Do.Main Bakery Tasting Session
226 Tanjong Katong Road
Opening Hours:
Tue - Thu, Sun: 8am - 9pm
Fri - Sat: 8am - 10:30pm
Closed Mon
http://www.do-mainbakery.com/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session, but I did pay the standard price during subsequent visits.
Attended with representatives from OpenRice, Hungry Bird, Her Pen And Fork, Pooh's Adventures, Lepak With Yaops, Jelly Loves Food, and Shauneeie.
Proper French Bread, Cakes, Pastries, Made With Love
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 8
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 9
Budget about SGD $15 ++ per person.
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Since opening in December 2014, Do.Main Bakery has quickly gained a loyal following for its great tasting, fresh, authentic French bread, pastries, cakes, and confectionaries. Pastry chef Chef Frederic Deshayes, who hails from a small village near Versailles, Yvelines, in the region of Île-de-France, France, along with his wife, own and run Do.Main Bakery. The name itself is a play on words, 'Do' represents bread dough, 'Main' is French for hand(s), representing bread made by hand, and 'Domain' refers to ownership, of which Do.Main Bakery is their 1st wholly owned shop. We visited Do.Main Bakery on 25 March 2015, Wednesday night.
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| Do.Main Bakery Exterior |
Ambience at Do.Main Bakery is credited to Chef's wife, who is a freelance fashion designer, and oversaw the look and feel of the place. The result is Do.Main Bakery has a rustic, country side feel, with white cobble stone walls, solid modern furniture in shades of white and black, an overall minimalist look. A large display cabinet showcases the various appetizing pastries, cakes, and savoury items, while rows of fresh bread are stacked along the wall in back. A clear glass panel allows for open viewing of their bakery, where chef and his team can be seen hard at work.
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| Do.Main Bakery Interior |
Service at Do.Main Bakery is partial self-service, where ordering and payment is done over the counter, as is collection of cutlery. However, staff will serve orders to your table. I find staff here to be generally friendly, greeting you upon entry, though they may sometimes miss bidding you goodbye when you leave. They're generally knowledgable about the various items on the menu, able to provide brief descriptions, and I like that they have the correct pronounciation of the French names. Most of the staff are chef's former students, graduates of the pastry-making diploma programme, taught by him personally when he was head of the pastry and baking faculty at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy.
Chef Frederic Deshayes works hard everyday, rising well before the sun is up to start preparing his bakery, and continues working all the way to closing. Kneading more than 50kg of dough daily, Chef Frederic Deshayes often bakes up to 10 cakes / tarts in 1 hour. Chef insists on quality ingredients, such as Elle & Vivre butter or Valrhona chocolate, when making his pastries, and the result is evident in the taste.
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| Chef Frederic Deshayes |
Food at Do.Main Bakery consists mainly of French pastries and breads, with a small selection of French savoury dishes. Classic and quintessential French cakes, tarts, bread, and pastries are made according to time-honoured, traditional recipes that chef learnt in his youth, resulting in rustic looking, yet great tasting food. Yes, you'll be able to spot French people and even other pastry chefs dining at Do.Main Bakery! Portions are nicely sized for 1 person, and I notice quite a few people order takeaway. Prices are reasonably affordable despite the high quality, similar to prices at other cafes, or lower. Budget about SGD $15 ++ per person for a pastry with drinks, or about SGD $30 ++ if you include a savoury dish.
Bread here is kneaded by hand and baked fresh daily, and chef prepares quite a large variety of rustic, classic French breads, ranging from baguette to brioche, sourdough to dark rye, croissant to walnut bread. At least 8 - 10 varieties of bread are available on weekdays, with up to 20 varieties on bread market weekends! Chef uses his own special natural leavening starter, giving each bread a signature Do.Main Bakery taste, very natural and earthy, and along with the rustic country style look of the bread, each bite is like being transported to the fields of France. I find prices of the bread to be very affordable, considering their artisinal quality!
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| Pain Baguette / Baguette (SGD $4) |
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| Pain Noir / Dark Rye (SGD $7) |
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| Pain Boule Levain / Boule Sourdough (SGD $7) & Pain De Campagne / Country Bread (SGD $6) |
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| Mixed Bread Basket (SGD $5) |
The 4 Seasons Salad (SGD $18) is a pleasant array of bright colours, attractive and fresh. This light and healthy salad features lentils, carrots, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and roasted bell pepper / capsicum, and is utterly tasty and refreshing. A myriad of textures too, crunchy, soft, stringy, juicy, pliant, as well as excellent combination of tastes. The roasted bell pepper / capsicum in particular stood out for its smoky aroma and taste. Very good, pity it's the only salad available here!
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| 4 Seasons Salad (SGD $18) |
The Charcuterie Platter - Duck And Pistachio Pate / Terrine, Pork Rillette, Kurobuta Ham (SGD $20) is a meaty carnivore's delight, prepared by French partner Chef Stephane Istel of Bar-Roque Grill. Of the 3 seasonal meats, the Duck And Pistachio Pate / Terrine was the highlight for me, with its firm texture, pleasant smoky taste, and crunch of the pistachio nuts. Not too traditional though, as it lacks the signature gelatin of a typical terrine. The shredded Pork Rillette holds good flavour, but slightly lacks in moisture, although it pairs well with bread and the gherkin pickles. The Kurobuta Ham is thinly sliced, and you can taste the rich meaty essence and slight earthy aroma which puts it a cut above normal ham. I would order this with a glass of wine, perhaps a pastry or 2, just for dinner!
