Nomad Bakehouse

Whilst being a fairly sleepy neighbourhood on its own, Depot Heights Shopping Centre does seem to be a spot that has seen the opening of a few new hipster cafes over the years — the neighbourhood shopping centre has seen the entrance of F&B tenants such as that of Bailey and Whiskey and Mad Roaster (first established at Amoy Street Food Centre) over the past couple of years. Was scrolling around social media and got to learn about the opening of NOMAD recently in Depot Heights Shopping Centre; they are located slightly away from the area which Bailey and Whiskey and Mad Roaster occupy within the building — NOMAD being situated right in front of the NTUC FairPrice there and also beside the outlet of PlayMade. Occupying just half the size of a standard shop unit here, NOMAD can be described as a hole-in-the-wall bakery; in fact, much of its interior space is dedicated to the food preparation area, with the front of the space being its counter displaying the variety of bakes that they have to offer. With that being said, there is a dedicated dine-in space for patrons whom wish to sit down and enjoy their pastries — there are two dining tables that can seat six (6) pax each situated outside the space. During our visit made on a weekday morning, the range of bakes available at NOMAD includes several types of cruffins, quiches and croissants — there is also a Banana Crumble Cake, while one can also find sandwiches being offered for those whom prefer something savoury. Drinks available at NOMAD includes espresso-based specialty coffee brewed using beans sourced from Cowpresso Coffee Roasters (they also run a cafe at Lorong Kilat at Beauty World), as well as a range of teas.

Since this was our very first meal of the day, we wanted to go for something savoury to start things proper — skimming through the variety of pastries that NOMAD has to offer, the Wild Mushroom Quiche was something that seemed to have stood out to us being also an item that is of a lighter nature than that of the sandwiches. The folks at NOMAD do state to let them know should one require their pastries to be heated up. Digging into the Wild Mushroom Quiche, the Wild Mushroom Quiche does come with a light, airy and flaky pastry that serves as a base to the quiche — all coming with a egg filling in the middle and topped with a variety of mushrooms and also some chili flakes on the top. The eggy filling was much like that of a smooth steamed egg; lightly savoury, and went well with the earthiness of the mix of mushrooms that comes atop of it. One can observe that the mushrooms included in the making of the Wild Mushroom Quiche includes Shimeiji Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms; both providing a bouncy texture whilst also carrying a slight kick of spiciness that tickles the tastebuds for a bit of a flavours contrast. The level of spiciness should work fine even for those whom are not tolerable to moderate levels of spiciness, considering how it does not linger around the tastebuds as well.

During our visit, we had also given the Banana Crumble Cake a go. This can be described as a standard banana cake but with a slight twist — the banana cake here is of the soft and fluffy type; a little dense but still manageable for the most part and hints of a light sweetness / fragrance of bananas. The slight difference here would be the inclusion of the clusters of crumbles here that adds a crusty texture and another dimension of sweetness to the banana cake. Meanwhile, the Piccolo Latte that we have had comes with a medium body; its notes being particularly earthy and nutty with a slightly fruity finish. Whilst we had only tried a limited selection of the bakes that NOMAD has to offer, it does seem that these folks does offer a good variety of bakes at a quality that is comparable to establishments similar of its type across the island — quite the down-to-earth establishment that is worth supporting, and the sort of bakery specialising in trendy danishes that Depot Road residents would appreciate having around in the ‘hood!