PUBLISHED September 4th, 2012 02:22 am | UPDATED March 29th, 2016 03:03 pm
It appears that Outram Park is having a bit of a moment. Slowly, one by one, those shady KTV’s are being subtly nudged off the main drag, and in their place are some pretty cool little outfits popping up. Recent additions include Stranger’s Reunion, Nylon Coffee Roasters and the newest kid on the block – One Kampong Bahru….or OKB between you and me.
I chanced upon this place dashing around like a mad Nomad and the minute I saw the words ‘sweets’ and “treats” jumping out at me from the window, my Nomad radar started beeping away.
And so I ducked in..and a lovely little selection (little has significance here – more on that later) of cupcakes, mini-scones, tarts, brownies, macaroons and all other manner of loveliness winked away at me.
Obviously my natural reaction was to bee-line it to the counter and order a whole stack of things – at only $1.80 – $3.50 per item that is a very real danger indeed. And so I proceeded to order a chocolate brownie, a red velvet cupcake, a chocolate cupcake, a raspberry and cream scone, a lemon cream tart and seeing as how they twisted my arm, a sea salt and caramel, and also a lemon macaroon.
While I waited for them to pull together my swag bag of goodies to pig out on, I discovered that this little shopfront is actually part of a much bigger picture – and that picture is JAM – a company which specializes in everything from private dining, culinary instruction and shhhhh! Secret supper clubs. And no…they are not a catering company before you ask!
Anyway this is their new home and they thought – what the heck, they might as well use part of it to showcase some of their culinary skills, passion for cooking, sweet treats and baked goods and I say…fair play to that! Added to that, they are also passionate about fair pricing – which shows, and making everything from scratch – which you can taste.
Oh what’s that – I think my sweet treats are ready for trying. So let us begin. In order of preference…
- The Lemon Cream Tart. Wowzers! This one will knock your socks off with its lovely lemony zing, which is then perfectly balanced off with the buttery base.
- The Macaroons. Now honestly, I’m not a macaroon girl – I find them too sweet, flaky and annoying. But seriously, the macaroons here are something different altogether. More robust and almost pastry-like in texture, with great flavour and most importantly not too sweet….these are what macaroons should taste like in my book! If you’re a macaroon lover or hater these are a must try – particularly the sea salt and caramel flavour.
- The Chocolate Brownie. This brownie is not for wimps. It’s one serious, super dense and chocolately brownie (you can tell even from the picture below just how dense it is!) which somehow is gooey and solid all at the same time. How do they do that? More akin to a chocolate fudge cake and just naughty as sin! Best shared or risk major brownie coma.
- The Chocolate Cupcake – Uber lush thanks to the rich chocolate cream icing. This one is a lighter option for chocolate fiends if you want to be upright after eating it.
- The Red Velvet Cupcake – A solid rendition with a delightful and very vanilla-y icing (look you can even see signs of vanilla pod if you look closely in the picture)– a treat to eat!
- The Raspberry & Cream Scone – Something for those who want a walk on the less sugary side, with a nice subtle raspberry flavour. Best enjoyed with a good slab of butter on it and a brew.
OKB’s offerings are brought to you in small amounts and change daily depending on what ingredients they have in, so who knows what delights you might encounter when you decide to drop by.
Also worth checking out are their sandwiches, using fresh bread baked on site that day, I was rather enamoured by the look of the braised beef, sautéed mushrooms and gruyere cheese on focaccia ($10 + salad). Come to mamma!
So next time you’re in or around the Outram Park area…or perhaps you need to make a reason to be…snuffle out OKB and thou shalt be rewarded with sweet treats and more.
Written by Ms Demeanour