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| Charcuterie Platter - Duck And Pistachio Pate / Terrine, Pork Rillette, Kurobuta Ham (SGD $20) |
The Broken Eggs, Tomato, With Mouillettes (SGD $15) strikes me more as a breakfast / brunch / snack dish rather than a main course. But it's great fun to eat, especially since you're supposed to use the mouillettes breadsticks to stir the hot and wobbly eggs, mixing it thoroughly. Comfort food at its best, with the warm, nutty taste of the bread against the warming eggs. You can get it plain, with tomato (confit), or with bacon (and sour cream). The tomato confit has a more floral, fresh taste profile, and is made in-house in 4 hours, while the bacon and sour cream has a smoky, deep, meaty taste profile, cut through with a slight creamy sourness.
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| Broken Eggs, Tomato, With Mouillettes (SGD $15) |
The Cassolette Oven Baked Escargots (SGD $16) are a half-dozen, plump deshelled snails, coated in a fragrant garlic and parsley herb butter puree. Decent and straight forward, not terrible, but not outstanding either. Fresh, meaty, and hearty, worth ordering to share.
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| Cassolette Oven Baked Escargots (SGD $16) |
Tartiflette is a French dish originating from the Haute Savoie region of France, and is a country style dish of potatoes, reblochon cheese, lardons, and onions. The version of Tartiflette Reblochon (SGD $16) here drops the onions, and replaces the lardons with smoky bacon instead. Served like a gratin, this filling and hearty dish is delicious, with the smoky, salty taste of the bacon infused into the cream and potatoes, while the stringy, gooey cheese rounds out the flavour. Pretty good!
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| Tartiflette Reblochon (SGD $16) |
The Lemon Curd Tart (SGD $5) is among the better ones I've had in Singapore, with a wobbly lemon curd that is just nicely balanced between tangy, sour, sweet, and zesty. The pastry tart shell has a slight hint of butter, thin enough to crumble easily when cut, yet thick enough to hold the shape of the tart. Good!
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| Lemon Curd Tart (SGD $5) |
Created in 1910 to commemorate the Paris-Brest bicycle race, with a circular shape representing a wheel, the Paris-Brest is a choux pastry filled with hazelnut flavoured cream. The Paris-Brest (SGD $5) version here is like a mini eclair, and the praline cream within is light, and creamy! It may be a tad too light for some though, I quite like it as it's not as sweet as those I've had elsewhere, and overall, I feel this dessert is very good!
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| Paris-Brest (SGD $5) |
The Royal Chocolate Cake (SGD $8) is a rich, decadent, gluten-free treat, made with Valrhona Manjari 64% chocolate. The pastry base is crisp and light, and the layers of praline hazelnut cream and thick chocolate is utterly delicious. So good you can't stop eating it!
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| Royal Chocolate Cake (SGD $8) |
The Fruit Tart - Questche Tart / Dark Red Plum Tart (SGD $5), is a seasonal item made with fruits in season. The current Fruit Tart is made with dark red plums, 'stone fruit' as chef calls them, which tastes similar to a prune, but more juicy and sweet, with a rich, deep, slightly sour, floral flavour. Apparently, this is his wife's favourite tart, so you can almost taste the love chef has put into making it!
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| Fruit Tart - Questche Tart / Dark Red Plum Tart (SGD $5) |
The Chouquettes (SGD $3), a small choux pastry sprinkled with pearl sugar, is a happy childhood memory for chef, as French children typically leave a party with a bag of this. His version starts out crisp from the oven, with a shelf life of 2 days. If you let it sit in a cool dry place away from direct heat, the crisp texture gradually gives way to a chewy texture over the 2 days, which I prefer as it complements the crunch of the pearl sugar nicely.
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| Chouquettes (SGD $3) |
The Croissant (SGD $2.80) is pretty good, flaky and crisp exterior, soft, fluffy, slightly doughy interior that pulls apart easily. Natural tasting, though not as buttery, or as crisp, as other versions I've had elsewhere, this is still pretty good.
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| Croissant (SGD $2.80) |
The Apple Tart (SGD $5) is a childhood favourite of chef, and is evident in the quality. Among one of the tastier apple tarts I've tried, the apples are fresh and juicy, with a nice crunch and sweetness, while the pastry tart crust is crumbly with a slight hint of buttery goodness. Very good rendition!
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| Apple Tart (SGD $5) |
A Pithivier is a traditional French pastry, made with puff pastry in a hump shape, with spiral lines drawn on top. It's usually stuffed with a sweet filling of frangipane almond paste. The Pithivier (SGD $7) here keeps that tradition, I love the flaky, crisp crust of the puff pastry which flakes off beautifully, but the actual filling of almond paste, while sweet, isn't too spectacular in taste. Decent dessert.
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| Pithivier (SGD $7) |
The Latte (SGD $6.80) here is decent, rather average at best. Nothing I would go out of the way for... but then again, they're a bakery, not a cafe.
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| Latte (SGD $6.80) |
The Eclair Chocolate (SGD $5) is really good! The signature fragrant and chewy pastry shell is filled with a sweet, smooth, creamy, and rich chocolate cream. Topped with a thin layer of chocolate, almost like a glaze, this is not too sweet, but still very tasty.
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| Eclair Chocolate (SGD $5) |
The Quiche Lorraine (SGD $8) is decent. While I like the generous slice, the quiche filling isn't as smooth or eggy as I like, and the meat is somewhat dry and dense. Good flavour though.
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| Quiche Lorraine (SGD $8) |
Overall, Do.Main Bakery is a great place to get authentic, classic French breads, pastries, cakes, and confectioneries. As chef likes to use seasonal ingredients, repeat visits are worthwhile, especially when he experiments with fusion flavours, such as his Pineapple Tart or Choux Mandarin for Chinese New Year 2015. Will visit Do.Main Bakery again for more great tasting treats!
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CONVERSATION