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Wander into Hong Lim Complex, and you’ll find a hole-in-the-wall bakery shop, Pretty Good Muffins on Level 2.
Pretty Good Muffins (PGM) is a small business that opened in Aug 2024. Because of its insanely affordable muffins, it has quickly grown to be a popular spot among customers of all ages. Drinks like brewed tea and chocolate are also available at reasonable prices – can you believe matcha costs as little as S$5 here?
Two of PGM’s founders, Mao and Pan, explained the preparation process to me. The muffins begin with 1 of 3 base batters: Vanilla, Chocolate, and Matcha.
I got to see the whole process firsthand. Pan first mixed the batter in a large stand mixer before ladling an equal amount into each paper cup. Toppings such as mashed banana, Mars Bar chunks and blueberry jam were then added to create the flavour combinations.
As the pastries baked, Mao and Pan shared more of Pretty Good Muffin’s backstory. PGM not only stands for the obvious but is also an abbreviation of the owners’ names: Pan (P), Gang Yuan (G) and Mao (M).
Entering the F&B industry was an unexpected leap of faith for the trio, who used to run a bouncy castle business. A retiring senior baker had entrusted them with his recipes, but kept his roll cake recipe as a gift to his daughter.
Running a food business may be challenging, but PGM trusts the process will get better over time. The team also listens to customer reviews and is open to staff members pitching ideas, like creative new flavours to improve their products. Their wish is not for perfection, but to serve delicious and affordable fare – hence “Not the best, but pretty good”.
What I tried at Pretty Good Muffins
Mao mentioned Nutella Sea Salt (S$1.80) as one of Pretty Good Muffin’s most popular flavours. Our fate of trying it seemed inevitable – my friends and I had already been eyeing the chocolate spread-filled muffins on display from the start. The vanilla batter base had a yellowish tint that contrasted with the darker spread in the middle.
The muffin itself was fluffy, buttery and warm out of the oven. I was glad to find it not overly sweet and pairing well with the Nutella.
Though delighted by the decadent hazelnut chocolate, my friends and I couldn’t taste the sea salt. It had been sprinkled onto the muffin before baking, but there didn’t seem to be enough to give it a salty finish. More Nutella would’ve also brought the muffin to the next level, but it was otherwise delightful.
Among the matcha muffins, the Matcha Strawberry (S$2.50) stood out because of the vivid crimson jam pooling in its centre.
It was, in my opinio,n the most visually captivating of the lot. The way the ruby-red strawberry flowed and glistened against the deep matte green when split in half was strangely hypnotising.
Syrup-like, the jam reminded me of the kind old-school bakeries use in their confectioneries; slightly artificial but delightfully nostalgic. I was able to taste the earthy matcha incorporated into the muffin batter as well, though I’d say the butteriness was more prominent.
Speaking of matcha, I also tried Pretty Good Muffins’ Banana Pudding Matcha (S$6.90). To make it, ceremonial-grade matcha is first whisked thoroughly before being combined with milk and topped with homemade banana pudding.
Bananas aren’t my favourite, but I have to admit that the drink impressed me. The banana flavour in the creamy custard wasn’t too sweet or overpowering, and the chunks of fruit and biscuits layered into the pudding gave it a rich, cake-like mouthfeel.
My favourite component was the fragrant matcha, which tasted smooth and not astringent or bitter. It was of such good quality that you’d think it came from a high-end cafe! At that moment, I was already conjuring up plans to grab a pure Just Matcha Latte (S$5) if I wound up in Chinatown again.
Petite Krumbs: Ex hotel chef’s hawker bakery has atas bakes from $2, long queues at 8.30am
It came as no surprise that the Banana Walnut Muffin (S$1.90) was well-received by my banana-loving companions. While they felt the banana overpowered the chocolate muffin base and the walnuts, it was sweet and overall a thumbs-up for them.
A plain chocolate muffin wasn’t enough for my chocolate-loving self, so I chose a Double Chocolate Muffin (S$1.50), sprinkled with semi-sweet chocolate chips. While I wished some had been mixed into the middle of the batter, those on top created a lovely sugary topping. Thankfully, the pillowy yet crumbly muffin also had a sufficiently rich chocolate taste that kept it true to its name.
We did not expect the Biscoff Muffin (S$1.90) to steal our hearts. This addictive flavour had cemented itself as our favourite within mere seconds of our first bites.
Biscoff cookie crumbles topped the dessert, which had a visible swirl on its crust. A dollop of thick Lotus Biscoff spread sat in the centre of the muffin. While small, it packed a burst of nutty caramel flavour that went wonderfully with the vanilla sponge and slightly crunchy crust.
Final thoughts
While not fancy or top-tier, the simple muffins were a yummy afternoon treat that appeased my raging sweet tooth that day. If you’re a fan of buttery-tasting muffins, this might be a place you’d like. There were many other flavours as well, but these will have to make do for now, or else my word count would combust.
Since Pretty Good Muffins is constantly experimenting with muffin flavours, do be on the lookout for whenever a new one drops.
Expected damage: S$7.60 – S$15.20 per pax
