We tried the food at The Fabulous Baker Boy's new outlet and it's so good we can't choose a favourite

The news of The Fabulous Baker Boy's closure in June last year left many foodies absolutely crushed. Helmed by owner, baker and theatre actor Juwanda Hassim, the cafe cum bakery at Fort Canning was a popular spot to enjoy cafe grub and cakes surrounded by lush greenery.

Fortunately, a few months later, the establishment announced that it would be returning to the F&B scene this January at Aliwal Arts Centre.

It took Juwanda a gruelling three months to find the space as he had to consider many factors, one of which was securing a shop unit that was big enough to accommodate at least 70 diners while adhering to social distancing rules, we were told when we visited The Fabulous Baker Boy the other day.

Not only did we have the privilege of checking out their stunning new space, we also had our fill, stuffing ourselves with their bakes and new brunch offerings.

In all honesty, it's hard for us to choose a favourite dish, but here are our thoughts on a few of the standouts to help you decide if you're planning on making a trip down.

Sourdough Toast

The first item on the menu we sampled was their sourdough toast ($4 per piece) which is baked fresh daily in-house. There are two flavours available, plain white and rosemary olive, and they're served with four dips — green harissa, tzatziki, orange preserves and berry preserves.

According to Arlene Lim — who's also known as the cafe's Mama Baker — when it comes to sourdough, the crust is usually left uneaten as most people find it too hard to bite into. Therefore, she's come up with a softer loaf that still has all the flavours of a good piece of sourdough.

True to Arlene's word, the sourdough here is significantly softer and fluffier as compared to most of the other versions we've tried. We especially loved having it with the green harissa dip, which essentially is a North African sauce made with spices and chilli. Its complex flavour profile and nutty undertones added an earthy touch to the fragrant sourdough toast. While it sounds very spicy, the heat factor was actually bearable.

'Heart Attack' French Toast

When they dubbed this the "Heart Attack" toast, they weren't kidding. This extreme French toast ($16) is certainly not for the faint-hearted.

A thick sourdough brioche is soaked in a batter of eggs and cream before being fried. As if that wasn't sinful enough, it's topped with cinnamon sugar and a generous drizzle of maple-flavored syrup. It also comes served with a side of plain yoghurt and your choice of berries or bananas, which help to cut through the cloying richness of the French toast.

Surprisingly, the toast was not as greasy as we had expected it to be. While it was extremely crunchy on the outside, it remained soft and fluffy on the inside. Still, we recommend sharing this with someone as polishing off a whole plate of by yourself isn't very heart-friendly.

Fab Fry Up with Turkey Bacon

Next, we had the Fab Fry Up with Turkey Bacon ($28.50) which is perfect for people who want to start the day with a filling breakfast.

The dish has all the works of a good breakfast and comes with beef or lamb sausages, confit mushrooms, roast potatoes, grilled tomatoes, sourdough toast and eggs done however you like them — scrambled, poached, overeasy or sunny side up.

RTFBB Fried Chicken and Waffles
 

How can one come to The Fabulous Baker Boy and leave without trying the crowd favourite RTFBB Fried Chicken and Waffles ($24)?

The dish features two chonky pieces of fried chicken that have been soaked in a delicious garlic marinade, dredged in a secret flour mix and deep fried to a golden-brown crisp. These are then laid atop a waffle and finished off with a generous drizzle of maple syrup.

Despite the exterior being very crisp, the chicken meat managed to remain very juicy and tender — the mark of a well-cooked fried chicken. You can tell that plenty of thought has been put into the waffle batter too as the result was a fragrant, fluffy waffle with addictively crunchy edges.

BBQ Beef Ribs

Beef lovers will look forward to sinking their teeth into the BBQ Beef Ribs ($30). This platter of meat and fries can be quite intimidating, especially for people with small appetites, so you can opt to share it with someone else instead.

The grass-fed beef is dry-brined, slow-roasted and finished off with a smoky, sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. Paired along with it are a golden-brown onion rings, a heap of fries and a tangy, refreshing apple slaw to cut through the greasiness.

We initially were a little concerned about the beef being too dry as it can admittedly be quite hard to thoroughly cook a protein of such mammoth proportions. However, they absolutely nailed it and the beef was literally fall-off-the-bone tender.

FAB Duck Confit
 

Despite having a hard time choosing a favourite, everyone at our table agreed that the Fab Duck Confit ($24) was probably it.

The well-executed dish features a slow-cooked whole leg of duck with a crisp, torched skin that is doused in a savoury gravy. When it comes to duck confit, it's easy to end up with an overly salty, tough piece of meat. However, The Fabulous Baker Boy's rendition, while admittedly slightly dry, was tender and packed with umami.

It also came paired with a decadently creamy mash, as well as an apricot and cranberry chutney which provided a refreshingly tart contrast to the savoury aspects of the dish.

Ju's Prawn Pasta

If you're feeling yourself a pasta instead, there is the slurp-worthy Ju's Prawn Pasta ($24.50). Al dente pasta is topped with succulent tiger prawns cooked in a secret crustacean cream sauce, chilli flakes, garlic and a sprinkling of grated parmesan.

Despite being a cream-based pasta, the dish was not too heavy on the palette. We also really enjoyed the tiger prawns which were sizeable and added a juicy crunch to the dish.

Cinn Bun Pancakes

There's always room for dessert, so despite feeling pretty stuffed from such a hearty meal, we couldn't resist trying the Cinn Bun Pancakes ($16). The freshly prepared pancakes were doused in brown sugar cinnamon syrup, a generous amount of maple and cream cheese and topped with toasted pecans for a little nuttiness.

By the sound of the ingredients alone, you'd naturally expect these pancakes to be on the sweeter side. Surprisingly, they weren't, and in fact, we would have liked it to be a little sweeter. In our opinion, it's a good option for people who aren't a huge fan of sugar.

Lady Marmalade
 

It would be a crime to go to The Fabulous Baker Boy and leave without trying what they're known for — their cakes. So we had to have a slice to conclude our meal.

The Lady Marmalade ($10) is essentially a buttermilk sponge cake filled with layers of marmalade, tangy lemon cream cheese and puff pastry.

While the cake was buttery, it was not too cloying thanks to the tartness of the lemony cream cheese filling. One slice is also very tall so you should be careful when eating it; don't let it topple over like ours did.

Address: 28 Aliwal Street, #01-01, Singapore 199918

Opening hours: Tue to Sun, 9.30am to 6.30pm 

melisateo@asiaone.com