L.E. Cafe Confectionery & Pastry has been drawing in crowds for decades by presenting nostalgic flavours in new forms
Traditional pastry shops are a rare sight these days. For many, they signal nostalgia, reminding people of a time when treats like pastries, cakes, and a cup of coffee was a luxury and respite from the hardships of nation-building.
One such place is L.E Cafe Confectionary & Pastry, a place known for their Chinese New Year goodies, old-school cakes, and a couple of unique inventions that continually draw in the crowds. Loyal customers, curious eaters, and even tourists flock to one of their three outlets—one each at Mackenzie, Veersamy, and Cambridge roads—for their soybean tarts, Chinesestyle ‘moon pies’ (no relation to the marshmallow-and chocolate American confection), and golf-ball sized pineapple tarts.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PASTRY
Run by the Wee family, the confectionery was first established in 1949, and started out as an eating house in David Elias Building, just a stone’s throw away from the location of their current flagship along Mackenzie road. Then, they served zichar-style Chinese food in addition to cakes, pastries and drinks. It wasn’t until 1975 that the Wees switched over to operating as a coffee house, focusing solely on baked goods. “Some of our offerings were buttercream cakes, swiss rolls, cream puffs, apple strudel, and chicken pies. Customers would come in to enjoy their cake and coffee,” shares Mei Ling, one of the third-generation owners whom, along with her brother, help to support their parents in runnning the business.
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Denne historien er fra May - June 2019-utgaven av WINE&DINE.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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