Drips Bakery Cafe ... Dripping with goodness and Love Hate Butter Cakes

Drips. I thought the name of the bakery and cafe is most appropriate for what's happening in Tiong Bahru. Heartland Tiong Bahru is indeed dripping coffee in not two but three indie cafes. First it was Forty Hands that ruffled the quaint neighborhood, then there's Orange Thimble that replaced an old sewing craft shop space. Following the two, Drips Bakery Cafe set-up at Tiong Poh Road's heritage residential apartment. I don't know when this transformation of the area will end. These changes seemed positive and it adds some buzz to the area but everyone knows that too much of a good thing has it's ramifications. For example, over development may change the original character of the place. Although I no longer stay near the area, Tiong Bahru always have a spot in my heart and I hope the best for it.

Here's the facade of Drips Bakery and Cafe amidst some of the oldest heritage dwellings in Singapore.

Inside the bakery and cafe is where you feel at home, dining on a sofa. It's spacious, uncluttered and just the good ambience for enjoying coffee and cakes. Further inside, the inner sanctum, I call it, is a dining area carved out for you to enjoy the natural light from the air well and yet enclosed for air conditioning. It's at this "Inner Sanctum" that you'll sit facing the kitchen where the action of baking and the food preparation take place. 

So does this casual setting makes you want to curl up on the sofa or one of the chairs to spend a lazy weekend afternoon?

I was intrigued by the intricate syphons that Drips has. It's been espressos for me in Drips so far. I'll be back to try their syphons for sure. If you'll like more flavor for your coffee, indulge in the syphon brew.

My cup of cafe latte from Drips that has a stronger coffee than a sweet rich milky taste.

Here's one of the pastry that I've tried. Croissant with Choux cream and topped with fresh strawberries. Strawberries and choux blended well but it made the croissant quite soggy where choux was pipped onto the croissant surface. I mentioned this to Boss when he came to ask me how was it. I'm someone who like fresh croissant and like to eat my croissant plain and at the most with some butter that's why I'm a fussy pot here. 

Here's the bake that I spawned a Love Hate relationship with. Drips Butter Cakes. Butter cakes are one of the more basic cakes that you can find. You can't find it in it's simplest form in most chi chi cafes or bakeries. However, if you go to heartland confectionaries and bakeries, they are common. There's Love here because there's no other Butter Cake I've tried that's as moist or packed that buttery punch. Yes, I meant their simplest butter cake without the frills. The Hate comes from it's price point because it's available at $3 for one slice. Well one can say that there's more butter that made it taste so good. But it's difficult to convince yourself when you usually get a size-able loaf that looks the same at $3 in heartland bakeries. Anyway, Love tips the scale more than it's nemesis. So it's actually not that much $$ to keep Mummy (HY) happy during her confinement. Mummy's happy, Daddy's happy. Anyway, if you care to read further, I went on to do some 'field study' and 'sampling' to let me be at ease with spending $3 for a slice Drips butter cake.

Here's the Marble Butter Cake which I think is more worthy of it's price as the chocolate gets mixed well. Those you get at heartland bakeries do not get the chocolate mixed well and only have chocolate close to the top. You wanna know why? Cos' during the mass production, the Butter cake is made in one big portion. Half the portion will be half heartedly mixed with the chocolate and the chocolate usually just swirls around the top. After it's baked, the cake will be part butter cake and part marble cake. The marble cake ended up not mixed nicely as the heartland bakeries are concern that too much mixing will contaminate the butter cake portion with a tinge of chocolate.

W heard me lamented about paying $3 for one slice of butter cake and recommended me to one heartland bakery near Ghim Moh Food Centre (the one beside an ATM machine and a fruit stall)to get one slab at the same price. Market price is about S$3~3.50 for one section of a big mass produced cake. It's quite good but nothing as buttery and moist as Drips. Judging from the slices on the shelves in Drips, they do not produce their butter cake in such big portion as the heartland bakeries. That's the reason why they have an edge in the quality department. As it's not mass produce, a longer process time/cycle naturally adds cost that results in $3/slice. Sounds a bit like a business analyst huh! :) Just to prove my point, I went to a couple of heartland bakeries in Marine Parade Central during my few grocery trips for a few 'slabs' of butter cake to do a taste test. Marine Parade ones, ON THE DRY SIDE. Ghim Moh one, PRETTY GOOD but still not there yet (reference to Drips version). Conclusion, I'll still be the sucker for Drips Butter Cakes even though it's $3 for one slice. In addition, they have the walnut ones and the walnut bits are spread out within the butter cake. There's the Orange flavored one too!


82 Tiong Poh Road #01-05
Singapore
Tel : +65 6222 0400


Opening Hours : 
Sun~Thu 11.00am~9.30pm
Fri & Sat 11.00am~11.00pm
Closed on Tue


Drips Bakery and Cafe Website