The best bakeries in Singapore

This Farrer Road joint dishes out some of the best artisanal bread and pastries in Singapore. Located in the old school Empress Mall, Brera is a hidden gem where you can find cruffins (croissant and muffin), baguettes, kouign-amanns, old school buns with savoury fillings and more. 

Sometimes you just want some simple but really, really good bread. Then it's a trip to Simply Bread for you. Grab freshly-baked large classic loaves here but stay for a while to try their pastries and buns – especially the sticky cinnamon bun. If you're feeling adventurous, try the ciabatta loaves in unique flavours like green curry, pesto and garlic. 

There’s a whiff of French nostalgia about this bakery and confectionery, filled with aged wooden furniture and the aroma of freshly baked brioches and baguettes. Go early for their famous macaroons: available in rose, chocolate, lemon, hazelnut and other scrumptious flavours. Choupinette also does a mean croque monsieur and other sandwiches.

Besides being a convenient spot to pick up gourmet products, The Providore is also a great place for artisan bread. Made fresh everyday, the bakery is where you can grab interesting pastries and bakes like the Earl Grey and pear danish, mentaiko baguette and the comforting chai bun to-go or to enjoy with a freshly brewed cup of Joe. 

Recognised for their artisan desserts, Paul brings the crown home for the tastiest pastries. It uses soft winter wheat like Camp Remy, a traditional French ingredient that brings robust flavours to the bread. At the counter, you can find an extensive variety of bread and sourdough baked to perfection. From Flute Paul, Pain Campagne and its signature Baguette Charlemagne. For those with sweet-tooth, try Paul's signature millefeuille,fruit tarts and pain au chocolat.

This Japanese established bakery store should be no stranger to bread lovers and many go to this bakery store for their healthy and tasty bread. Despite being slight pricey, Provence keeps true to their deal of using only the best ingredients in their mix. It is no wonder why this humble little shop has been flourishing and have opened a few outlets nationwide. Get their signature fluffy Milk Bun, Cinnamon twirl and Koshi An Pan to fill your tummies. 

One thing to note, Paris Baguette serves more than just bread. It has an wide selection of pastries, sandwiches, old school oven-baked goods and desserts like the pain au chocolat, danish cream cheese pastry and Korea power garlic bread. For those who are up for brunch, Paris Baguette whips up some delicious piping hot scrambled eggs and bacon. 

This Japanese-style bakery cafe offers some really visually appealing pastries that you can't help but take a bite of. Despite the rather pricey items with the choux creme ($5.50) and the Yatsura ($8.50), they compensate on the richness and texture of the pastries. The Yatsura is a layered dark chocolate cake with thick chocolate filling and also one of the cafe favourite. 

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. 

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 neighbourhood – serves french artisanal breads, tarts and coffee at three locations around town. Savoury 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).

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.