Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah

Loong Fatt Tau Sar Piah is a traditional bakery at 639 Balestier Road. It is known for tau sar piah, small round pastries with a flaky, buttery crust and a filling of green bean paste. The shop makes them in two classic versions, sweet and salty.

Lee Wang Long, a Hainanese who had learned to bake Western-style pastries, opened the shop in 1948 as a bakery and coffee shop. In the 1970s he turned to tau sar piah. He added butter to the dough for a crisper crust, and the pastry became the shop's trademark. The family still runs the business, and the pastries are still made by hand.

What to buy

• Sweet tau sar piah: sweet green bean paste in a flaky crust, with sesame seeds on top.
• Salty tau sar piah: green bean paste mixed with fried shallots, for those who prefer less sugar.
• Swiss rolls: custard, buttercream and chocolate versions.
• Cupcakes and butter cake: flavours include banana, walnut, almond and chocolate rice.
• Cakes on set days: brownies, pandan, blueberry, coffee walnut and orange rotate through the week.

If it is your first visit, buy a few of each tau sar piah and try them side by side. They are best eaten fresh, while the crust is still crisp.

The setting

This is an old-school shop rather than a modern café. The vintage wall and floor tiles and some of the old wooden furniture have been kept over the decades. It feels like stepping back into a Singapore coffee shop of the past.

The success of Loong Fatt helped make this stretch of Balestier Road known for tau sar piah. Several other bakeries selling the pastry have opened along the road over the years.

Good to know before you go

• Tau sar piah makes a good gift to take home. See our guide to souvenirs and gifts for more ideas.
• You can order online and collect at the shop in a chosen time slot. Online orders are paid by PayNow, a local bank transfer service.
• Bulk orders of a few hundred pieces can be placed through the website.
• Some cakes are only baked on certain days of the week.
• Novena MRT station on the North-South Line is about an 11-minute walk away. Several bus routes also run along Balestier Road.

Nearby

Balestier makes a good half-day trip for food and history. Visit the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, or the Lian Shan Shuang Lin Monastery in the wider area. For a local lunch, try Loy Kee Best Chicken Rice or the stalls at Whampoa Makan Place. Find more bakeries under cafés and bakeries, or see all restaurants in Balestier and Toa Payoh.