The Bakery Chef

Along the same row of shops as Pan Delights, is Bakery Chef

The red velvet cake ($5.80) exceeded my expectations. The texture of the cake is heavier and not so fluffy, which is the kind of cake texture I like (think Plain Vanilla cupcake rather than Twelve cupcake texture). Also, there's a layer of dense cheesecake in between the 2 layers of red velvet, as well as a luscious cream cheese frosting on the top.

We also had the chempadak mousse cake. I'm a big fan of jackfruit (in it's natural form) and chempadak (in any processed form), so this was right up my alley. There were chunks of fragrant chempadak embedded in the mousse cake. Pretty interesting local twist to the usual mousse cakes you get.

Bakery cafe is also famous for their waffles, as well as their rainbow cakes (just need to call 3 days in advance to make a booking).

Do drop by if you're in the area - the cakes are really good, though the dining area is rather small and cramped. If it's too full, you can always hop over to Butterscotch for your dessert fix.

The Bakery Chef
Block 161 Bukit Merah Central 
Singapore 150161
Tel 62739211
Go to their Facebook for more information 

Pan Delights

Bukit Merah Central has lots of new cafes and I am aiming to check them out one by one! Just a street away from Bukit Merah Central, nearer the library, there's a really nice little cafe, which has great food at really affordable prices. Actually, I did walk past Pan Delights a few times but each time they were so empty, we didn't feel like walking in to try (typical Singaporean mentality). I'm currently regretting and kicking myself for that, cos the food's really great.  Perhaps I usually go there during the non-peak pre-dinner time, so the whole estate is so sleepy and quiet.

Portobello Fries with Truffled Mayonnaise ($8.90)

The beer battered portobello mushrooms are really awesome and I was happy that we chose it as our starter. I'm not a big french fries fan, and spam fries which are fried too try and thin (in which case, they are spam chips and not fries) are really not my cup of tea. However, the portobello fries from Pan Delights really impressed me.

Thick chunks of juicy mushroom - I really mean chunks - with light beer batter, paired with decadent truffle mayonnaise. Extra juicy, extra crispy beer batter (can definitely taste the beer in this), and super delicious. I would come back again just for this!

MT if you are reading this, we should go and eat the mushrooms ASAP guarantee that you will like it too!

Hot Pigs ($13.90)

I had the Hot Pigs pasta - fusili with bacon and chopped bratwurst, with chilli, fresh basil and chunky tomato sauce. It was a little bit too spicy for me, but the pasta was al dente, sauce was robust and was really satisfying.

The scallop and prawns aglio olio ($14.90) was equally impressive - with lots of prawns (seriously, it's $14.90 and a more upmarket restaurant would have easily charged you over $20 for the same dish, excluding taxes). 

They have lots of other pastas including seafood marinara ($14.90), a very interesting sounding chilli crab pasta ($16.90), squid ink pasta with prawns ($17.50, which is also the most expensive pasta dish on the menu), smoked salmon and caviar cream ($16.90) etc which I would like to try soon. 

They also have mains, which I aim to try another time, but that day just felt like a day for carbs.

It's a really small cafe and I think they're quite crowded on weekday lunches? It's pretty empty at about 5pm (at least, on the 2 occasions I've walked past). They also have some dessert, but we didn't manage to try those.

Mind you, all these are nett prices, so it's really really affordable. Do drop by and give it a try!
Head over to their blog site to check out their menu.

Pan Delights
161 Bukit Merah Central
#01-3725
Singapore 150161
Tel: 9835 1147

Butterscotch

Went to Butterscotch after work for a snack - it's located in the quieter side of Bukit Merah Central.
They were closing at 630pm so we couldn't order some of the dishes which took longer to cook.
We had the Brioche french toast which came with caramelised bananas and turkey bacon ($14) and churros. French toast was not bad, especially considering that some of the other cafes charge nearly $20 for a similar portion.
The Churros were utterly disappointing. They were too hard on the outside and slightly overcooked. Won't order this again. Chocolate sauce was pretty average.

The buffalo wings ($9) were pretty decent - crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside and doused with their sticky sweet and spicy sauce. 

They have other interesting cakes and ice cream, which we didn't manage to try. Won't mind coming back but then I would like to try the other cafes in the area. The cafe owner is a Muslim, and the food served here is Halal.

Butterscotch 
Block 164 Bukit Merah Central 
#01-3615
Singapore 150164