With its first store established in Everton Park some years back, Dearborn has recently opened its flagship within the hippy red blocks of New Bahru. Dearborn prides itself as a breakfast club, microbakery and breakfast provision shop, serving not just its signature granola flavours and baked loaves of bread but also a range of breakfast dishes.
It is nearly impossible to get a seat on the weekends without waiting in line if you do not come right at the opening time – so I opted for the outdoor table, which I don’t recommend if you’re sensitive to heat.
On both occasions I was here, I started off with the Piccolo ($5, +$1 for oat milk), a single shot with 4oz of milk. I loved how it did not bear the strong, distinctive bitter taste that piccolos normally do.
If there was one dish you need to try here, it would be their signature Potato and Egg ($15), which is also vegetarian friendly. It features a 63-degree sous vide egg buried underneath potato puree, topped with sourdough croutons, chive oil, silky potato espuma and puffed grains. It was the smooth, creamy and savoury potato puree that elevated the dish, and it felt like a fine dining course.
The Advanced Granola Bowl ($15) was another favourite of mine. This was a combination of locally-made Annie’s coffee yogurt, house-made hazelnut & maple butter and cherry compote with their best-selling dark chocolate hazelnut and sea salt granola, resulting in a mixture of sweet, nutty and tart flavours complemented with the crunchy texture of the granola.
It was a mistake to order the Basic Granola Bowl ($9) after having tried the advanced bowl, because the basic bowl now felt extremely basic… I chose the strawberry macadamia granola for this, and I have to say that the dark chocolate hazelnut granola was still superior.
The Peanut Butter and Jelly ($7) was one of the best I’ve had. The salted praline peanut butter with feuilletine was crunchy, a good balance of sweet and salty, and doesn’t stick to your teeth like commercial peanut butters. The buckwheat English muffin it was spread on was just as good.
I was really craving some meat so I had the Dearborn Breakfast Sandwich ($17). The highlight for me were the fluffy sweet potato rolls used as the top and bottom bun. The homemade pork sausage, American cheddar, egg and spicy pepper relish sandwiched between the buns were however just alright, nothing much to shout about.
Apart from the inconveniences of a strict 1-hour limit for both indoor and outdoor dining (I was still eating but got reminded that I had to leave within a few minutes), strict seating arrangements (3 pax table is strictly for 3 pax) and the small portions, I honestly liked Dearborn for the quality of the breakfast items, standing out from the other cafes.
My top picks? The Potato and Egg, PBJ, and Advanced Granola Bowl.
46 Kim Yam Road #03-04, New Bahru, Singapore 239351
Wed to Mon 9am – 3pm
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