Wu Pao Chun (吳寶春麥方店): Award-Winning Lychee Bread From Taiwanese Bakery Finally In Capitol Piazza

It seems like we Singaporeans just can’t get enough of Taiwanese fare.

Just within the past few months, so many Taiwanese chains have announced that they’re opening in Singapore.

There was CHICHA San Chen, Xing Fu Tang, Milksha and, most recently, Fong Sheng Hao.

But now, joining the latest lineup of Taiwanese brands in Singapore is Wu Pao Chun Bakery (吳寶春麥方店).

This new bakery sits in a prominent spot on the first floor of Capitol Piazza.

Their location in the CBD area means higher prices, and you’d probably think that it would be unpopular.

To our utter surprise, we saw a crowd there in the middle of a weekday afternoon.

The bakery, staffed with a team trained in Taiwan, features an open-kitchen concept. You can actually see the chefs making the bread from scratch!

To appeal to our Singaporean palates, we heard that the owner himself, Wu Pao Chun, experimented with our local flavours.

Eventually, he and his team created a variety of local-inspired items, all of which are exclusive to Singapore!

We know how important a cuppa is on a workday. Fortunately, the bakery serves up a Coffee-C 咖啡-C (S$2.80) which you can start your day with.

This Singapore-exclusive bread features a delightfully pillowy bun. With strips of coffee custard cream throughout it, we were expecting to pick up a strong coffee flavour.

However, we tasted notes of saltiness and nuttiness instead. The custard reminded us of peanut butter, which wasn’t what we expected but was a pleasant surprise.

They also embedded some roasted peanuts on the crust, which gave a satisfying crunch.

We Singaporeans love our chicken rice. Therefore, Wu Pao Chun took the classic local favourite and created the Hainanese Chicken Fun 海南鸡Fun (S$5.20).

There were actual chunks of boneless Hainanese chicken sandwiched in the bun, but that’s not all.

In true Hainanese chicken rice style, they’ve also added chilli, as well as a ginger paste in it!

Immediately, the immense spiciness of the chilli hit the back of my throat and caught me off guard. The strong astringency of the ginger then followed, unleashing a wave of strong flavours in my mouth.

That said, if you want to try this one-of-a-kind bread, make sure you head down early.

They only serve up 25 pieces a day and you can only get it upon ordering at the counter.

For all you brown sugar bubble tea fans out there, Wu Pao Chun actually has a Brown Sugar 嘿撞吐 (S$3.40) bun.

They inserted cubes of their handmade brown sugar into the bread dough before baking. This meant that the brown sugar would melt while baking, spreading throughout the bun and creating a strong and addictive caramel flavour.

Not only that, but they’ve also infused the bread dough itself with brown sugar. Hence, every bite we took was full of decadence and invited us to take an even bigger bite.

We heard that the one we’re having in Singapore is a scaled-down version of the original in their Taiwan outlets. I hope that they’ll eventually give us the original size here in Singapore too!

For something unique, I’d recommend going for A Lemon 大柠蒙 (S$2.80). This bun features a soft bread wrapped around a lemon pound cake.

Firstly, the pound cake on the inside had a super acidic flavour. Just taking a nibble actually made my lips pucker up.

That said, the refreshing zestiness of the lemon juice served as a great palate cleanser.

Not only that, but the bun also had a thick coating of lemon custard. It reminded me of Krispy Kreme’s Original Glazed Doughnut!

Of course, we certainly weren’t going to leave the bakery without trying their signature award-winning Lychee Rose Royale 荔枝玫瑰 (S$20.80).

This masterpiece by Wu Pao Chun won him the title of champion at the 2010 Louis Lesaffre Cup. But I bet you’re wondering, why does it cost so much?

Well, that’s because the ingredients they use for this bread are all premium! They’ve also flown them in all the way from Taiwan to retain the original and authentic taste.

With huge chunks of dried lychee bits in the bread, every bite we took exploded with zestiness. There was an abundance of roasted walnuts too, which contrasted the ultra-fluffy bread well.

We also appreciated the fact that the crust of the bread was remarkably soft.

Not to mention, the bread was also massive. Definitely perfect for sharing with the family, if you ask me.

However, in view of its steep price, I probably wouldn’t splurge on it again as it wasn’t all that mind-blowing.

Nevertheless, we unanimously agreed that the bread from Wu Pao Chun indeed tasted a cut above the rest. Across the many different variants we tried, each one was satisfyingly dense and moist.

Though I wouldn’t travel all the way just for Wu Pao Chun’s bread, I’d definitely drop by if I’m in the area. Their Singapore-exclusive items and that indulgent Brown Sugar bun are surely worth returning for!

Expected Damage: S$2.80 – 20.80 per bread