Black Sesame Paste Pancake It didn’t really seem to have been too long since our last visit to Pancake King & Kopi at Havelock II, but it seems that these folks were already in the midst of expanding their Pancake King & Kopi brand further whilst we had posted about our visit there not too long ago. Those whom have had paid attention to our previous post would know that Pancake King & Kopi is an extension of Pancake King which is better known for its local-style pancake (i.e. Min Chiang Kueh) offerings as well as well serving up a variety of bakes and cakes — their stalls being typically located within a coffeeshop or hawker centre. Havelock II, being their first location under the Pancake King & Kopi outlet was also their very first venture into dine-in cafe operations as an independently-run establishment, and their second of such locations is situated Bukit Timah Plaza near the recently-opened Mita Sushi at basement one of the mall. Occupying a proper shop space unlike its kiosk-style set up at Havelock II, the interior of Pancake King & Kopi at Bukit Timah Plaza is still more on the functional side of things featuring wooden accents matched with a largely white interior. Unlike the outlet at Havelock II that does serve up hot food, the location of Pancake King & Kopi at Bukit Timah Plaza only carries the pancakes, bakes and cakes — albeit more similar to the Pancake King kiosks. That being said, there is still a small variety of chilled cheesecake in cups, as well as Nanyang-style Kopi & Teh, green tea and chamomile tea.
Given our experience with their Black Sesame Paste Pancake at Havelock II, we decided to just stick with the same during our visit to their location at Bukit Timah Plaza. There is some difference between the artisanal pancakes being served at the Havelock II location and the outlet at Bukit Timah Plaza — the artisanal pancakes at Havelock II comes made-to-order, and each individual serving of the pancake comes in a full circle folded into half; the pancakes at Bukit Timah Plaza comes in a triangular wedge much like what is being served at the usual Pancake King locations, and are made ahead of time being stocked behind the display shelf. With that being said, chances of a patron getting a hot pancake that just got off the stove is still rather high with how quickly the pancakes are being sold — we found ourselves ending up with a fresh Black Sesame Paste Pancake since the earlier batch was sold out by the time we made our order. Sinking our teeth into the Black Sesame Pancake, we found that the pancake has a crusty exterior but came with a good, soft bite with a bit of tension to pull apart — the edges of the pancake being lightly crisp; quite the texture that we are looking for in a good local style pancake. As one chews through the pancake, the black sesame paste eagerly oozes out of the pancake — a testament to how generous they are with the black sesame paste filling here; the black sesame paste filling also being all roast-y and earthy, carrying a gritty texture without being overly sweet.
We had always been wanting to try Pancake King’s cakes for quite a while and we were glad that we were able to give their Earl Grey Cake a go during the same visit — their version being a relatively simple loaf cake that is being baked in a huge pan. Coming with a frosting, the frosting itself surprisingly remains a little wet here — nothing too bothersome and it does seem that it is intentionally done in this manner; the slightly sugary frosting also carrying a zingy note of lemon whilst being infused with earl grey tea that enhances the earl grey fragrance going on in the cake. Meanwhile, the Nanyang-style Kopi here is brewed using the espresso machine; much like those brewed using the same methods at other establishments, the Kopi here does come with a noticeable layer of crema — a cuppa that was smooth with a mildly roast-y note in between that of a Flat White and Nanyang-style Kopi without being particularly sweet even when opting for the default level of sweetness. Pancake King has always been big about keeping their quality of their pancakes consistent across all of their outlets — while the Bukit Timah Plaza outlet of Pancake King & Kopi does seem to do things a little differently from their Havelock II location, the pancakes at Pancake King & Kopi at Bukit Timah Plaza still pretty much follows that of what Pancake King is best known for — generously-filled pancakes that carries what they view as the right texture for the local-style pancake. Prices of their pancakes start from $1.80 for their Peanut, Red Bean and Coconut variations; the priciest would be the Cheese at $2.40. A spot that Bukit Timah residents would appreciate having in their neighbourhood!
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