You’ve heard of CC by Mel and ZEN by MEL. Now, there’s BAKE By Mel.
Yes, F&B entrepreneur Melanie Pong is back with a new brand, specialising in “different kinds of techniques and doughs” to bring delightful pastries and desserts to us.
Like most of Melanie’s other brands, BAKE By Mel is found in Bukit Jalil, albeit further away from Pavilion Bukit Jalil.
Walking in, you wouldn’t immediately suspect the hot pastries and cakes to be all that different from what you can get elsewhere.
In actuality though, what sets BAKE By Mel apart is the way that it has experimentally and successfully merged different doughs with one another to form a unified offering.
Take for example their Truffle Mushroom Focassant, which is the marriage of a focaccia dough and croissant dough in a tart shape.
And that’s just one offering from their rather extensive menu. Here’s everything we tried while there.
Signature Egg Tart – Unlike your usual egg tart, this is made with croissant dough. The buttery, crispy outer layer complemented the silky, creamy custard. The dough where the shell and custard met was a bit chewy, but the delicate cooking process is something that the team is still perfecting.
Masala Chicken Tacro – The “tacro” is a croissant shaped into a taco shell, and it was a little thick. The masala chicken had a slight spicy kick, and was deliciously savoury. But it was on the drier side, some gravy would have tied the entire tacro together.
Dodol Burger – Taking inspiration from the fried nian gao (sticky rice cake) we usually enjoy during Chinese New Year, this features fried yam, fried dodol, and fried sweet potato “patties” between croissant buns. We felt that the combination led to a very thick burger, and it was quite chewy and dry. Perhaps just the croissant buns and a fried dodol with a sweet (or savoury, for contrast) sauce would have been a nicer balance. However, we did see a few families order this while we were there, so it has its fans!
Wasabi Cube – Despite its intimidating name, the wasabi and strawberry cream inside the croissant cube was very light and refreshing. The wasabi wasn’t pungently spicy like how it usually is in Japanese restaurants. Instead, it gave an almost floral fragrance that paired well with the mild sweetness.
The cream in the pastries at BAKE By Mel are piped upon order so that they remain fresh, which is why there’s a 15-minute waiting time for those.
Truffle Mushroom Focassant – Another unique offering there in terms of its design, the focaccia-croissant marriage wasn’t too doughy, surprisingly. The croissant tart simply gave the focaccia a nice crispy edge, and the truffle taste was superbly umami.
Pistachio Flan – The shell on this was crispy, but what wowed us the most was the creamy pistachio filling. It was thick and oozey, almost like a ganache, rich, nutty, and perfectly sweet. Sarah said it’s one of the best pistachio creams she’s ever had, reminding her of legit ones she tried in Italy before.
Uni Matcha Tacro – I’m not usually a fan of matcha, but the matcha Chantilly cream in this wasn’t too vegetal or overpowering. The puff pastry worked nicely with the light, fluffy cream, and this overall tasted quite refreshing.
Peanut Chocolate Tacro – Slightly richer than the Uni Matcha Tacro, this is sure to please most chocolate lovers. It had a dark chocolate edge with a bit of nuttiness and sweetness from the caramelised peanut and peanut crémeux.
Citrusy – This petit gâteaux consists of lime joconde, mango mint jelly, calamansi curd, and mango chiboust atop a sugar dough. I don’t eat many tangy desserts, so I found it a bit strong, but for Sarah who’s sampled other citrusy desserts in the past, this leaned on the sweeter side and was more palatable for her.
Pure De Vanille – With vanilla crémeux, vanilla Chantilly, and vanilla croustillant (which reminded us of feuilletine), you’d expect this to be vanilla overload, but it was actually quite well balanced. The almond sponge and hazelnut crushed gourmet glaze gave the flavours more depth, and provided a pleasant mix of soft and crispy textures.
Almond Supreme – The Almond Supreme didn’t particularly stand out, but it took familiar and comforting flavours to create an easy-to-enjoy pastry with almond cream filling, almond marzipan, icing sugar, and almond flakes.
Ice Cream Mochi – This one doesn’t seem to be on their online menu yet, but the combination of croissant buns and a chocolate ice cream mochi was a bit too chewy. This will appeal to those wanting a cold finish to their pastries, mind you though it’s quite filling!
For drinks, we had Cucu-Matcha, which has matcha, lemon, cucumber juice, and orange, and White Lady, which is coconut water, orange, and lemon juice.
These creative drinks were concocted by the F&B group’s head barista who also crafts drinks for their CC by Mel and ZEN by MEL menus.
Overall, there’s a large variety of hot pastries and fine cakes available at BAKE By Mel that you can enjoy from 10AM to 6PM daily.
Plus, we heard from its co-founder Damien that the pastry house plans to host “last affair” sessions which will bring finely plated desserts to the night crowd looking for a sweet ending.
For those who prefer soft, fluffy Japanese breads over flakey Western pastries though, you can check out Buns By MEL (yes, they have another new business) at Pavilion Bukit Jalil.
We’ve tried that too and attest to the fluffy texture of their freshly baked buns!
BAKE By Mel
Address: 20, Jalan 17/155c, Bukit Jalil, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 016-248 2861
Website: https://www.instagram.com/bakebymel_/
