The best bakeries in Singapore

The new kid on the block, Mother Dough is a force to be reckon with when we're talking about the best croissants in Singapore. Though previously active in the pop-up scene, the bakery has finally found a permanent place for their famous bakes and other goods. Besides the crowd favourite and fast-selling almond croissants ($4.20), take some time to give their other freshly baked goods a try. From the chocolate pound cake ($4/slice) to a simple baguette, everything here is baked to perfection. 

The Bakery by Woodlands Sourdough is a Muslim-owned bakery and café that specialises in, you guessed it, sourdough. Loaves, cookies and other pastries fly out of the oven every day – there’s also sandwiches, pizzas and toasts if you want a sit-down meal. Don't forget to save space for their famous brownies ($5) and blondies ($5). 

Don’t be misled by its name: the bakery doesn’t really house a stone-hearth oven, but you can find typically hard and scratchy European breads warm and fluffy at Bread & Hearth in their resolve to stick to age-old, time-consuming methods of baking – they use levain, which boosts the flavour of its dough overnight, as well as roll and fold their pastry dough by hand daily. Also sticking to using unbleached flour and butter imported from France, the results are honeycombed croissants ($2.80), a balanced salted caramel tart ($6) heavily dotted with whole macadamia nuts, and a simple white chocolate bun ($2.80) that’s drawn return crowds.

This boulangerie – which first opened its flagship store at it's eponymous neighborhood – set up by celebrity baker Gontran Cherrier together with the Spa Esprit group, serves french artisanal breads, tarts and coffee at three locations around town. Savory options like the Squid Ink Sandwich ($8.50) and Ham and Melted Cheese on Focaccia ($8) are great for satisfying the peckish while sweet options like the ever-popular Almond Croissant ($3.20) and the sinful Kouign-Amann ($3.50) are not-to-be-missed especially when bought fresh off the oven.

With two custom-made woodfire ovens on-site, Firebake is extremely serious about its sourdough breads. There are four types available ($10): white, rye, wholemeal and fruit, each made with all-natural, top quality ingredients like organic flour from Western Australia and Nordaq Fresh filtered water. Have a bit of time to kill? Bliss out on the sourdough with chicken liver pate ($12).

With a history that spans 81 years and 11 stores across Japan, Asanoya Bakery is well known for its Japanese-style breads with an European twist. Its first 70-seater flagship outside Japan, at the Wilby Central block of serviced apartments, features the bakery’s signatures like maple walnut pretzel ($3.20), Earl Grey-infused tea bread ($4.20) and An Pan filled with Hokkaido adzuki red bean paste ($2.80).

New Zealand celebrity baker and cookbook author Dean Brettschneider has fired up permanent ovens at a bakery-cum-café corner space in the residential enclave of Hillcrest. An all-around glass frontage protects a long communal wooden table, peek-in kitchen space, and slate-tiled counters encasing sweet and savoury breads, tarts and pastries. No more travelling to Shanghai for the 100 per cent German rye Volkorn loaf ($7.50) or the signature 18-hourproofed nutty and tangy sourdough pain au levain ($7.25); the sweet-toothed can indulge in a carrot cake or lemon tart (both $4 per slice). 

The European bakery scene is no doubt heating up locally, and throwing his hat into the game is two-time Paris baguette grand prix awardee Eran Mayer, who’s all about making ‘bread with a lot of character’. Delivering on this vision, he offers a veritable array of bread and pastries made with flour imported directly from France all with crusts coloured a little darker and crispier – a signature of his baking style. Morning pastries are made overnight daily in the Killiney kitchen and must-tries include croissants ($2.80-$3.80), orange brioche filled with a light orange cream ($5), and buttery madelines ($2/ one). For takeaways, Mayer makes loaves like a one-kilogramme sourdough Killiney ($18) and healthy museli bread ($10) filled with organic flour, spelt, rye, dried fruits and nuts.