Old Seng Choong pastries ($24)!
Old Seng Choong pastry box: cheese tarts, a charcoal salted-egg tart, charcoal and pink croissants, and other heritage-meets-modern bakes from Daniel Tay's revived family confectionery. $24.
Pastry haul from Old Seng Choong, $24. 😋
What was in the boxes:
- Cheese tarts: the round golden tarts with the blistered, caramelised cheese tops
- A charcoal salted-egg tart: the black charcoal-pastry shell with the molten golden salted-egg custard centre
- A charcoal pastry triangle: the squid-ink-dark folded bake
- Croissants in charcoal and pink (likely ube or berry): the laminated, coloured viennoiserie
Old Seng Choong is a heritage story as much as a bakery. The name revives Seng Choong Confectionery, a Marine Parade household name founded in 1965 and run by chef Daniel Tay’s parents until it closed in 1996. Tay, who also founded Bakerzin and Cat & the Fiddle, reopened the family business in 2016 under the Old Seng Choong name as a tribute to his father, pairing traditional bakes with a modern spin.
The signature is the local-flavour angle: alongside Western patisserie standards, Old Seng Choong runs distinctly Singaporean flavours, pandan coconut, gula melaka, laksa and bak kut teh cookies, the kind of heritage-meets-modern idea that the brand built its name on. The pandan chiffon and the salted-egg bakes are among the best-known.
This box leaned into the showy modern bakes: the cheese tarts with their torched tops, the charcoal-shell salted-egg tart (the black pastry against the golden lava centre is the photogenic one), and the coloured croissants. The salted-egg charcoal tart was the standout, the molten centre living up to the look.
At $24 for an assorted box, this sits at the premium-bakery price point, fair for the quality and the heritage behind it.
Overall: 4.3 / 5. 😋👍🏼 The charcoal salted-egg tart was the standout pick. Would re-buy, more local-flavour items next time.
