Bing Tang Tang Shui
What is old is always new with Singaporeans, who like to bask in nostalgia. Young and old are flocking to newly opened Bing Tang Tang Shui to have, of all things, Chinese desserts.
Yes, familiar favourites such as cheng tng, ah balling and orh nee are on the menu. But the cafe carries classic and modern versions of many of its offerings, to appease the oldies and entice the young ’uns.
Whether classic or modern, none of the desserts tastes too sweet, which will please the Asian palate no end. Rock sugar, honey dates or dried sugarcane are used in place of white sugar.
The best dessert, in my view, is the modern Orh Nee ($8.80), perfumed with chrysanthemum.
Amid the restrained sweetness is a savoury note. It comes not from shallot oil or lard, but from roasted chrysanthemum oil. That smokiness makes this dessert worth eating. So, too, do the crisp fried pearl chrysanthemum buds.
Modern Cheng Tng ($8.80), scented with rose, is another good one. The floral vibe is not lost in the soup, and instead of orange peel, there is a chunk of candied mandarin in my bowl. It is cut from a whole candied mandarin and is tangy, but also mellow.
I am torn between the classic and modern versions of Tang Yuan. The classic ($7) is served warm and the springy glutinous rice balls are filled with black sesame paste.
What gives the dessert depth and nuance is the ginger soup, flavoured with old ginger and diced candied young ginger. It is perfectly comforting on a rainy day.
The modern version ($12.50) is served with crushed ice and I love the fermented rice milk sauce, given oomph with Hakka yellow wine and lemon zest.
Cold temperatures mute flavours, but the ones in this bowl sing loud and true. Purple goji berry syrup add slight tartness and osmanthus caramel lends a floral sweetness. These are layers of flavours that add up to a complex, delicious dessert.
Just remember the tang yuan will toughen in ice. Put the phone camera down and start eating now, please.
Where: 15 Thomson Hills Drive
MRT: Lentor
Open: 4.30pm to 1.30am (Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays), 12.30pm to 1.30am (Fridays and Saturdays), 12.30pm to midnight (Sundays), closed on Tuesdays
Info: @bingtangtangshui on Instagram
Park Backerei
One bite of a stale pretzel from a New York City street vendor and I was scarred for life.
Park Backerei’s pretzels, however, are erasing that bad taste memory.
Ms Jane Lee Richard, 41, who opened the bakery with her husband Dennis von Berlepsch, 44, makes beautifully burnished pretzels which are soft, ever-so-slightly chewy and flavourful.
They were living in Hong Kong when Malaysia-born Richard had a craving for pretzels, the kind from Germany, where her husband is from.
She made them at home, and it became a little business in 2020.
When they relocated to Singapore, Park Backerei became a bricks-and-mortar bakery in August.
Hers are Swabian-style pretzels, characterised by skinny “arms” and a bulging “belly”, versus the Bavarian-style, evenly thick throughout.
What this means for the eater is that there are two different textures in each pretzel – crisp arms and soft, pillowy belly.
She also dips her pretzels in lye before baking, and they turn a shiny, mahogany brown in the oven. I love the malty flavour too.
The Plain ($3.90) is very good. But truth be told, I will always spring for the Cheese ($4.50) pretzel, with a lacy web of toasted cheddar clinging to the arms and belly.
There are also stuffed bagels, fillings running like a tunnel through them.
The Jalapeno Cheddar Bagel ($7.90) is my favourite – the tang from the pickled chillies mitigates the richness of the roll.
Where: 01-41 Icon Village, 12 Gopeng Street
MRT: Tanjong Pagar
Open: 8am to 7pm (weekdays), 8am to 2pm (Saturdays), closed on Sundays
Tel: 8756-2029
Info: www.parkbaeckerei.com
San.wich
All my life, I never knew I needed half-sandwiches. In a paper cup. Then I discover San.wich, a self-explanatory chain from home-grown bakery business Swee Heng.
Its offerings are pretty perfect in my book. The bread is flavoured with beetroot, pumpkin, purple sweet potato, sweet potato leaf or tomato, and there is a multi-grain version too. The fillings are solid.
There are no tricks, such as mounding the filling in the middle to create the illusion of plenty, only for me to bite into unfilled bread at the corners and edges.
Indeed, the choices are bewildering and many of the sandwiches include half a fried egg or egg salad.
The other proteins – roast chicken, sardines, prawn cutlet or fish fillet – are substantial too.
The packaging makes it easy for me to devour my sandwiches. Each sandwich is packed in the sort of paper loaf cups used for baking and all I have to do is flip the sandwich so it is perpendicular to the cup and eat it without fuss and muss.
Among the ones I always get are Roasted Chicken And Purple Sweet Potato With Egg ($3), featuring sweet potato puree; Chicken Fillet With Hashbrown ($3) when I want carb on carb; Chicken And Pumpkin With Egg ($3); and Ebi Patty With Egg ($3.40).
I don’t even mind that these are essentially half sandwiches – it just means I can pick and choose among the fillings. Unsurprisingly, the sweet sandwiches, filled with cream and fruit, do not entice me at all.
Where: Outlets at B1-K21 Lot One Shopping Mall, 21 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4; B3-23 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Road; B1-K14 The Woodleigh Mall, 11 Bidadari Park Drive; and B1-158 SingPost Centre, 10 Eunos Road 8
Open: 9am to 10pm daily (Lot One Shopping Mall), 10am to 10pm daily (313@Somerset), 9am to 10pm daily (The Woodleigh Mall) and 9am to 9pm daily (SingPost Centre)
Info: @san.wichsg on Instagram
