Haven’t been much of a fan of breads and buns from local bakeries for quite a while so I had been pretty dismissive of the existence of the Ultra Bake store that had opened for quite a while in the basement of Marina One even though there are times where I was looking to have a light bite. Ultra Bake is one of those bakeries retailing grab-and-go breads and buns with outlets that are mostly located in the Central Business District — the brand having outlets in locations such as Tanjong Pagar Plaza at Marina Bay Link Mall at one point of time, but have also expanded its operations in recent times with one at the basement of Marina One and another one at level 3 of Downtown Gallery. Its outlets are pretty much of a fuss-free, takeaway concept; no dine-in areas are available in any of their outlets — expect a variety of breads and buns that are pretty similar to that served at other neighbourhood eateries, as well as loaves of bread that one can also pick up as well. Interestingly, Ultra Bake also does serve up takeaway Nanyang-style Kopi and Teh as well to compliment their bread and bun offerings — something that is a little bit different from local bakeries that are often found in neighbourhoods around the island.

One thing that got us really hooked to it at Ultra Bake recently was the Red Bean Bun which costs $1.90. We actually had it as breakfast (a really rare occasion) where we weren’t in much of the mood to eat something that tasted too heavy, but we found ourselves already pretty much loving what we have got from the get-go. The Red Bean Bun at Ultra Bake comes studded with sesame seeds on the exterior — as much as how this makes it look like a seeded hamburger bun from the exterior, this actually helped add quite a bit of texture to the Red Bean Bun as one chews into the bread from the start. The bun is actually pretty soft (although that might only be due to the fact that we always grab this when it is freshly-baked), while the inside of the bun is especially well-filled with red bean filling. While we typically do not enjoy Red Bean Buns that are sold in local neighbourhood bakeries considering how thick, dense and sweet some of the red bean fillings are, the one from Ultra Bake is just soft and fluffy; not too sweet as well with an emphasis on the earthiness of the red bean paste. Best to be had when these are actually freshly-baked out of the oven — warm bread and all; also noticed that these tend to be sold out before lunch at the Marina One outlet at least. So good that we have pretty much started having a weekly breakfast habit just for this!