Date visited: 24/04/2018 (Tues; late afternoon)
Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry is a paradise that makes and sells a plethora of old-fashioned kuehs and baked products like old-school cakes and cookies.
Photograph: 1st row
Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry's kueh dardar
Its white coconut rolls are a firm favourite.
Typically, a kueh dardar is a rolled crepe filled with grated coconut steeped in gula melaka.
What set Tiong Bahru Galicier's kueh dardar apart from the others is its (white) coconut filling (instead of the usual brown/ orange coconut filling).
The pale green colour of the rolled crepe, combined with the pasty white of the coconut filling, makes the kueh looks unappetising and un-instagramworthy. But, do not judge a kueh by its appearance.
Galicier's coconut filling is white because is flavoured with rock sugar (but not too sweet). It is also mixed with sesame seeds, enhancing the natural flavour of coconut.
I am not a fan of kueh dardar. In fact, I had a slight dislike for kueh dardar, but Galicier's kueh dardar has changed me. The rolled crepe is incredibly thin, making the kueh dardar so amazingly soft to bite into. Even on day 2, the coconut filling is still so moist. So amazingly good that I will never be able to look at kueh dardar the same way again.
Kueh dardar: $0.80 each; $4 for a box of 5.
Photograph: 2nd row
Sweet potato ondeh ondeh
Glutinous rice balls rolled in freshly grated coconut.
The rice cake casing is orange in colour (instead of the usual green) because of the sweet potato used for its ondeh ondeh dough.
It is far more common to see the glutinous rice balls in a green hue as most people choose to use only glutinous rice flour.
The skin is soft and chewy. (Not too thick)
Right at the centre of this ondeh ondeh is a delicate centre of gula melaka (syrup) as the palm sugar has melted all the way through. The best way to enjoy it is to pop the whole thing in your mouth and anticipate the sweet explosion of gula melaka syrup bursting out of its chewy skin and coating your tongue.
The gula melaka (syrup) tastes really good. It could be because sesame seeds were added to enhance the overall flavour.
One of the best I have tried thus far. The box I bought didn't even make it to the fridge. Worth trying.
Bite-sized sweet potato ondeh ondeh: $0.60 each; A box of 15 for $9.
Photograph: Last row
Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry's putu ayu is another regular sell-out.
Putu ayu refers to a steamed pandan sponge cake crowned with shredded coconut.
The typical putu ayu cakes you see outside are white and green; from the grated coconut and the pandan cake respectively.
However, Galicier's savoury-sweet putu ayu is (usually) BROWN, white, and green.
(BROWN-> grated coconut flavoured with gula melaka for added fragrance)
(White-> grated coconut, slightly savoury, for a good balance of sweet and savoury.)
I'm not sure why some of Galicier's putu ayu cakes are ONLY white and green now but it was kind of disappointing for me. At least that was what I observed on my first visit when I briefly counted the ones on the cooling racks.
I took a glance through the stacks of six-pack putu ayu cakes and realised that in each six-pack, you only get 2 or 3 cakes capped by Galicier's usual signature BROWN and white crown... (Depending on which box you choose)
Not sure why. Perhaps it was only on that day (24/ 04/ 2018) Galicier did that.
...Rising costs? Out of gula melaka??
If that's the case, then the steamed cakes wld be something I will only try once.
$1 each; $6 for a box of 6
TOTAL DAMAGE on 24/ 04/ 2018: $30.20
$9 for 1 box of ondeh-ondeh (15pcs)
$12 for 2 boxes of putu ayu (2 X 6pcs)
$8 for 2 boxes of kueh dardar (2 X 5pcs)
$1.20 for a cheese bun.
The nonya kuehs are good to keep for 2-3 days (refrigerated). If you buy them on a Tuesday, Thursday should be the last day you consume them. Throw out on Friday.
