The best Japanese bakeries in Singapore

At Kamome Bakery, it’s the Kid’s Red Bean Butter Bun ($3.20) that’s the constant bestseller. This humble bun is most loved for its simplicity – a thick slab of salted butter over a soft, sweet red bean filling. A baguette ingeniously stuffed with yakisoba ($5.30) or a classic Japanese curry bun ($4), the recipes here are solely their own and it’ll be hard-pressed to find another bakery like this in Singapore.

TRY The teriyaki chicken bun ($6.20) that’s paired with kinpira burdock, a classic Japanese vegetable side dish, or the prawn cutlet baguette ($6.50) – both make for a satisfying but convenient lunch.

Those living near Everton Park will most likely recognise Morimori Yogashi’s adorable bread mascot – a rotund bread roll adorning a chef hat – alongside its unique bakes such as the Mao Shan Wang choux pastry ($5.30). The bakery was founded by Terrian Lim, who previously received training from award-winning chefs like Cédric Grolet and Koichi Izumi. With 12 years of experience under his belt, Chef Terrian Lim blends traditional French baking techniques with Japanese flavours, as seen in the takoyaki buns ($12 for four) and mentaiko seaweed cheese bread ($23 for eight).

TRY The signature Fujisawa garlic bread, a soft bun with a crispy exterior and filled with Japanese mayonnaise, garlic, and butter. You can get a large sharing bun for $9, or eight small buns for $22.

Gokoku Japanese Bakery is one of our favourite Japanese bakeries around, and we’re glad to see it sprouting up around Millenia Walk, Jurong West, and Great World City, among other locations. Hailing from Kobe, Japan, this chain has been around since 1961. It’s known for its light and fluffy loaves made from healthy, traditional grains such as brown rice and sakadane (fermented dough). Case in point – the gokoku shichifuke pan ($2.40) that’s chock full of minerals and dietary fibre thanks to Japanese brown rice flour, sunflower seeds, malt, oatmeal, linseed, and soybeans.

TRY Besides the signature gokoku shichifuki pan ($2.40), also try the malt kurumi pan ($2.40), signature red bean anpan ($2.60), koucha scones ($2.30), and cream-filled jumbo coronets ($2.10).

Nestled discreetly within UE Square, this charming Japanese bakery is owned by Akira, a Japanese baker chef trained in French baking with a culinary background enriched by esteemed Michelin-starred restaurants such as Béni and Joël Robuchon. The bakery's focal point is its plain shokupan bread that is handcrafted using flour sourced from Hokkaido, highly recommended to consume on its own to savour its true flavour.

You can choose to take out or dine in at their cosy space with a seating of no more than 15. The selection boasts a variety of bakes – plain or matcha azuki shokupan, sourdough, sweet croissants, and more. For those seeking something more filling, the bakery offers an assortment of sandwich meals, salads and soups, all priced below $20.

TRY The egg mayo sandwich ($8.50) that’s basically a glorious mash of egg sandwiched in between the signature fluffy shokupan ($10). Honey and cream is used to give the bread its soft and chewy texture.

If you’re looking to get a quick lunch near the CBD area, look no further than Pawa. The hole-in-wall bakery at the end of Cecil Street packs a wide variety of sweet and savoury bagels and bakes From classic sourdough and fluffy Hokkaido milk toast to black sesame bagel and ham and egg panini, these bakes are a satisfying option that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

TRY The curry potato bagel ($3.60), which is filled with ample amounts of the bakery’s homemade Japanese curry and soft potato chunks to keep you filled for the rest of the day. For a sweet option, go for the maritozzo ($4.80), a soft bun filled with light and fluffy whipped cream that melts in your mouth the moment you bite into it.

If you're ever in Holland Village, do yourself a favour and swing by Provence Bakery. This little Japanese bakery has some of the best bakes in town, all handmade from scratch – no ready-made, frozen dough from the factory here. You can taste the quality in every fluffy bite of bread, whether it's the koshi an pan (red bean bread) or Provence white bread (made again with sakadane). 

TRY We love the pack of chewy chocolate wassants (looks like a croissant but is actually bread) and milk pan ($2). 

The name Johan Paris is distinctly French – and the bakery does have French origins. It was first opened by French baker Roland John in Montparnasse, Paris before finding its way to Ginza Mitsukoshi, Japan in 1983. Today, it’s known for turning out French-Japanese classics: distinctly French bakes like croissants, baguettes, brioches, and more – but made with only the best Japanese ingredients and inspired toppings like mentaiko.

TRY Bite-sized canelles ($3.50/100g), mini cheesecakes ($3.50/100g), and shio roll ($2.60)

Pullman Bakery started in a home kitchen in Hokkaido as far back as 1978, and has since blossomed into a chain Japan, the United States, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore. As with most excellent bakeries, the focus here is on natural and high quality ingredients, resulting in light and clean-tasting bakes. Japanese, Western, Chinese – the bakery is not shy about where it takes inspiration – resulting in a wide variety of interesting buns and pastries.

TRY The famous curry bread ($2.70), which is generously stuffed with spicy gravy. We also love the crisp red bean danish ($1.80), which offers a familiar but interesting twist on the usual red bean bread. 

While it’s a heartland bakery in Toa Payoh, Oishi Pan Bakery still has a bundle of loyal customers lining up for the fresh bakes. Like many Japanese bakeries, their specialty is soft breads – except full-fledged loaves like an earl grey white chocolate bread ($5.50) which comes infused with bergamot or a round of QQ mochi bread ($2.20) that has a uniquely chewy texture. Even the classic butter rolls ($2.50 for three) have a Japanese flair, with a soft and airy dough.

TRY The sun-dried tomato bun ($3.20) which comes with a touch of sea salt – the wafting scent of this when straight out the oven is irresistable.