Paper Bake (Asia Square Food Garden)

It does seem that a new stall would pop up around three Food Garden food court at Asia Square every once jn a while — it does seem to have been a while since the opening of the outlet of Hundred Grains as well as Keen’s Bagelry at the said food court, both of which being establishments that had opened some months ago. The newest entrant to the Food Garden food court at Asia Square is now Paper Bakes; unlike Hundred Grains and Keen’s Bagelry which are both situated around a newly-revamped area of the food court that was not previously occupied by any stall, Paper Bakes can be found along the same row of stalls where one can find the outlet of Greendot and funrice there. Occupying a stall with a space that is slightly larger than some of the other stalls that are located in the same food court, Paper Bakes is a rather interesting establishment that is conceptualised to serve up marinated parchment paper-baked chicken & fish — one can actually find a display oven where all of their paper-baked chicken and fish are baked in right at the counter. It does seem that the folks behind Paper Bakes do understand the dining patterns of the office crowd at the Central Business District well; their menu featuring a “Craft Your Own Wholesome Meal” option, “Gourmet Salad Pairing” and “Chicken Tortilla Wrap” — abiding very much to the theme of “healthy eating” considering how the establishment seems to champion themselves over not using MSG AND artificial flavours in the preparation of their food. Patrons do get to have their meals as-is, or one can also opt for a Combo by topping up $3.80 for a snack / dessert and soft drink / bottled water.

Opting for the “Craft Your Own Wholesome Meal” option considering how we are not particularly fans of salads with leafy greens, it is noted that the “Craft Your Own Wholesome Meal” option allows one to go for 1 Bake, 1 Base and 2 Toppings — there are three (3) snakes available for patrons to choose from; notably the Boneless Chicken Thigh, Farm Fresh Whole Leg, and Premium Fresh Barramundi Fish. Choices of base would include the likes of Jasmine Rice, Italian Orzo and Bulgur Pilaf. For our order of the “Craft Your Own Wholesome Meal”, we went for the Boneless Chicken Thigh and the Italian Orzo for the Bake and Base respectively; our choice of sides were the Char-Baked Vegetables and the Herb Roast Potatoes. Paper Bake does offer patrons with three (3) types of sauces to choose from — the Cilantro Vinaigrette, the Spicy Thai Relish and the Spiced Mustard Mayo, we went for the Spicy Thai Relish. We are pretty much folks who love Orzo and whilst we find that the Orzo here does come well-executed being almost akin to short grains that come with an extra bite, we couldn’t help but to notice that the Orzo does come a little bland — perhaps an attempt to keep things clean-tasting here. The Boneless Chicken Thigh is served with the chicken unwrapped from the parchment paper; this is much to the convenience of the patrons here — it is noted that the boneless chicken thigh is incredibly tender and juicy, and definitely did not require much effort to slice apart even with the disposable plastic cutlery provided.

There is a slight tanginess and a bit of a briny note that gives the chicken enough flavour, and opting for the Spicy Thai Relish as per the menu’s recommendation does help to further bring a zingy and lightly spicy note that should do well enough even for those whom are tolerable to lower than moderate levels of spiciness — not only does it enhances the flavour of the chicken, but it also does add on to the Italian Orzo for us as well. Considering most of the elements have been prepared way beforehand in anticipation of the weekday lunch time crush of the Central Business District, the Char-Baked Vegetables and the Herb Roast Potatoes weren’t served as warm as how we would like them to be. Both of them do seem to be seasoned with the same herbs, considering how they do come with a rather identical aroma that was fairly distinctive to say the least. Apart from the fact that they were of almost room temperature, they are both items which we found to be good to have. Considering how the prices of the food at Paper Bakes starts at $10 for a Chicken Tortilla Wrap, and the most priciest basic offering is the Gourmet Salad Pairing with the Barramundi at $16.80, Paper Bakes is not necessarily the most competitively-priced establishment when compared against other establishments serving up grain / salad bowls in the Central Business District. This is also especially considering how there are a couple of options that are being charged as a top-up above the basic price of a “Craft Your Own Wholesome Meal”, “Gourmet Salad Pairing” and “Chicken Tortilla Wrap” dish. With Paper Bakes’ specialty centred around their parchment paper baked meats, it remains interesting to see if the office folks in the ‘hood will be drawn towards the novelty of what they have to offer.