[ Project Xi Bing ] Tong Heng Confectionery and Poh Guan Bakery (Part 3/3)

Its finally the last part of Project Xibing! Yay!!!

If you are looking for my reviews of Gin Thye Cake House, Thye Lee Confectionery and Neo Kian Guan Confectionery & Cake, please proceed to Project Xi Bing Part 1/3. 

If you are looking for my reviews for Pine's Garden Cake House and Thye Moh Chan, please proceed to Project Xi Bing Part 2/3.

Because for this post, I will only be featuring Tong Heng Confectionery and Poh Guan Bakery.

• Tong Heng Confectionery

I was actually quite amazed to see Tong Heng Confectionery in the recommended list for xi bing in Singapore. I only know Tong Heng for its very yummy iconic diamond shape egg tarts. Due to this project, I understand that it is actually a Cantonese bakery, which started since early 1990s. So a very excited me headed out to this part of Chinatown on a very sunny Sunday afternoon to find out more!

Spot the iconic egg tarts on their signboard.

The confectionery shop is filled with tourists, who have flocked here to have a taste of their egg tarts and traditional chinese pastries.

The store front has a huge signboard of wedding related information and "decorated" with their iconic pink and orange boxes.

*Slurps* Once we stepped into the storefront, we can see rows and rows of very colourful traditional tau sa pia of various fillings and colours. There are sooooooooo many different flavors and colours. Lotus paste, red bean, green bean, chinese cookies and their popular egg tarts.

A closer look of the freshly baked pastries

Once again, I started to enquire about the wedding packages with the lady at the counter. She was very fast and attentive in attending to our questions. She took out their brochure, explained about their wedding packages and started writing down the prices of the different types of pastries. My dad, who was with me, got abit confused with their costing and asked if she could explain it once more. She did so one more time promptly, without flaring up. We were so thankful for her kind patience.

And now to help you understand their pricing, basically, you pay for whatever pastries which you have selected to be inside your box.

Example: if you select 2 Blissful Crisp with Red Bean Paste and 2 pieces of Blissful Crisp with Lotus Seed Paste, that box of xibing will cost ($2.80 x 2) + ( $3.60 x 2) = $12.80

Here's a shot of their wedding cake box packaging.

If you prefer a nicer and more modern box, like the one below, you will have to pay an additional fee of $3/box.

The shop also have some display sample sets of how the xi bing box will be like. Do note the size of the wedding xibings for Tong Heng is bigger than the ones which they are currently selling in their storefront.

Sample Number 1

Sample Number 2

Sample Number 3

Coming to this point, I'm all ready to sample these cute and colourful "chess pieces". Since I have made my way all the way to Tong Heng, I also took the chance to purchase one egg tart. Hehe. 

A side view of the xibings, before they once again ended up inside my tummies. As you can see, the xibings are of a very different texture from the Teochew style Tau Sa Pia. These Cantonese pastries are softer, less crumbly and sweeter. 

My own personal preference is the crumbly teochew style tau sa pia so I thought these pastries were only so-so. However, to be fair to Tong Heng, I got my parents to try and give me their opinions. They told me that Cantonese pastries are of this texture and that it is considered quite tasty. Skin is not overly thick and filling is not too dry. I trust my folks on this one!

In summary,

Packaging And Presentation: 3.5 out of 5 stars for the normal packaging and 5 out of 5 for their premium box (which needs an additional $3 per box)

Pricing: Cost per box is based on individually priced pastries. Traditional bean paste pastries cost $2.80 to $3.60 per piece.
Cost per piece for trying: $1.40-$1.60 per piece.

Customer Service: 5 out of 5 stars 

Taste: 4 out of 5 stars for the cakes

Additional information: I forgot to ask about the wedding basket rental. Oops :)

My personal comment: When it comes to size, colour consistency, appearance, taste and pricing, I would say Tong Heng is a good deal to consider. It would be great for couples looking for the colourful xibing. It is considerable more affordable than Poh Guan and offers more flavour and varieties than Gin Thye. 

We decided not to take this up as we still prefer Teochew style tau sa pia.

