HunBun

Got to know of the existence of HUNBUN whilst scrolling around social media one day. HUNBUN is an establishment that is interestingly situated within a food court named eight a.m. that is located in Bukit Timah Plaza — eight a.m. itself can be found around the same area as where the outlet of Pancake King there is located; the food court also boasts of a stall serving up roast meats as well as Chinese-style economy mixed rice. Despite its location, HUNBUN’s existence within the coffeeshop can be described as pretty prominent to say the least — it appears that HUNBUN was able to include its own signage on the frontage of the food court’s entrance, and one can also find standing signages that hints of the stall’s existence as well. The stall itself can be found tucked in a corner of the food court right beside the beverages stall — one can definitely tell where the establishment is located with the signage bearing its log on the pillar that segregates it from the stall beside it. As the namesake suggests, HUNBUN is an establishment that focuses on serving up items with the use of bread — the menu featuring a variety of sandwiches and side dishes that can be shared across the table.

Amongst the various sandwich offerings that HUNBUN has to offer, the Big Beef Theory was the one that seemed to have really stood out to us — this was described in the menu to come with elements such as that of thinly sliced beef, cucumber, fresh onion and focaccia. Sinking our teeth straight into the sandwich, we found the focaccia to be coming with the right texture; the exterior coming slightly on the crusty side whilst the bread does come with a dense, sponge-like texture that provided quite a good chew. The thinly-sliced beef here reminds us somewhat of a good Yakiniku dish; the beef does come tender but requires a bit of chewing to chew apart — we did wish that the beef slices could be cut up using the scissors a little so that it creates a slightly less clumpy texture in the mouth. That being said, we did like how the beef slices were stir-fried in a Yakiniku sauce that added a pretty evident sweet and savoury note to the sandwich; all that whilst it comes with a creamy and neutral tasting mayonnaise that laces all around the cucumber slices and raw onions that added a refreshing crunch with the latter adding a bit of zing to cut through the meat and carbs here.

We have been seeing quite a number of people sharing about their Brocc N Roll via social media and have also decided to give that a go as well — this is one of the few sides available for sharing at HUNBUN, and features elements such as crispy broccoli and housemade sweet soy that is drizzled over the top. The Brocc N Roll is a dish that would get those whom love their flame-torched / grilled broccoli dishes — the crispy broccoli here features broccoli florets that had been dipped into a light batter and deep-fried; therefore coming with a little bit of a golden brown hue with a slight crisp amidst the regular soft crunch that broccoli is known to carry on its own. Drizzled in a housemade sweet soy, the housemade sweet soy adds a flavour contrast whilst giving the fried dish a little bit of moisture — all that to make the dish less jelak to have.

HUNBUN does feel like an establishment that started off as a fun concept stemming from the passion for the craft and perhaps having a brand that they can call their very own; the marketing collaterals and namesake of its menu does portray a really playful image for the brand. That being said, we do feel that HUNBUN does price their sandwiches a little bit on the high side especially for the higher-priced items for the type of establishment they are — the lowest priced item will be the Yolks on You that features elements like Egg, Mayo, Fresh Onion and Pullman Loaf at $11, while the priciest items are the Big Beef Theory and Chick Me Out at $16 which is comparable to that of some specialty cafes out there. Nonetheless, HUNBUN would probably be able to draw their own crowd from its unique setup and the offerings that they carry — an establishment likely to even having its own loyal following that is worth checking out especially for those whom are living around the Beauty World neighbourhood for sure!