From a pain au chocolat to an escargot-filled croissant, head to these bakeries for the best French pastries when holidaying in Singapore.
Gone are the days when Delifrance was the only place to get a half-decent eclair. Today, the island is teeming with quality French bakeries from big to small. The most recent entry is Cédric Grolet, who brought his hyperrealist fruit and flower pastries to Orchard, joining other notable international chains like Maison Kayser and Paul. Then there are local brands such as Le Matin Patisserie, Tiong Bahru Bakery, and Tarte by Cheryl Koh, which have become household names.
A note about the terms patisserie, boulangerie, and viennoiserie. Pastry shops in Singapore tend to use them interchangeably, but they mean different things. A patisserie is originally used to describe a place that makes and sells French pastries like mille feuille and Paris Brest, and laws in France and Belgium restrict its use to people who are trained pastry chefs. A boulangerie is more of a traditional bakery where breads like baguettes are baked.
Then there is the viennoiserie, which points to somewhere that sells Vienna-style breakfast pastries. They also bridge the gap between patisserie and boulangerie and tend to have items like croissants.
But semantics be damned. These places sell a vast spectrum of French pastries in Singapore from an old-fashioned choux puff to a demi sphere with yuzu and honey. Check them out below.
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Alice Boulangerie is the combined passion of a mother and daughter to offer classic French pastries and viennoiseries fit for the local palate. The cafe and bakery is popular for its bi-coloured croissants: think laminations in two contrasting shades with flavours like pistachio chocolate, lychee raspberry, and strawberry cheese. Alice also has incredibly detailed desserts inspired by natural forms, including a mushroom-shaped choux puff with dark sugar mochi and gula Melaka.
(Image credit: Alice Boulangerie)
- Address 12 Gopeng St, #01-05/11 Icon Village, Singapore 078877
google map - Website Website here
- Phone 8874 3300
Cédric Grolet is one of the latest entrants to Singapore’s congested patisserie scene, but the French pastry chef is already making waves. His fourth shop after Paris and London opened in Orchard to long lines, with people waiting for a chance to sample his trademark pastries sculpted to look like fruits and flowers. These are only available for preorder, but his intricately laminated croissants, sandwiches, and desserts are sold for dine-in.
(Image credit: Cédric Grolet Singapore)
- Address 30 Bideford Rd, Level 1 COMO Orchard, Singapore 229922
google map - Website Website here
Kura is the brainchild of bakers Koojee and Rachel, who banded together to create traditional French pastries with a Japanese twist. This mashup is most evident in their cakes, which start off in classic forms like Saint Honoré and cremux but are flavoured with matcha and pear yuzu compote. Kura also knows how to play to the Instagram crowd, with a smoked chocolate and banana namelaka shaped to look like an anime fruit.
(Image credit: Kura Singapore / Facebook)
- Address 79 South Bridge Rd, #01-00, Singapore 058709
google map - Website Website here
Maison Kayser is the eponymous bakery of pastry chef Eric Kayser, who also invented the Fermentolevain, the Rolls Royce of bread-making machines. His naturally leavened breads have a blend of flours Kayser chose himself, and his signature financier has a light and moist crumb. Most of his creations are resolutely French, but Kayser also has a range of baked goods inspired by the rest of the world, from the Turkish ekmek to milk bread from Japan.
(Image credit: Maison Eric Kayser Singapore / Facebook)
Born during COVID-19, Le Matin started out as an online bakery selling modern interpretations of French pastries before evolving into a full-fledged French restaurant. The brand is run by Mohamad Al-Matin, whose experience includes time spent at Noma, Restaurant Andre, and Adriano Zumbo Patisserie. While Al-Matin has expanded into steak frites and French onion soup, his early creations remain some of Le Matin’s most beloved items, including a croissant stuffed with escargot, ox tongue and wagyu bresaola croque monsieur, and mango and macadamia pain Suisse.
(Image credit: Le Matin Patisserie)
- Address 2 Orchard Turn, B2-49 ION ORCHARD, Singapore 238801
google map - Website Website here
- Phone 6509 8801
Paul dates back to 1889 when Charlemagne Mayot took over a small bakery in Lille and kept its name. More than a century later, the family-owned chain remains a go-to for classic French pastries including tarts and eclairs brimming with chocolate, apple turnover, quiches, and cakes. All their products are made with pure butter, and the cakes come from a recipe they perfected in the 1950s.
(Image credit: Paul Singapore)
Tasting Les Amis’ famed demi sphere dessert requires at least a three-figure price tag, but Tarte brings a more affordable way to sample their pastry chef’s touch. The brand was opened in 2015 by Cheryl Koh, who continues to oversee the desserts at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant and turns out impeccable tarts here. Her desserts are made with premium, rarely-seen ingredients including Williams pear, Solliès fig, and blood peach, and are joined by a small number of cakes including opera cake and fraisier.
(Image credit: Tarte by Cheryl Koh)
- Address 1 Scotts Rd, #02-05/06/07, Singapore 228208
google map - Website Website here
- Phone 6235 3225
Besides exquisite desserts, Tarte by Cheryl Koh also had a hand in the creation of Tigerlily Patisserie. The bakery was founded by Maxine Ngooi, who worked under Koh at Les Amis and Tarte, as well as the now-closed L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon. Here, Ngooi is free to explore the limits of her creativity, which has led to a yuzu, honey, and lychee demi sphere dubbed Beehive, and otah sampan: otah on a black croissant boat with coconut frangipane and bonito flakes.
(Image credit: Tigerlily Patisserie / Facebook)
- Address 350 Joo Chiat Rd, Singapore 427598
google map - Website Website here
- Phone 8887 0988
Most of these patisseries here are solitary outlets. A tiny few can count their branches with one hand. Not so with Tiong Bahru Bakery. Since 2012, the chain has grown from one store in the charming neighbourhood to multiple locations around Singapore, including heartland areas like Punggol and Jurong East. The pastries here are not exactly revolutionary, but their greatest achievement is bringing high-quality croissants, financiers, and candles to a wide cross-section of society, and teaching everyone how to pronounce kougin Amann correctly.
(Image credit: Tiong Bahru Bakery / Facebook)
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(Hero and featured images credits: Le Matin Patisserie; Cedric Grolet)
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