Tucked in the corner of Ann Siang Hill near the junction of Club Street lays K Ki Sweets. Barely two week old, this Japanese styled concept store serves to inspire people. Owner Delphine who spoke to us said that she wanted people to gain inspiration as they step into the store, be it artists, photographers, etc. This is also the reason why they chose to be situated in the corner of Ann Siang Hill.
Their pastry chef is co owner Kenneth (Delphine's husband). A self taught baker who pursues his dreams to set up K Ki. I can see his passion as I observe him carefully align his creations.
K Ki offers limited selection of cakes and they gets replenished as the cakes get sold out to ensure freshness of the cakes. But even then, note that each creations are limited in quantity per day.
Apart from cakes, K Ki serves a short list of beverages (i.e coffee, tea and orange juice) with their coffee served with home baked chocolate hazelnut or coconut sables which are sold in packets of 12 - 14 for about $12.50.
Newly introduced this week, Delphine recommends their dine-in guests to try the Pumpkin Pudding ($7.00). Often you find pumpkin either in the form of soup, infused with yam cake or even fried like fritters but as a pudding, this is really a first for me.
Overall the pudding tasted very close to eating actual pumpkin with salted caramel drizzled over the top. Even non-pumpkin lovers like Fen finds it refreshing but associate with a similar after-taste as eating caramel popcorn.
The Mont Blanc ($8.50) contains bits of chestnut, mixed in light fluffy cream that is on the blend side. The puréed chestnuts drizzled over the cream has a nice texture and powering taste of chestnut, complimenting pretty well with almond cake base. Not too sweet and the essence of chestnut is presented sufficiently to Fen's liking.
K Ki shares the shop space with the Little Drom Store - a vintage store which brings back fond memories of my childhood. Film cameras, old telephones, five stones... can be found here.
The ambience this place offers is very laid back and as portrayed in the pictures, the place shows some resemblance to some shops shown in Japan Hour. We stepped into the shop, having the intention to blog and left the place with some fond memories of our childhood and a light-hearted feeling. Having to enjoy cakes in a quiet setting and the freedom to browse around Little Drom Store, we have to admit that the experience this place offers is unlike most patisseries.
Since Kenneth is seeking ideas to come up with new bakes, join their facebook group and check out their new inspiring bakes this cafe has to bring to their customers. Something to note, as there is limited seating areas, the store actually promotes take-aways.
K Ki Sweets
7 Ann Siang Hill
#01-00
Tel 6225 6650
Their website and facebook group
Operating hours:
12pm - 7pm (Sun to Fri)
12pm - 4pm (Sat)
Closed on Mondays
8 comments:
Great! I was about to. Mont blanc & the "next cake coming up" too. (:
Yup, Antoinette, our favourite among the 4 has been published...
There are limited slices for each cake (about 5 or 10 pieces) and some of the cakes are going off very fast, was there from 11 to 1pm and Antoinette & Cheese Souffle were down with only 1 piece just before we left...
cool, din know abt this place. how many seats are there?
About 8, it shares the shop space with the little drom store
This is my reply to Taster's and Ice's comments on the cbox. Alittle long to put the entire comment on the cbox.
Actually I haven't been comparing Pâtisserie Glacé with K ki, it is because most tends to associate between these 2 pâtisseries as they focus on Japanese pastries such as Strawberry Shortcake and Mont Blanc. Thus, I just give my opinion in those context.
I specifically mentioned about Pâtisserie Glacé's tarts as Fromage Syun and Rin Rin cheese tarts leave a deeper impression due to its cookie-like base. In addition, Strawberry Hills, a hybrid of tart and sponge cake with custard cream and fresh strawberries, has been my favourite and so far I have not come across something similar in other pâtisseries.
As for Pâtisserie Glacé's cakes such as Choco Renga, Banana Chocolat and Mont Blanc, these aren't my preferred style so my reviews are pretty close to neutral.
Now for the comparison, since I had Mont Blanc from both patisseries, I have to admit that their base is very different. For instance, Pâtisserie Glacé has its on a softer, springier cake base while K ki does it on a nice almond coarse base. As for the chestnut puree, K ki definitely triumphs for being more stronger and smoother.
