We always look back to our younger years with fond memories and by association, Bukit Timah will always hold a special place in my heart. The old school Coronation Plaza was one of our hangouts after school (No points for getting my school right). Back then there weren't that many options for us. It was Ke3 Ai4 Ji1 for the chicken cutlet rice, cosy corner for Japanese food or Prince for the $6 Western food set with free flow drinks. I remember mugging for our O level Chinese paper at Venezia at 6th Avenue. There's that ice cream prata place that closed down too. Serene Centre used to have a 2 storey MacDonalds which has since been downsized. Just like how memories fade and we create new ones, new food establishments have taken over/sprung up in the area and i've come to count on some of them as my comfort food source.
The latest addition to the Greenwood eateries is Baker & Cook, an artisan bakery and food store opened by Global Baker Dean Brettschneider. The month old bakery produces its own brand range of jams, cookies, cakes, homemade granola and more. Just the selection of breads alone will leave you stupefied. It took me a long while to finally decide on what i want.
The set up kinda reminds me of Simply Bread which is located at Guthrie House at 6th Ave but B&C has more of a pastry and dessert selection. The 20-odd seater fills up pretty quickly and space in the air conditioned section is hard to come by. Expect to jostle for attention if you want to satisfy your hungry tummy! To make things easier, check out their menu on their website and place your order immediately upon arrival. :)
I had a blind taste test of their bagel prior to coming to the bakery and it is the best i've tasted in Singapore. It is chewy without being overly tough on the jaw and i love how there is this tinge of saltiness to the dough. Very New-Yorkish. The blueberry bagel ($2.35ea) is a dessert in itself. The berries would simply burst when you sink your teeth into the bagel and act as a fresh jam to sweeten each bite.
Sandwiches are available at $8.50 and what's available is dependent on the Chef's mood. There were only 2 options and that makes life a lot easier for indecisive eaters. Ham And Cheese Turkish Pide Sandwich ($8.50) was my choice for my Tinner (Tea+Dinner). The bread is tough on the outside, the toasted part is almost like a pizza crust and it crackles with each bite. However, it's pillowy soft on the inside. Love the black sesame seeds on top. They added on a smoky dimension that is oh-so-fragrant. Eat it fast though. It really gets the jaw going when it's colder.
Z was raving about the quiche even before we got to the bakery. For $7.95, you get a slice of the pie with a salad of your choice. I'm not a big fan of vegetables but this is very fresh. The burst of colors of the fresh greens and reds really helped whet our appetites. The eggy centre was extremely moist and creamy. I've hit the Quiche jackpot! The pastry is not very crispy because it has absorbed all the essence of the fillings.
The wide array of colorful desserts were hard to resist. We started off with the lemon tart. I like the crumbly and buttery texture of the crust. The curd is a little more fluid and sticky and also leaning towards the sweet side. I would prefer it to be a tad more sour (it's a lemon tart afterall!). In the end i emptied the golden cup of its content and focused on the tart while Z happily ate the curd.
Had the mochaccino and it was a liquid chocolate-expresso fantasy. For $5.50, a huge mug of fragrant chocolatey dream is served. The texture is smooth and the foam was really thick and it held up the sugar for a really long time (i'm gonna start timing next time). Anyway, it's almost like drinking hot chocolate but the sneaky caffeine gave me an energizer-bunny buzz for the rest of the night. This is like downing cocktails without realizing how strong the drinks are and then getting pretty drunk. Caffeine is my alcohol.
The cakes look very yummy, especially the cheesecakes. They look especially moist and dense. Whole cakes go for about $23-25.
Z doesn't like cheesecake so we settled for the chocolate cake which was quite a disappointment. There is no denying that the texture was quite perfect- dense and thick. However, it seems to lack in the chocolate department, it just wasn't rich enough. On the whole, it was pretty dry.
Packed the shortbread home. Every mouthful was a cranberry explosion. Z thought it was too much as it's hard to enjoy the true taste of the shortbread. I thought the shortbread was a little bland and the taste fell flat. Thankfully the cranberries revived it a little.
So yay! More brunch options in the Bukit Timah area. Don't say i never share! Now off to yoga!
Baker & Cook
77 Hillcrest Road, Greenwood
Tel: +65 6469 8834
Sun - Thu: 7am - 8pm
Fri - Sat: 7am - 10pm
I have to rave about the tiramisu. It was a-mazing! It was light and airy and packs a punch of green tea in it. If i didn't stop S, he would have gobbled the entire thing without me having a taste of it. The smoothie sent us to pure Matcha heaven with each gulp.
This has to be DA BOMB. The birthday girl decided that she wanted the Cataplana- a Portuguese seafood dish cooked in a copper cookware shaped like a clam. This is a popular dish on the country's Algarve coast. The pot is sealed by the 2 clamps and the seafood is left to stew in its own juice. The result, a rich seafood base that tastes oh so sweet and heavenly.
We couldn't stop raving about the seafood. Birthday girl was really happy with the food of course. Gotta thank Debs for introducing this restaurant to us when we mentioned our Spanish tapas craving. The stew is essentially a lobster bisque and I've never tasted one so full-bodied before. You know how food can make one feel so contented and satisfied with life? This is the dish. My last meal has to be this for sure (ok maybe one of the dishes of my last meal. I'm greedy that way!).
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