Ex-Hotel Pastry Chef Sells $2.70 Croissants, Mochi Egg Tarts And More In Amoy

Petit Krumbs is a hawker stall in Amoy Street Food Centre

Hawker bakeries seem to be making a name for themselves in recent years: cue Butter Town, known for their ultra-chewy shio pan, and Muffin Homme, a hidden bakery in Sembawang with fresh muffins under $2.50. A new addition to this evergrowing list is Petit Krumbs, which recently opened at Amoy Street Food Centre. Petit Krumbs is headed by an ex-Mandarin Hotel pastry chef, which might explain the stall’s popularity on social media. 

To give you an idea of just how in demand they are, queues start forming before the shutters go up each morning, and the first batch of bakes often sells out within the hour! Don’t let that deter you from dropping by later in the day though, as the chef regularly doles out fresh batches of bakes. 

Food at Petit Krumbs

Here you can find both old-school bakes as well as modern pastries and tarts, sold at economical prices. They do not have a fixed menu, but you can expect a rotation of around 10 different bakes a day. Some mainstays include Butter Croissant ($2.70), Pain Au Chocolat ($3.50), Sourdough Cinnamon Bun ($3.50), and Canele ($3.50). 

Unfortunately, I could only watch in disappointment as the last cinnamon bun and canele on display were grabbed by the customer in front of me. Nevertheless, I still managed to score a good variety of baked goodies so I could form a fair judgment on Petit Krumbs. 

To start, we had their good ol’ signature Butter Croissant. While many people evaluate a croissant by its texture, I personally pay more attention to its flavour. For me, a good croissant should boast a fragrant, buttery richness, which is typically indicative of the grade of butter used. 

Thankfully, the aroma of butter hit me as soon as I sank my teeth into this croissant—thanks to the use of good quality French butter in this recipe. In the texture department, it reared all the traits of a good croissant: flaky, layered, and light. It’s safe to say that this croissant passed in my books! 

Of course, I had to put their chocolate version to the test too. What looked like a pretty regular Pain Au Chocolat ended up surpassing my standards as well. 

The gooey chocolate leaned towards the bittersweet side, which was a pleasant surprise as it tasted much more decadent and rich than if milk chocolate was used instead. The pastry was also filled with generous globs of melted chocolate, which I loved.

We also tried three of their crowd-favourite tarts. First up was their Valhona Chocolate Tart ($3.20). Biting into the pastry, I expected to be met with a melted chocolate centre, but instead, there were crunchy nuts under the ganache layer. 

I found myself chewing the tart for far longer than I would have preferred, as there were too many textures going on at once. But if you’re a big fan of layered textures in your dessert, you might appreciate this more than I did! 

We moved on to the Lemon Mochi Tart ($2.70). Encased within the tart shell was a tangy lemon curd and a mochi middle. There was also lemon zest sprinkled all over, a minor detail which enhanced not only the citrusy flavours of the dessert, but also the aesthetics of the tart. 

The creamy lemon curd struck the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. Aside from the fact that I wish they added more mochi to the tart, I had no other complaints about it. 

Arguably the best item out of the tart trio we tried was the Taro Mochi Egg Tart ($2.50). To make things even better, we managed to get a piece fresh out of the oven. 

It was reminiscent of a Portuguese-style egg tart, with a flaky crust and a caramelised custard centre. Tucked under the egg custard was a mochi filling similar to the lemon tart from before. 

As someone who does not usually enjoy egg tarts, this bake was addicting. The custard was sweet and smooth without being overly eggy. It also maintained a silky texture that paired well with the stretchy mochi. Together with the flaky pastry, it was a solid egg tart, both flavour and texture-wise. Just a note that there wasn’t a prominent taro taste in the custard, so if you were hoping for an orh nee-forward dessert, you might be disappointed with this tart. 

We also tried the traditional Butter Cake ($3.50).

It boasted a decently buttery taste, but texture-wise, it was a bit too dense for my liking. Personally, I felt that it did not stand out from the lineup of bakes.

While the butter cake was too dense, the Carrot Cake ($3.20) was almost too moist—it was on the oily side, so much so that it left a trace of grease on my fingers. Otherwise, the cake was delightfully earthy and sweet. Buried in the crumbs were generous carrot shavings which added textural variety to the soft sponge.

I raised my expectations for their Sourdough Brownie ($2) as soon as I heard a few customers queueing behind me raving about it, hoping to get their hands on the last pieces. 

My expectations were met indeed. The brownie was both moist and dense. It also carried a subtle tang that balanced out the sweetness of the chocolate, a unique effect from the use of sourdough starter in the batter. 

Ambience at Petit Krumb

Petit Krumbs is located in Amoy Street Food Centre, a busy hawker centre that is typically packed with both office workers and tourists alike. The stall draws long queues even before their opening time, so we suggest you head down early so you can get your hands on their bakes! 

They are located on the first row of stalls right near the staircase, so it is pretty easy to spot them. Amoy Street Food Centre is a nine-minute walk from Maxwell MRT Station, as well as a six-minute walk from both Tanjong Pagar MRT Station and Telok Ayer MRT Station. 

The verdict

Though hawker bakeries now exist in abundance, several factors set Petit Krumbs apart from the rest. Despite shifting to a humble hawker stall, the chef has managed to keep her bakes at affordable prices without compromising on quality and taste. There is also an impressive range of goodies on offer, from the traditional cakes we grew up with, to Western pastries and contemporary creations.  I would say the bakes here are worth queueing for! 

If you like a good tiramisu, check out our list of the best tiramisu in Singapore, including Pistachio Kunafa Tiramisu and Taro Tiramisu. Otherwise, check out Uncle Lee Confectionery’s vending machine for fresh cakes dispensed from a vending machine in Woodleigh! 

Address: 7 Maxwell Road, Amoy Street Food Centre, Singapore 069111
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8:30am to 2:30pm
Website
Petit Krumbs is not a halal-certified eatery. 

Photos taken by Marcus Neo.
This was an independent visit by Eatbook.sg