My recent food posts were all Whampoa-related and this shall be the last of the lot to conclude my Whampoa/Balestier eat-venture. There’s no better way to end off with yet another great find of an old school bakery like this. Many may not have heard of Sing Hon Loong but most (if not all) of you are probably familiar with Ya Kun Kaya Toast. I adore Ya Kun’s butter-kaya toasts but they don’t bake their own bread; they get bread from their supplier, Sing Hon Loong. Ok, so now you know. 😉
I grew up eating traditional breads in their naked form – no imaginative names, no innovative flavours, no fanciful packaging – just plain, white bread slices with butter or kaya. In Singapore where it is saturated with tons of bakery chains, it is so rare to find a traditional bakery that does just basic loaves. Everything is manual – the baking, the slicing, the packaging. This is what I call 古早味的人情味 – absolutely priceless.
I actually stood where I was for a minute or two just looking at these two uncles slicing the crust/skin off every loaf of bread.
Such skilful work. They must have done this for years and years. And the trays of loaves just kept coming out from inside, non-stop and both folks just kept going and going. I was so tempted to request for the unwanted bread crusts – perfect for feeding fish and birds if I’m heading to the Botanic Gardens, lol. Perhaps next time 🙂
On the left, there was a rustic display of assorted breads and buns neatly laid out on wooden planks.
I bought a gigantic loaf of white bread and requested for kaya and butter spread that cost $6. Sounds expensive? Well, it was because this loaf came in 12 thick slices of approx. 1″ thickness each. Just look at that – 2 slices were already so much bigger than my hand and they were so filling too!
The bread was fresh and delicious – probably the best I had so far. So soft and pillowy. When I pressed down on the bread with my finger, it bounced back up almost immediately. This is the type of bread any bread aspires to be. Highly recommended!!
Sing Hon Loong Bakery
6 Whampoa Drive
Singapore 327717
Tel: 6256 0878
Open: 24-hour daily
Love these old fashioned bakeries, thanks for sharing this! Will head over to check it out one of these days 🙂
Old fashioned breads taste best 🙂
I saw this shop the other day but didn’t get a chance to stop and grab some bread. looks delicious!
They’re really good! Most importantly, they are so fresh 🙂
Thanks for coming by my blog. Although I have never explored Whampoa Estate before, my great great grandfather, Whampoa Hoo Ah Kay; so it was interesting to read what you had written here.
I’m so happy to see posts on these hidden gems. Will definitely be checking these places out once I’m in Singapore again. Hope you’ll continue to document these amazing old fashioned, artisan, local places! These places deserve more lime light
I agree! Such places are the pioneers of Singapore food culture in its early days and shouldn’t be forgotten. I will keep on hunting for more. Thanks for dropping by! 🙂
Hallo Geri from Singapore, thank you for following my first attempts at #leancooking. I love your posts, I’m trying to bring together the ABCs of multiple cooking styles and regions, so I will definitely search here for recipes I can enjoy in Germany. Interesting to see such a passion for bread in Singapore, this is present in Germany too, with dozens of small bakeries packed on just one street in a regular city. Many are half empty by noon 🙂
I’m looking forward to seeing more of your posts and thanks for stopping by my blog too 🙂
I used to live at Whitley Road from the 70s till the early 80s and we would go to this bakery shop for our daily supply of bread. It’s really great that they’re still in business.
Lovely post! These are gems of our food heritage. Thanks for sharing.