Fancy Delight (2 outlets)

Address 1, Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #01-04 8am-7pm (Mon-Fri), 8am-5pm(Sat), closed on Sundays and Public Holidays Tel: 63230913 #01-K05, IMM Jurong East, 10am-10pm daily, Tel: 64694606

When I was hammering away on my medium format film Mamiya RBs (very soon a collectors relic) in my many professional photography assignments of the industrial Jurong area in the early 90s, the last thing that came to me was the notion that one of those mechanical automation engineers subjects in-a-rut would wind up a makan entrepreneur.

How can, when the smell of oil, rust and whiffs of diesel in the air can make the fragrance of the chemicals in my test shot Polaroids enticing. Lunch time visual was everyone scooping rice dressed with brown meat and mushy greens with a plastic spoon into their soot and greased face. The meal was a plain function. Their jumpsuits smell.

Fancy Delight - Michael

Then an economic downturn in 2000 forced some out onto the streets with little more than the sad compensation package from retrenchment. But one chap hardly moped. He went on to help his wife deliver her very popular home made cookies to bake shops and private customers and took extra orders for the next day. And in true mechanical engineer analyst approach, Michael Ewe “spotted a potential problem which is a business lobang (opportunity).” He realized a lot of cakes, cookies and tarts came from Malaysia. “The prices may be a bit cheaper but the buying power here can afford something with better value and more interesting.” He bought over a little snack shop in town and to further the hip cookie ante, they came up with pineapple milk balls, flaky almond and chocolate sugee cookies and proudly pasted a “Made in Singapore” crest on the boxes and charged more. It did well, especially the pineapple milk ball, which is a pineapple tart ball with the fillings inside where milk powder is introduced to the pastry. Nice. But it wasn’t enough. He next turned to egg tarts as “it was just about putting something onto pastry, which we are good at.”, though they never made it before.

Assorted Tarts

Sticking to his belief that the folks here like things new yet appealing, he stuck to the old taste but gave the egg tarts a new look. It came in a cute little cup shaped pastry shell. He filled it with the Hong Kong and Portuguese-style egg custard fillings and ensured consistency. Each stood about 6cm tall and 4cm wide and the pastry was as Michael said it should be “crumbly and crispy”. The fillings weren’t as smooth as those from Tong Heng and are egg-ier to the bite, but “it suits this pastry and very importantly, it is not as sweet as theirs.” Using a lot less sugar for the local palate was a main chapter of reference in his own makan sutra.

It did very well. The dainty laptop toting office crowd around the Shenton Way area were buying in bulk for their in-house motivational talks at tea break (the motivation cost them about $1.20 per tart). The observant innovator, flushed with confidence from the response, began whip up even more fashionable versions like chocolate chip, banana, strawberry, chicken mushroom and even pepper chicken. Now, sales of these tarts have overtaken his cookie sales and have become “our rice bowl”. Today, a little over a year into business, he already has two outlets.

Not difficult to realize why when it is so easy to eat. The crispy crumbly pastry doesn’t fall apart and mess up when you chomp in. The various types of fillings have a firmer but still comfortable bite sensation. It feels so cute between your fingers and taste more like a quiche, especially the chicken and mushroom version. Now, to keep at bay the soaring demand from this still hand-made (I didn’t ask where his automation engineering skills went to) tarts, they have a sign in the shop above the little warm glass display shelf that says “Due to overwhelming response, we are unable to take any pre-orders for this month.”

It doesn’t say which month. It’s timeless, and I hope his creations do not go the way of the roti boys, floss breads, bubble tea and soon, the psychedelic doughnuts.