I didn't manage to try the Strawberry Shortcake from both places. Based on my sister's comments for Pâtisserie Glacé's version, she felt that the sponge is simlar to Sun Moulin's version, dense and springy. As for the cream, it is not as light as Tampopo's Scoop cake. For that, ask me for recommendation of strawberry shortcakes, Pâtisserie Glacé will not be one of them.
Comparing the Strawberry Soufflé from Pâtisserie Glacé and the Soufflé cheesecake from K Ki, both are generally light and fluffy but judging from Yuan's instant praise upon first bite for K ki, the latter for sure triumphs in terms of texture and also towards his preference.
I did mention that K ki focus more on mousse and texture while the strength of Pâtisserie Glace seems to be incined towards tarts but note, since I have not try any of K ki's tarts, my verdict is not final, just a spectulation.
My take for the above statement is that apart from Strawberry Shortcake and Mont Blanc, A-Q (Chocolate Hazelnut praline), Antoinette (White chocolate with mango puree), Café Dumo (Chocolate with Coffee), these are mousse-based and these are not found in Pâtisserie Glace. Depending on what cakes each has consumed, it is fair but also not fair to compare these two
pâtisseries.
K ki is clearly closer to my preference and I don't deny the fact that K ki is one of my favourites.
My reply to taster: "K ki has a strange concept":
I talked to the owners & this is how they conceptualize their shop.
First, K ki does not, in the 1st place, position themselves as a cafe in any way. They don't even call themselves a pâtisserie. The concept is simple. Customers come browse knick-knacks in the little drom store & have a cake or 2 & coffee to relax. The shop is a combined passion of 4 friends, 2 collectors & 2 pastries lovers. They have never wanted the shop to be cafe-like, say like canele etc, so explains why there're only 3 tables of 2 & they're not intending to expand. Delphine also mentioned they encourage takeaways. I think fen mentioned that before too. Using cutlery & plates from Muji does not make them any "Muji-European" (duh).
So does having Sacher-Torte, financiers & madeleine make PG any European? I think not.
"French-Japanese cakes are not dense, only pure French cafes are.":
K ki's cakes, even their mousse cakes are not dense. The source their ingredients from France & Japan, if that's what you mean by French-Japanese style cakes.
As for tart bases, I have tried all 3 kinds to compare. Sable breton with almond frangipane (K ki's Strawberry tart), almond tart base (K ki's Mont Blanc vs PG's Strawberry Hill) & pâte sablée tart base (K ki's cheese tart vs PG's Fromage Blanc & La France). K ki definitely takes the cake for tart bases. They're alot more fragrant/butterish, better texture & exquisitely made.
Take the chestnut paste of Mont Blanc to compare again, it's obvious on 1st taste that K ki's chestnut paste is definitely smoother, stronger & more intense.
fen: I think you should return to try K ki's tarts & other cakes to give a fair assessment. It's not fair (for taster) to give judgement just by "looking" at the appearance of the cakes/tarts & shop.
Ice: Actually French-Japanese cakes are not supposed to be strong in butter taste and intense like you have described their tarts and cakes, because Japanese people have very sensitive sense of smell and taste. So some readers might get a little confused.
Just went there yesterday. It's pretentious, the vintage stuff is very expensive and some don't event work, the Singaporean lady boss is rude and unwelcoming. If you're looking for warm Japanese hospitality, it's sorely lacking here. The staff are very too-cool-for-school in their designer tees and sneakers, and so are their icy personalities. The six of us spent $80 on cakes and drinks and stayed for about 2 hours. Yes the cakes were tasty especially the Flourless Choc Cake. The ambience is quaint and cosy with all four tables occupied. I went up to the cashier with my empty glass for the second time to ask for a refill of water. And she said in summary: "This is not a sit-down-and-eat place, it's takeaway". So what the heck are the chairs and tables for??
To think i was gonna order another round of cakes. Seriously, this is my first and last time here.
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