Bakery Brera has famous French pastries at Empress Road
Several years ago, I was introduced to Bakery Brera by a colleague who raved about their artisan but affordable French pastries. Since then, the hidden mom-and-pop bakery at the Farrer Road estate has grown to become a local favourite, even opening a cafe at the National Museum of Singapore in 2023.
Bakery Brera Opens Cafe At National Museum With Famous Cruffins, All-Day Brunch And More
Despite the quick rise to fame, their OG bakery is nothing flashy. Like a chilli padi, it is small but mighty. The bake shop hums with activity like a well-oiled machine, cranking out close to 30 kinds of bread and pastries. Recently, we revisited the bakery to see if their bakes still hold up after all these years.
Food at Bakery Brera
If plain ol’ croissants can no longer satisfy your cravings, these bakery hybrids might do the work. Bakery Brera offers four varieties of cruffins at $5.50 each: Lemon Curd, Tiramisu, Salted Caramel, and Ferrero Rocher.
Like shiny Pokémon, these are rare, and you need a bit of luck or perseverance to get your hands on one. We went down around 12pm on a Thursday and these precious babies were almost swept clean off the shelves. There were a few pieces of the Tiramisu and Ferrero Rocher left. As recommended by the staff, we went with the latter as it’s the most popular cruffin.
The love child of layered croissants and dense muffins, cruffins go through a three-day lamination process before being baked in cups here. The adorable dollop of their chocolate ganache and hazelnut is truly the cherry on top.
We tore the beautiful twists and layers apart and were pleasantly surprised with a filled centre. The smooth ganache was rich, nutty, and aromatic, perfect for any chocolate lover who appreciates an indulgent treat.
Originally a solution to the leftovers of unsold croissants, the Almond Croissant ($5.50) has found its way into our hearts. Made with premium ingredients such as French butter and flour, sea salt, brown sugar, and almond paste, every mouthful was a buttery bliss.
Just like the Ferrero Rocher Cruffin, we were blown away by the filling in this croissant. The velvety almond paste melted almost instantly in our mouths. The powdered sugar and crunchy toasted almonds, along with this sweet–smooth centre, delivered a wallop of Christmas in a pastry.
After hearing much hype about it, we were also keen to try their renowned Kouign-Amann ($5), but sadly, they were out of stock. Thankfully, they still had a few pieces of their popular Sticky Bun With Pecans ($6) left—a treat we were more than happy to try.
The soft, fluffy bun was coated generously in a caramalised glaze. There were swirls of aromatic cinnamon and sugar within, zhnged up by the crunchy pecans scattered on top.
Heavy on the glaze, the bun became a tad too sweet after a while, but pairing it with their Iced Mocha ($6) did just the trick to cut through the heavy flavours.
They also offer a limited but equally good selection of savoury bread. We recommend trying their Croque Monsieur ($6.50). For the uninitiated, Croque Monsieur is a classic French ham- and-cheese sandwich, baked to a golden brown.
Unlike a traditional Croque Monsieur, the ones at Bakery Brera used sourdough slices instead of white bread, which made the sandwich extra crispy and chewy.
Every bite was flavour-packed, where slices of turkey ham paired well with oozy, melty cheese and creamy white bechamel sauce, made even better by the toasted cheese crust. Despite all this cheesy goodness, the sandwich didn’t become cloying.
For a touch of local flavour, try the Curry Puff Pastry ($3.50) instead.
We were impressed by the ultra–flaky and buttery pastry. It was loaded with soft, tender chunks of potato and chicken cooked in a flavourful, mildly spicy curry. It tasted great, but at a relatively pricey $3.50, we wished that it came with more filling.
Ambience at Bakery Brera
What’s great about this neighbourhood bakery is that they even provide seats outside. The simple tables and chairs evoked rustic yet chill vibes, which we fell in love with.
The bakery is located at Empress Mall, a seven-minute walk from Farrer Road MRT Station.
Bakery Brera – Eatbook review
As foodies, we would travel for good food, and Bakery Brera is one of the places we’re willing to go out of our way for. Not everything was perfect, but every bread or pastry we got met our peckish needs just fine, and we even found ourselves hankering for more.
For more delicious bakes, check out The Egyptian Baker for legit Egyptian pastries under $6 in Joo Chiat. Otherwise, read our coverage of popular Filipino bakery Mary Grace’s upcoming Singapore launch.
Address: 8 Empress Road, #01-05, Empress Mall, Singapore 260008
Opening hours: Sun-Tue 7:30am to 4pm, Wed-Sat 7:30am to 5pm
Tel: 8413 6569
Website
Bakery Brera is not a halal-certified eatery.
This New Joo Chiat Bakery Has Legit Egyptian Pastries Under $6
Photos taken by Heather Ng.
This was an independent review by Eatbook.sg.
The post We Revisited Bakery Brera’s OG Outlet—Do Their Pastries Still Hold Up? appeared first on Eatbook.sg – Local Singapore Food Guide And Review Site.
