Bao’s Pastry is already pretty much making waves in the Singapore F&B scene considering how the news about their very first outlet in Singapore is spreading like wildfire on social media. The opening of Scarlett Supermarket that takes over the former premises of the now-defunct Giant Supermarket in the basement of Paya Lebar Square has seen the inclusion of a food court-like space within its premises — pretty similar to that of Scarlett Supermarket’s location at Westgate. Food stalls located within the Scarlett Supermarket at Paya Lebar Square will include that of SteamedLiu’s 浏杨蒸菜, Dough Magic 扑面而来 and some other usual suspects that one can find at other Magic Scarlett Supermarket locations all across the island. That being said, there is a Nan Yang Jiang Kee 南洋蒋記 in the Scarlett Supermarket at Paya Lebar Square that does serve up noodles and freshly-made dumplings much like that of Yuen Kee Dumpling 袁记云饺 and ZHANGJIYUNJIAO / Zhang Kee Dumplings 张记云饺. Bao’s Pastry occupies quite a vast area within Scarlett Supermarket; the stall being within the side of Scarlett Supermarket that is closer towards Charcoal Grill & Salad Bar Keisuke as well as Kuan Zhai Wan Wan Xiang 寬窄碗碗香 there. All of what Bao’s Pastry has to offer is displayed within the various display cases and chillers; the queue spanning all the way around the stall and into the supermarket around the other food stalls there — the menu of Bao’s Pastry will include items such as a lineup of tarts, Xiao Bei cakes, mochis and buns, just to name a few.

There is always perpetually a queue at Bao’s Pastry but one thing to note is that the queue does seem to move pretty fast if the patrons are quick and decisive on what they are ordering once they reach the counter. The Xiao Bei Crispy Seaweed Floss Cake is one of the must-tries at Bao’s Pastry — a signature offering of Bao’s Pastry which is a hot-seller back in China where the brand originated from. Whilst most seaweed floss bakes in Singapore features bread buns, it is noted that Bao’s Pastry’s Xiao Bei Crispy Seaweed Floss Cake features a cake in place of the bun. The cake is soft and light; makes the Xiao Bei Crispy Seaweed Floss Cake really easy to eat considering how it does not feel jelak — the cake layer which encases the mayonnaise within is very light and fluffy. The consistency of the cake being much like a chiffon without being particularly sweet, the texture of the cake goes hand in hand with the smooth and creamy mayonnaise that gels both the cake and the crispy seaweed and pork floss altogether — the overall flavours being a little sweet and umami, and does remind us of BreadTalk’s signature Flosss bun in flavour though served in a different format. We liked how Bao’s Pastry does retail these in boxes of two (2) pieces and four (4) pieces; the former being pretty ideal for those looking for a quick snack.

Knowing that they do serve up egg tarts, it is interesting to note that Bao’s Pastry offers different variations of egg tarts not just by flavour, but also by tart base as well. Most of its offerings will come with their croissant-esque tart base; such offerings would be named “Croissant Egg Tart” on the menu, while the other variant which is being served up at Bao’s Pastry would be the Golden Portuguese Egg Tart. Bao’s Pastry does offer a larger variety of flavours for their Croissant Egg Tart series — we found ourselves opting for the Pistachio flavour variant. Whilst the croissant-esque tart base does turn out to be pretty crispy, flaky and light without being particularly greasy, we did find that the flavours of the egg curd did get mildly overshadowed by the white chocolate shavings atop; there is a sprinkle of what seems to be candied pistachio, though we did feel that the inherent nuttiness typical of pistachios didn’t really quite pull through here. Meanwhile, the Golden Portuguese Egg Tart has a physical aesthetic that is much more similar to a typical Portuguese Egg Tart; all coming with the slightly charred egg curd over the top gives it that nice, custardy look. Similar to Croissant Egg Tarts that they have to offer, the Golden Portuguese Egg Tart does come with a light and crisp pastry; not exactly buttery nor greasy, though there was definitely a little more bite if one compares these to their Croissant Egg Tarts. The egg curd here does seem a little more dense and a little bit on the sweeter side — there are definitely better egg tarts around.

There does seem to be no denying that the focus at Bao’s Pastry does seem to be on their Xiao Bei Crispy Floss Cake (Seaweed Flavour) — they seemed to have found the “secret sauce” to the ace the item and this is certainly an offering which they have nailed which also brings the crowd to them. That being said, it does seem that Bao’s Pastry isn’t quite as strong in some of its offerings as others — the flavoured Croissant Egg Tarts in comparison does feel that it had came a little short from what we had experienced with the Xiao Bei Crispy Floss Cake (Seaweed Flavour). There are still quite a number of items which some have raved about from Bao’s Pastry that we have still yet to try; there are also items like the Mochi Butter Bun that does seem to be fairly popular amongst patrons during our visit there. Notwithstanding what has been mentioned above, Bao’s Pastry is definitely worth making the visit for just for their Xiao Bei Crispy Floss Cake (Seaweed Flavour), and we do think that the queues wouldn’t be stopping any time soon!