Housed in a narrow and relatively quieter street near Serangoon Gardens, Chū and Co serves as a takeaway bakery (Chū Bakery) and gelato lab (Chūlato Weekend Gelato Bar).
There was no proper set-up for dine-in – just a couple of benches by the storefront, a kid-sized bench and table along the backyard, and some mats provided if you would like to picnic on the concrete floor. Those less accustomed to alfresco and the slightly cumbersome way of dining might prefer to takeaway from the store entirely.
The display counters, lined with a good variety of bread and viennoiseries, posed the biggest dilemma. I wanted to try almost all of them (which explains a second visit I took). Baked freshly on a daily basis, the menu varies weekly and can sometimes be found on their Instagram page. The bakes here were generally smaller sized and it was possible to share 4-5 of them between 2 people.
Sitting cautiously on the kids bench in the backyard (for fear that it will crumble under our weight), we tucked into our “picnic box”, together with coffee.
The Ricotta, Lemon, Smoked Sea Salt ($5.50) was filled with a generous portion of savoury ricotta and topped with lemon and smoked sea salt. I would recommend this for ricotta lovers.
An unexpected favourite, the Carrot Cake ($6) was one of the better carrot cakes out there. I loved that the cake was moist and fluffy and not overly dense. My only wish was that the slice could be bigger.
We also had the Pulled Mushroom, Cauliflower, Mozzarella ($5.50) which was akin to a mini pizza bun, with a tomato sauce base complimented with mozzarella and veggies.
Though it did not exactly emulate the taste of carbonara, the Carbonara Toast ($6) was satisfying with a good amount of cheese and an oozing yolk.
The pretty Lemon Lavender Swirl ($4.50) was however, too sweet with a huge amount of sugar piled on the top. We had to dust off a good amount of it. The lemon taste could not be distinguished.
A better choice for a sweet bun would be the Cardamon Pistachio ($5.50), though the sweetness could again be toned down.
I also wished I could have the House Ricotta, Semi-dried Tomato ($6) for breakfast daily. The combination of basil pesto, semi-dried tomatoes (a great alternative to sundried ones) and ricotta was reminiscent of a fine Italian dish.
Not pictured here is the Superfood Salad ($13) comprising strawberries, black barley, quinoa, mixed greens, chia dressing, which I would not recommend. The combination was not fitting and the taste of black barley got too overwhelming shortly after.
Despite the heat, I enjoyed my mini picnic while soaking in the vibes and people and dog watching (the café is pet-friendly).
15 Lichfield Rd, Singapore 556835
Chu Bakery – Wed – Sun, 8.30am – 4pm
Chulato Weekend Gelato Bar – Fri – Sun, 1pm – 10.30pm
Foodography: A Singapore Food Blog 