Traditional Pastries

I like to call this local artisanal 'mochi'. This is my the chewiest and most fragrant muah chee in Singapore, thanks to the copious amount of ground peanuts and black sesame. Eating this really does put your jaws to work - but in a really pleasant way. When they first pull the muah chee out, they dip it in shallot oil to give it more fragrance and allow the muah chee not to stick onto one's teeth while eating.

Rated 5/6 chopsticks from Makansutra, certainly you can't go wrong! Absolutely love this fluffy MJK with its generous layer of peanuts and the (sweeter) red bean paste. I see lots of office workers buying back 20 of these to share, because they are so reasonably priced at a dollar for one! The Uncle is also very friendly and smiley, being patient with my order of just one MJK. (when two office ladies in front of you buy 20-25 MJKs each, buying simply one really does pale in comparison. I've met before store owners who grumble when you buy less than their previous customers, but this Uncle wasn't anything like that. Instead he still served me cheerily and picked a big, fat MJK specially for me.) His store is very easy to miss, being small and sandwiched between a eating house's fruit juice shop and another bigger cafe/restaurant, but his business is still very good. I don't think you can find anything this cheap and value for money in CBD. Do not ever give this a miss while in Telok Ayer!

Though Lao Ban Dou Hua certainly makes me swoon, the old school Tau Huay really is truly what brings back memories. I still remember when my mama would wake up really early in the morning while the rest of the family slept (like pigs) so that she could buy back breakfast for us. This tau huay was nothing short of impressive - being slippery smooth without a grainy texture, with an almost melt-in-your-mouth consistency. Usually I like to add Ah Balling, but since Winter Solstice is over, I have almost maxed out my Ah Balling cravings for this month. Nothing beats good quality, handmade beancurd!

Moist, bouncy and sweet potato and brown sugar flavoured, how can I resist?! Yet another overshadowed pastry here with all the other options available. Because they are so airy, they seem light, but reveal a much more denser texture when bitten. Chinese version of muffins which is a lot healthier (I think, or I hope) while not compromising on flavours.

Much overshadowed by their other delicious pastries are their tapioca cakes. But to my delight they were nothing short of delicious, having a pleasantly soft and sticky texture, while being very aromatic. Though it doesn't taste like the melt-in-your-mouth Xing Xing Tapioca Cake, it's sticky texture was still equally pleasing. Love that they also have different flavours, like their aromatic Pandan and Gula Melaka.

Pictured here are their really famous kueh dadar which are stuffed full with fresh white coconut shreds that are so moist! On the left was their light cake-textured Putu Ayu which was wonderfully bouncy, and also my sister's favourite kueh. This is why I can buy over 40 dollars worth of kuehs and gobble them down all in a matter of minutes. The kuehs here are fresh and do not contains any preservatives which means they have to be eaten in 1 day, as overnight refrigeration spoils the coconut milk. Not that I mind, I will be willing to inhale a bucket load of kuehs anytime, any day!

True happiness is when you walk out of Tiong Bahru Galicier Pastry on a Saturday morning with 7 boxes full of kuehs. Couldn't resist getting as many as I could get my hands on since these cost on average a dollar each. Very reasonably priced for good quality kuehs, where if you take a peep to the back of the counter you can see people at hard work, churning out new counters of kuehs. Here we have: coconut tarts, (my absolute favourite, not sure why this isn't crazily raved over yet tbh) kueh ambon and steamed tapioca. Wanted to get ondeh ondeh but they are only available in the afternoon, so I'll have to make a trip down another day! Also, the kuehs aren't too sweet, even my diabetic Grandmother could enjoy some!

At 50 cents per piece, this is truly a very value for money buy. I came here too late (past lunch hour) and the auntie had sold out every last one of her ondeh ondehs. I grabbed the 6th and 5th last bags of tapioca cake, and this was at 1:30pm in the afternoon! 😱 Truly a testament of how popular these kuehs are. The kuehs had a melt in your mouth texture (because they are steamed!) without being too sweet or sticky. It is the perfect texture! Fun fact: the kuehs here are all completely vegan, so anyone can come to enjoy them! I absolutely love how the store owners still source for the best ingredients they can to make their handmade kuehs, a truly artisanal treat!

For just 90 cents you could get a fluffy egg cupcake. This is not your regular kind of moist, dense and buttery cupcakes that we're so used to buying for 3 or more dollars. Instead, take a bite into completely old school flavours and take a trip down memory lane with these old school cupcakes.

This blew my mind. So incredibly soft, fluffy and fragrantly balanced of eggy and Pandan, I fell in love with this! Not just that, this was incredibly cheap at 1.20 per slice! #cheapandgood

Just enough of a wobble in the custardy egg and flaky, butter crust. A really really good egg tart that satisfies my egg tart cravings, and even if I don't - still incredibly delish to eat. Love how it's sweet but not overly sweet too!

You can pick between black sesame and peanut! As I love both I had to pick both, but I felt that the sesame one was sweeter and whole lot more aromatic. I ate all 4 and wanted more, but there is the option to pick 6! On a side note, look at the flow black sesame from the glutinous rice balls 😍 #blacksesameporn