Famed for its riveting array of fabulous cakes and now also serving classics with a twist, the new-look The Fabulous Baker Boy now presents an all-day breakfast brunch menu including artisanal baked goods in a brand new location where cool and casual vibes among a palette of pastel colours mingle together.
Previously located at Fort Canning, The Fabulous Baker Boy’s reopening at the Aliwal Arts Center represents an emotional return to the twin passions of baker, theatre actor and owner Juwanda Hassim, affectionately nicknamed Ju, and who was forced to close last year after the Covid circuit breaker had coincided with the ending of his lease.
Now he is back, bigger, better and more fabulous than before, with a multi-concept, full-service bakery, patisserie, cafe and restaurant.
Explained Juwanda, “Our new location is a combination of the two great passions in my life – food and the arts. I love entertaining on stage and at home and I am thrilled to open The Fabulous Baker Boy at the Aliwal Arts Centre.”
He added, “I could not have done it without the love and support of friends and former customers. So many people reached out to help us find a new location that it was only a matter of time before the curtains came up again.”
Now, at the new 70-seater cafe, bakery and restaurant in the art-deco Aliwal Arts Centre, diners are spoilt for choice with more than 14 cakes to choose from including the celebrated Ab Fab Red Velvet, a classic from the 1950s and that comes with an extra layer of chocolate ganache.
Many of the dishes at The Fabulous Baker boy have been inspired by Juwanda’s travels and his friends’ recipes, so they are highly personalised to him.
The new tagline of the cafe – Big Love Bakery and Soul Kitchen – also reflects Juwanda’s journey of gratitude that has taken him from an uncertain future due to Covid, to the opening at a new, bolder venue.
Another point to note is that The Fabulous Baker Boy also has an entirely woman-empowered kitchen.
Said Juwanda, “we now have a woman-empowered team of bakers and cooks, floor staff who come from all walks of life and delivery services that help friends who were out of work due to Covid. I am truly proud.”
Members of the media and influencers were recently invited to a taste testing at the relaunched The Fabulous Baker Boy cafe and we checked out a variety of their breads, cakes and savoury offerings.
Stepping into the new cafe for the first time, my first thought was that it was definitely larger than their old Fort Canning space, with an artsy feel and a pink colour theme to attract both families and groups of girlfriends.
The dishes that we had, are as follows.
Bread
Sourdough Toast ($4.00)
While most sourdough toast is chewy and has a slightly gritty texture, I found the white sourdough toast at The Fabulous Baker Boy to be surprisingly light and crunchy, which makes it quite unusual.
On the other hand, the multigrain sourdough toast was more chewy and gritty in texture, with more bite to it. Yet at the same time, it was also still crunchy. Overall an interesting texture sensation.
The sourdough toast can be eaten on its own with butter, or paired with the accompanying dips – marmalade, berry composite, goat yoghurt and green Moroccan sambal.
Out of the four dips, the marmalade and berry ones were the nicest in my opinion. The marmalade one had a refreshing orange flavour, being sweet and orangey but not too intense. The berry one had a pronounced berry note that goes very well with the crunchiness of the bread.
The goat yoghurt dip was intense, on the other hand, with strong goaty notes coming from it.
While there were mildly spicy notes coming from the Moroccan sambal which gave the bread a slight kick, this was nothing too intense for me.
Zucchini Bread ($4.50/Slice)
This bread is made with more zucchini than dough, so it is a healthy option for those who are looking for something less sinful. I found that this bread does not have much flavour to it; when it is paired with the coffee compound butter which was served on the side, strong coffee notes immediately took over and hit me immediately.
Tahini Banana Bread ($4.50/Slice)
When eaten on its own, the banana notes come out somewhat strongly in this bread and hits you immediately. When eaten with the coffee compound butter however, the banana notes disappear and these are replaced with strong coffee notes, which drown out the original banana flavours in the bread.
Cinnamon Roll ($4.50)
I found that this pastry has a rather strong yet sweet cinnamon tang that hits you immediately the first bite and becomes more pronounced as you tuck in to more of the pastry.
Classics
Fab Fry-Up with Turkey bacon ($28.50)
This is The Fabulous Baker Boy’s take on the classic big English breakfast.
Comprising of sausages, mushrooms, roast potato, grilled tomatoes, sourdough toast and eggs with a choice between scrambled, poached, sunny side up and over-easy, this is a hearty and filling meal.
The standout item in this dish were the sausages, if you ask me. They are different to most sausages that you would have tasted. When I popped a piece into my mouth, I could immediately pick up strong, intense and spicy beefy notes. It is an unusual and acquired taste.
As well, the scrambled eggs were also very well done. They are light and fluffy with slight buttery notes.
The homemade baked beans are also worth a try and I thought that the sauce which they come in, has a very nice flavour to it.
RTFBB Fried Chicken and Waffles ($24.00)
This is a simple and classic dish comprising of succulent chicken pieces soaked in a delicious Garlic marinade dredged in flour mix, deep fried and then served on TOP of waffle.
We were served breast meat and I was surprised to note that despite being chicken breast, the meat was still quite tender and slightly moist.
The chicken batter was also deliciously crunchy and the waffle was soft and buttery, with slightly sweet notes coming from the maple syrup added to it, but nothing too overpowering.