Address: 285 South Bridge Road Singapore 058833

Contact number: 6223 3649

• Poh Guan Cake House

Started in 1930, Poh Guan Cake House is a pretty established bakery, known for traditional chinese pastries. I think most of the time when you mention TEOCHEW XIBING, many people will say Poh Guan or "that bakery at Hong Lim Complex". Therefore, how could I miss out on this one?

It is a very old school traditional bakery. No fancy packaging or gimmicks, just focusing on good quality pastry.

Poh Guan produces good pastries. Yes, we all know. But one big publicity which put them in the media's attention is in 2009, when Christopher Lee went to buy their famous 8 flavoured traditional chinese pastries as the xibing for Fann Wong's families. I saw cut outs of the newspaper at their storefront. Haha.

So a very happy me went to the staff and requested to purchase a sweet and salted tau sa pia. But I was stunned like vegetable with I was told that ALL THEIR TAU SA PIA ARE SOLD OUT!!!!! And that was just about 2pm on a Sunday afternoon?!?! Seriously? I tried to ask what time is the next batch available for purchase over the counter and I was asked to return the next day. My jaw literally dropped. They are so popular!!!! There was only about 10 pieces of durian flavored tau sa pia left and I decided to just purchase one piece to try. 

So I had the honor to enquire from Poh Guan's elderly boss about the xibing packages they offered. He was really old and therefore can't hear us very well. But if we speak louder and slower, he is perfectly fine. He showed us the pictures of their different sets and the boxes which were used to contain the xibings. We enquired if it is possible for us to get the xibing on Mid Autumn period, which is also their peak period. He assured us that if he takes the order, he will promise we get our xibing on time. I admire his confidence in delivering what he promised.

They have 2 different sets. On the left, the teochew set which consist of 5 sweet bings and their homemade traditional teochew sweets. On the right, their iconic 8 flavoured tau sa pia set, which is also the one that Christopher Lee bought. Each box cost $28, which is on the higher end if you are a couple on a budget.

Their packaging is still the very old school one, quite similar to the one I saw at Thye Lee. Likewise, I think they can also consider working on their packaging. Personal preference on my side again.

8 flavours set

Teochew Set

This is their version of the Da Lao Bing, aka son-in-law biscuit. Usually the bride's parents will be the one to purchase this for the groom's family.

Da Lao Bing

So now, the moment of truth in this SOLD OUT store.... Aren't you curious too?

Here's a picture of my very precious durian flavoured tau sa pia.

The skin is so thin and flaky, the thinnest out of all the pastries I have tasted so far. The filling is so soft and not overly sweet, with a tinge of durian. Oops, I feel that its so odd to taste durian in such pastries. But it's not too bad afterall.

Haha, it's almost like I'm holding an ice cream sandwich in my hand! It's so yummy!!!!!

In summary,

Packaging And Presentation: 3 out of 5 stars

Pricing: $28 per box
Cost per piece for trying: 90 cents for tau sa pia

Customer Service: 4 out of 5 stars

Taste: 5 out of 5 stars for the cakes

Additional information: Wedding basket can be rented for free if you order xibing from them. (A deposit amount is required.)

My personal comment: I think I have nothing to comment further in terms of the quality of their pastries. It is definitely one of the better ones in the xibing industry. I still can't believe its sold out. I must find another time to head back Hong Lim and sink my teeth into their classic flavors. I think this gift box will be a definite hot favourite amongst relatives who appreciate good pastries. 

However, if you intend to order from them, I recommend you to visit their store on a weekday as the store is so packed with customers on weekends. Most of the staff will be too busy to attend to you if you go on a weekend. This will not be a good choice for couples on a budget because it is considered relatively high.

Address: Blk 531, Upper Cross Street, #01-57, Hong Lim Complex Singapore 050531

Contact number: 6534 0136

And now for some afterthoughts...
With that, I come to the end of my Project Xi Bing. It has been a very awesome experience going around Singapore to track down the best deals for guo da li. In this process, I have also gobbled a good number of tau sa pia and maybe gained weight in the process. *Oh no...I'm supposed to be losing weight now!" 

BUT ITS OKAY! I hope my efforts can be passed on to couples who are still on the lookout for wedding xibing in Singapore.  For myself, I've since fallen in love with good tau sa pia. Cheers to Project Xibing.

Now to my next step of wedding preparation....

Addicted to xibing,
Mrs To-Be OOPS