Standard Bun from Korea opened its first outlets in Singapore recently, and I thought a couple of their offerings were interesting - their Matcha Cookie Bun also included some coffee-looking cookie crust in addition to matcha, and their Garlic Cream Cheese Bun paired garlic with a sweet cream cheese and was classified as "sweet bun" instead of something savoury - unusual for garlic. Finally, I also tried their signature Mocha Bun, just because it was what they were famous for.
Mocha Bun
I'm starting with this because it was the least unique offering, and I didn't like it. As you can see from the picture of the butter filling, it was not much at all, just a thin sliver in the middle. Most of the bun was dry plain bread, and paired with the relatively dry cookie crust, it was overall quite plain, boring, unpleasant and tough to eat. (As you know, cookie crust buns such as melon pan and Mexican buns can be quite dry if they don't have an appropriate filling.)
Furthermore, the coffee flavour was very mild, just and I could not discern any chocolate notes despite the name implying the presence of chocolate or cocoa.
The only good thing was that the little amount of butter was adequately salty and savoury. But it was far too little and dry.
If you are passing through Singapore, I would highly recommend Rotiboy instead. Their coffee aroma is amazing -- rich and dark, and they use a good amount of butter such that the inside is moist and almost with a pizza-like melted cheese experience, such that I had wondered if they used cheese at first. They have an outlet at Changi Airport, and also one in town at Funan Centre. A similar brand is Roti Mum, but I'm not sure if they are still around as their website redirects to something else.
Matcha Cookie Bun
This one was marginally better, simply because they just added matcha flavour. But otherwise, I didn't really enjoy it either. As you can see, it also had the same butter filling and "mocha" cookie crust of their flagship bun, but in addition to that, there was also matcha cookie crust and a matcha lava-like fudge filling.
What improved was that the matcha filling moistened the entire bun overall, so it wasn't as dry as the mocha one. It also helped to permeate every bite with the matcha flavour.
The matcha flavour itself was quite wanting. Naturally, it is a non-ceremonial type of matcha (at least to my taste buds), so there was none of those grassy umami notes. It was like a cheap matcha latte flavour, which was mostly bitter and a vague hint of woody green tea flavour. I could not taste any coffee or mocha flavour beyond this thick and bitter matcha taste.
The fudge was also cloyingly sweet, possibly to make up for the bitterness, but overall, I felt it was a terrible experience.
Garlic Cream Cheese Bun
This was the bun that redeemed my experience thus far, and which I would highly recommend trying and consider buying again. As mentioned, it is classified as a "sweet" bun, which is unusual for garlic.
But what makes this work is that it is also actually savoury - the garlic is savoury like a good garlic butter spread, and it is paired with sweet cream cheese, which reminded me of the red velvet or carrot cake cream cheese icings.
Furthermore, there are also green onions (those tiny dark greenish spots). They also provided an occasional vegetable crunch, and so contributed to a varied texture.
In addition to the cream cheese, there is also the normal cheese you find on cheese buns or pizza (something like parmesan or cheddar, although I'm not sure what they used), which would be those browned patches over the pale cream cheese. This gave it an extra pop of savoury cheese taste as well as an added crunch in some bites.
Finally, because the creamy filling was abundant (you can see a huge dollop in the middle), the entire bun was very moist and creamy, not dry at all.
So overall, the taste profile was very complex, had tonnes of umami (both garlic and onions), and was very balanced with both sweet and savoury, and both herby and creamy aspects. And the texture was also excellent, with the different types of crunch contrasting with the good level of moisture.
Discover other coffee pastries and interesting breads
- Coffee Bun by Butterbear, Thailand
- Lava Mocha Croissant by Kamome Bakery
- Vegetable Breads by Bakery 1946 - Whole Chestnut, Corn and Carrot (another Korean bakery that recently came to Singapore)
- Curry Cheese Bread by Giraffa Curry Bread Specialist from Japan
- Ayam Buah Keluak on the Go - Polo Bun Version
- Sweet Pumpkin Bread by Bakery 1946
- Apple Tea in a Bun - Apple Tea Time Bun by Johan Paris Bakery
- Earl Grey Latte in a Bun by Johan Paris Bakery
- Polvoron - The European Version of Chinese Cookies (there's a coffee-flavoured one)
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