Overall I thought this was a nice and tasty rendition of the classic dish and the flavours gelled quite well together.
“Heart Attack” French Toast ($16.00)
As the menu describes, this is sourdough brioche soaked and fried in batter made with eggs and cream, and then deep-fried again and finished with cinnamon sugar and drizzled with maple syrup. It is served with plain yoghurt and a choice of bananas or berries.
It is a dangerously sinful combination, and I admit that I am not sure exactly what I was expecting when the dish first arrived at the table.
But I was surprised to find that this, while appearing oily at first glance, was light and was not jelak at all. It is crunchy, mildly sweet and fragrant and the overall flavour profile strongly reminded me of churros.
Cinn Bun Pancakes ($16.00)
This dish consists of brown sugar, cinnamon syrup drizzled on cooking pancakes and then finished with maple and cream cheese sauce and topped with toasted pecans.
I thought this dish consisted of an interesting combination of flavours. The pancakes were soft and warm when they arrived, and at the same time, sweet and moist, due to the maple and cream cheese sauce topping. The pecans added a crunchy texture to the dish too.
The cinnamon flavour was quite apparent in here, and hit me right from the first bite, probably this was mostly due to the generous layers of cinnamon syrup sprinkled in between the pancakes.
Yet at the same time, the amount of cinnamon is just right and not overpowering; I felt that the flavour profiles had been matched together rather well.
If you are craving for something warm, sweet and hearty that reminds you a little of Christmas, then this would be a great dish to go for.
UP A Notch
FAB Duck Confit ($24.00)
This is a slow-cooked whole leg of duck, deliciously torched skin. It is served on mash, with apricot & cranberry chutney.
The duck meat was soft and tender but however, slightly dry in the middle, unfortunately, while the outer layer was a tad chewy. The duck flavour was apparent but thankfully, nothing too overpoweringly strong.
BBQ Beef Ribs ($30.00)
This dish is dry brined, slow-roasted, grass-fed beef finished with a smokey, sweet and tangy BBQ sauce served with fries, onion rings and apple slaw.
The ribs have a rather complex yet delicious flavour profile. They are soft and tender, and falling off the bone, yet at the same time, they are also slightly sweet and smoky. They are definitely yummy.
However I was quite impressed with the fries. This is because even though they were left to sit for some time, about half an hour or so while everyone was too busy taking photos of all the food on the table, the fries still remained crunchy and did not lose their texture and flavour when we all finally got around to eating them. This was great to know.
Ju’s Prawn Pasta ($24.50)
This pasta dish is prepared using tiger prawns cooked in a secret crustacean cream, chilli flakes, garlic and then tossed with spaghetti to soak up all the goodness, with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan.
Out of all the savoury dishes that we were served, I have to admit that this one was the stand-out dish. I really enjoyed the cheesy notes coming from the pasta.
When I first took a bite, the strong cheesy notes hit me, together with a hint of chili. It is a simple dish, yet the ingredients and flavour profiles combine together really well.
The prawns used were fragrant and fresh, with plenty of bite. Overall this is a very enjoyable dish if you are craving for some naughty carbs.
Unfortunately I was feeling stuffed by the time this dish arrived at our table, or else I could easily have polished off the whole plate on my own.
Cakes
As one simply cannot leave The Fabulous Baker Boy without trying some of their famous cakes, which are considered to be among the best cakes in Singapore, we opted for two cakes, and these are as follows.
The cakes at the Fabulous Baker Boy are not your tiny afternoon tea morsels. Instead, they are huge, big and satisfying with plenty of bite. There is more than enough cake to go round, to share and yet, still feel as though you have eaten a good fill of cake.
Ab Fab Red Velvet ($10.00/Slice)
A true classic from the 1950s, this is a delicate layered cake yet full of flavour. It comes coated with an extra layer of Chocolate Ganache – and only high-grade Valrhona cacao is used.
This is definitely one of the better red velvets I have tried. The texture of the cake on its own is interesting; moist yet slightly rough rather than being smooth. I thought this added a bit of kick to the cake.
In terms of the sweetness, it is pleasant and not cloying, blending in quite well with the chocolate coating. When the cake is eaten together with some of the chocolate, the texture surprisingly becomes more moist and smooth.
I thought that it is a complex and interesting cake, and definitely a must-try for cake lovers out there.
The Hossan Leong ($11.00/Slice)
Named after local actor, comedian and host Hossan Leong, this cake is a 10-layered butter torte hazelnut praline cake.
I found that this too, was a complex and interesting cake. When I first placed a forkful into my mouth, it had a predominant butterscotch flavour with a hint of hazelnut.
Also, I thought this cake is slightly sweet, more so than the red velvet cake. It was moist, yet at the same time, it was rough and had a gritty texture too. Overall it is a solid and filling cake that is best shared with a friend.
Conclusion
It was definitely an afternoon of good food and fun, with all the dishes that we tried, being unique and interesting in their own special way.
If you are looking for a brunch or lunch place to chill out and spend some time with your family or your friends on a lazy day, why not check out the new-look The Fabulous Baker Boy at:
28 Aliwal Street, #01-01, Singapore 199918
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:30am to 6:30pm
Closed on Mondays
Tel: +65 89517716 for reservations.
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