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A brick-and-mortar storefront serving local cakes and pastries made the traditional way.
Poh Guan Cake House first opened in 1930 to provide Singaporeans with a wide assortment of traditional Teochew and Cantonese pastries and kuehs, and continue to do so today. Tasty and affordable, Poh Guan is famous for its chi kak kueh, which is made using cudweed shipped straight from China – an ingredient that sets it apart from modern renditions of the kueh.
Poh Guan Cake House is a family-run business and is run by Chan Kim Ho who, at the tender age of 15, inherited the storefront from his father. He represents the family's third generation of pastry makers, and he has worked hard to master art of making handmade pastries for along time, using long-time family recipes.
Apart from the chi kak kueh, they are probably best known for their pineapple tarts, particularly for those with a sweet tooth. When Chan was 10, he drew inspiration from pineapple tarts sold by a Malay lady who was popular for her tarts, and learnt her recipes on the sly before adapting them to make his own versions since the 1950s.
Mondays to Sundays: 8am - 7pm
The quality of pastries at Poh Guan Cake House are still personally checked by Mr Chan daily, to make sure they retain the traditional flavours that best represent the Poh Guan brand.
A brick-and-mortar storefront serving local cakes and pastries made the traditional way.
Preparatory work is labour-intensive and it is difficult to get the right manpower – owner currently relies on foreign expertise that was hired by his late father, overall limiting the quantity of production. There is also growing competition from newer pastry products from other countries, such as Japan, South Korea, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong in recent years. Customers are also price sensitive and while the owner feels a digital transformation is needed, it is a tough decision as the overhaul will affect the staff he currently has on his payroll, many of which are tied to his late father.