Tiong Bahru Bakery and Yong Siak Street

Tiong Bahru is one of the oldest housing estate. The Tiong Bahru wet market and hawker centre, is one of my favourite market and hawker centre. There are lots of good food available there.

This sleepy area is increasingly becoming a place where specialty cafes, restaurants and shops can be found.

Yesterday, I met up with D for lunch at Tiong Bahru Bakery (56 Eng Hoon Street).

D and I were both surprised at how busy the bakery was on a weekday afternoon. The cafe was almost full and there were lots of people coming in to take away the pastries and cakes.

We ordered a tuna focaccia and a Kouign Aman to share. I found the focaccia so-so but the Kouign Aman was as good as ever. They also served pretty good coffees and tea as well. D enjoyed her cappuccino and I liked my Gryphon tea. I had the "Pearl of Orient", which as a green tea with a hint of rose.

After lunch, we walked around the Tiong Bahru area and D brought me to Yong Siak Street. This was where a lot of the specialty cafes and stores first opened up in Tiong Bahru.

I especially liked the specialty bookstore Books Actually (9 Yong Siak Street). Here, you can find books by local writers, vintage books (Hardy boys hardcover series) and lots of interesting vintage knickknacks.

Books Actually - a very interesting bookstore

Lots of interesting vintage stuff at Books Actually. 

Everything is available for sale.. some of these are stuff my grandmother and my mum still keep!

A notebook-cum-Singlish dictionary (Note: Singlish = Singapore English)

Apart from Books Actually, there are also other interesting shops along Yong Siak Street.

Such as...
- Strangelets (7 Yong Siak Street), with lots of interesting animal shaped decorations/ furniture
- Aussie-Style cafe 40 Hands (78 Yong Siak Street)
- Open Door Policy (19 Yong Siak Street), popular restaurant that opens late into the night

Nearby are other interesting shops/ cafes as such Drips Bakery Cafe (82 Tiong Poh Road) and Flea & Trees (68 Seng Poh Lane).

The Tiong Bahru area is a nice place to wander around on a lazy weekday afternoon. You'd wish you have a few stomachs though, to try all the good food around the area.