glossy crust on the outside. Admittedly, it was nothing revolutionary, but Christine’s definitely is a fantastic place to get your bagel cravings satisfied.
The Torched Banana filling included brown sugar brulee banana, almonds, pandan kaya, and butter. Despite the brown sugar and kaya, the bakery was able to balance out the sweetness with the thick bread.
I sometimes find that the usage of bananas as an ingredient can be quite tricky; the fruit has a tendency to overpower other ingredients in a dish (this is especially obvious in smoothies). To my delight, the kaya still shone through, adding a hint of fragrant pandan into the mix.
Although I generally don’t find almonds to be flavourful, the almond flakes in this dish aided in dispelling some of the sweetness. It also provided a pleasant crunch to each bite.
Next is the star of the show— the crozza. At Christine’s, a crozza is a croissant pizza. This specialty dish has been making waves on social media, and this was what actually prompted me to pay the bakery a visit. With all the strange food combinations that have been popping up in recent years, I can confidently say that their crozza is one of the few that actually works. While most businesses try to come up with unique food items just for a viral moment, Christine’s was created with culinary excellence in mind.
We opted for the Triple Happiness (RM49) prepared with marinated lamb, braised beef brisket, roasted chicken, jalapeno, red onion mozzarella, cheese, and mustard barbeque sauce.
Everyone’s first bite was promptly followed by nods and surprised wows. Even on its own, the crust was spectacular— buttery and flaky, with a slight crunch when bitten into. The best way to describe this pizza crust is that it mostly tastes and feels like the outer layer of a croissant, tenfold. It pulled apart the same way the french pastry normally would, revealing soft, buttery layers.
I was also surprised by its structural integrity. A lot of regular pizzas tend to have soft doughs that flop down the moment you pick it up, leaving you to scrape toppings off the serving dish with cutlery. The crozza was equally sturdy as it was soft. We were able to pull the pieces apart hassle-free.
The toppings were delicious! You might think that having 3 types of protein on a pizza is overkill, but the meats worked together in unison. One of the highlights was the mustard barbeque sauce. The sweetness of the barbeque flavour paired well with the pungent nature of mustard.
Final thoughts
The influx of aesthetically pleasing cafes in this era driven by social media has probably left you feeling overwhelmed or bored of these kinds of eateries. It’s always the same old overpriced breakfast dishes and diluted coffee. Although they aren’t particularly the latest or hyped up cafe in KL, you’ll most probably feel a whole lot more satisfied visiting Christine’s than wherever that’s currently trending on TikTok.
If you’re looking for a well-decorated place with delicious food and insta-worthy photo spots, Christine’s Bakery is a cafe that I highly recommend. Although their prices are on par with other cafes (read: pricey), the chances of you feeling like your money was well spent here are pretty high.
Expected damage: RM30 – RM50 per pax
