Mother Dough Bakery

Look for the lime-green shopfront on Jalan Kledek. Then look for the almond croissant before someone else does.

Mother Dough is the place to start a Kampong Glam morning: a small, from-scratch bakery where the almond croissant is the order and a sourdough loaf is the souvenir. It suits anyone who wants a proper pastry before the shops open, and the upstairs room works for a small group. The compromise is timing. Bakes sell through and the selection changes daily, so go early or pre-order.

The name is a baker's joke: the mother dough is the sourdough starter every loaf comes from. This one came from New York, and so, in a sense, did the baker. Owner Naadhira worked in events before training at The International Culinary Centre in New York City, then spent four years in bakeries there, including Runner & Stone in Brooklyn, where she worked on baguettes and croissants. Mother Dough started in 2017 as pop-ups and grew by word of mouth; the bakery calls itself “a one-woman pop-up project” that became a small team. It is Muslim-owned, which is not the same as halal-certified, so ask if certification matters to you.

The first shop was a cramped unit on North Bridge Road. The current one, at 3 Jalan Kledek off the Kampong Glam grid, is easy to find thanks to its lime-green walls and signage. Downstairs is a counter with a few seats; upstairs is a bigger room. The system is simple: order at the counter, then claim a seat upstairs.

Everything is made from scratch and baked each morning. The almond croissant is the regular to come for: generously sized, filled with marzipan and covered in almond flakes. Beyond it there is a garlic twist with a hot honey drizzle, sourdough loaves, brioche, cookies and cakes, and bakes such as a berries Danish, a beef pepperoni and cheese crumble with jalapeño, and a gluten-free banana muffin. This is a neighbourhood bakery rather than a destination café, and that is its appeal; come for the bakes, and treat the coffee as company for them.

How to do it well: arrive in the morning, order the almond croissant before anything else, add one savoury bake for balance and take a loaf home. If you are coming later in the day, pre-order rather than hoping. Then walk on to Haji Lane before the shops there open (a croissant in hand is the only acceptable way to window-shop). Mother Dough is about six minutes on foot from Bugis MRT and closed on Mondays.

Good to know Bakes sell through and change daily, so go in the morning or pre-order. The bakery's own dine-in hours are in the box above, and it is closed on Mondays. About six minutes' walk from Bugis MRT.

Mother Dough Bakery | 3 Jalan Kledek, Singapore 199259 | Nearest MRT: Bugis