Asanoya Boulangerie
It's been a couple of months since Japanese bakery chain Asanoya Boulangerie opened its first-ever outlet outside of Japan in Singapore but i wasn't too quick to join the queue at the Queen Street outlet. Well i guess that's a good thing since when i recently visited, i found the place quiet and peaceful (also empty) during brunch time on a Saturday.
Well i guess the hype kind of died down when people realised that Asanoya is first and foremost a bakery, not a cafe. Hence, unless your idea of brunch is a small sandwich, pastry or cake, you may be disappointed when you visit. Thankfully, Asanoya's offerings are perfect for this petite bread lover! Also, do not come expecting artisan coffee. My flat white was nothing like a flat white and it was burnt, but i was wise not to have any expectations.
Before i could get started on my order, i was distracted by the freshly baked loaves on display. Of course i had to sample them before i can decide on what to buy home!
The signature Karuizawa bread comes in various flavors and i tried the blueberry and green tea ones. The bread has the typical European crust (though not too hard) and the interior of the typical soft chewy and airy Japanese bread. Each loaf is pretty big, weighing more than 1.2kg but they price it by slice/weight as well, so you can easily grab a few pieces in your preferred flavors. The breads are lightly sweetened and perfect on their own.
Asanoya also has the smaller earl grey tea loaves ($4.20) which everyone should get their hands on (i would walk away with all in fact). First flush earl grey tea leaves are used and flavors such as orange and blueberry are also available. I would have gotten the original but the blueberry was a nice match with the tea (orange was a little overpowering).
On to the savories, the Bacon quiche ($6) had an asian flavor to it (onions) and tasted a little like those zi char fu yong omelette. The egg custard was still satisfying, that it until you hit the extremely salty cheese bits. The crust needs more work as you can see from the thick, undercooked and hard edges.
Other hot savory favorites include the Potato French bread which encased an entire potato in it, with butter and mayonnaise. Comes highly recommended by fellow food bloggers. Carb in carbs anyone?
The Campagne cranberry and cheese bread would be my choice for brunch if i could stomach more food. Just look at those chunks of cheese! Other than that, i also would not give the maple walnut pretzel a miss.
As for the sweet stuff, Asanoya is known for their lava Cube Loaf ($4.50) which comes in chocolate and green tea. Do not expect it to ooze like a lava cake. I was under the impression that the wait staff would warm it up for me (he said he would) but the center was still cold. Well, the custard was sufficiently milky, with a light sweetness. I did enjoy the slighty chewy bread and i could it on its own.
Overall, Asanoya Boulangerie is a nice spot to enjoy some tea bread with tea (skip the coffee please). I would consider popping back to stock up my breads if i'm in the area. You can also get spreads, dips and oils which will complement the breads from the on site gourmet shop. Set lunches are available too.
Open daily from 10am
Weekends from 8am
About the Author
Posts
0 comments
Comments