Starter Lab Central Kitchen

“Although I missed the chance to visit Starter Lab's original bakery before its closure, I was delighted to discover their presence at Little Farm @ Tanglin Mall. I arrived in the late evening and most baked goods were sold out. I managed to get the rosemary loaf $11.98. The aromatic loaf featured a crusty exterior and a satisfyingly chewy dough. I absolutely loved the texture and tanginess. I would certainly return for more.”

“It’s interesting to read the reviews of this place. I can get where most of them are coming from but will offer my own take. Apologies in advance if this sounds like I’m lecturing. That’s not the intention. Good bread is hard to find. You’re not going to get it at the supermarket or Cedele or Gastronomia. You’re not going to get it at Paris Baguette. You’ll get something that may or may not look nice, but the taste and quality won’t be there. As someone who makes a lot of dough myself, I have some appreciation of the process, especially for high-hydration doughs, long fermentations, and pre-ferments. It’s not easy and requires a lot of practice and experience, all the more so with sourdoughs. Most bread making uses commercial yeast for a reason. You have a single strain that produces consistent, more easily repeatable results that are suitable for production at scale. Sourdough by its nature uses wild yeast. It’s not hard to keep a starter going but you need a lot of experience to be able to use it effectively and consistently. So before one starts whinging about the price, one should understand what one is paying for and compare like to like. With that said, I think the breads and pastries at Starter Lab are generally very good. No, they’re not cheap. No, they’re not ripping you off, either. The price is fair. For dine-in sandwiches, yeah, they could be a little cheaper but the quality and taste are good. What should you try? If you’re dining in, they have a wide range of sandwiches. Go for one that looks interesting or ask for a recommendation. If you’re buying bread or pastries to take home, personally, I like the rosemary lemon and sea salt bread. It’s quite tasty. The country loaf is a bit heavier and chewier. The pastries are nice. I like the pain au chocolate and the drunken snail. The banana bread is good. The brownie is also good and not too sweet. I like miso baguettes, so I’d like to try theirs. Next time. Their coffees are good, too, by the way. Have tried three varieties so far and been happy with all of them. Finally, I liked the service and have always found them to be friendly, welcoming, and helpful, but there does seem to have been a change in staff recently, at least on the customer-facing side, and my experience has been a little mixed so far but is getting better. Also, not fond of them having added a service charge for dine-in, and they’ve reduced their hours. Yes, they’ve been opening a little earlier for a while now but they’re closing way too early. I’d like them to revert to the previous closing hours.”

“Small cafe with good bread. Coffee is alright, goes well with the pastry. I do bake bread myself so I totally understand how much effort it takes to make a good bread. Their sourdough is great and definitely worth buying back home. However, the pricing here is above average cafe in my opinion. Probably because their bakes are good. For example, one slice of sourdough with mascarpone cheese, honey, pistachio and rose petals cost $16. I was honestly stunned by the price. It was tasty but no, the price is not worth it to me. If I return, I will definitely order something else. I bought half a sourdough, bagel and croissant back when I left. Bagel has dense chewy texture which I like but if you prefer something fluffier or softer then you might not like their bagel because it is not that easy to chew it off. Overall I think this is a good place for bakes but I would probably think twice before I order, because I cannot appreciate the pricing for some of their items.”

“Great location. The pastry with sausage is too dry. The three cheese bread is well toasted however can’t taste much of the three cheese that they use. The bread is soft and chewy. The coffee is very bitter. Environment is chill, but quite short of staff.”

“Sourdough is immaculate so yummy. Loved the roasty tomato toast best. Bawang avocado was quite bland. Coffee was good. Ricotta mascarpone cheese toast was not bad but melted quite quickly so not that satisfying. And this place is always super crowded and hard to find indoor seating! Overall great place for sourdough!! :)”