Ye Olde Bakery.. they got it right.

Flipping through the local section of a newspaper the other day, I saw a write up on a couple of pre-merdeka bakeries in the old part of the JB town that were supposed to be quite popular among people around town yet me being typically me, I have never heard of either. So one day, while in that part of town after what was a failed attempt to find any tailor that can make a court robe (Note: As far as I know there are none to be found in JB so if you need one, you'd have to go up to KL.. not that I'm complaining) I stumbled by chance on one of those bakeries called Hiap Joo along Jalan Hiok Nee and decided to see what all the fuss was about. Needless to say, the shop was very small and unassuming but it was packed with at least half a dozen workers all crammed up a bunch of sardines in a tin can forming an assembly line from dough preparing, kneading and baking. They don't actually have a counter or any form of proper display for you to pick and choose your bread of choice like other bakeries but they do have a menu listing out the buns they make.. (something I only realized on my 2nd visit). However, as I was a bit early on that particular day and all that was ready at the time was banana cake so I had that.

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Under normal circumstances, I'm not much of a fan of banana cakes but I gave it a shot anyway because alang-alang lah katakan.. Surprise, surprise.. it wasn't half bad at all. Well, actually.. I sort of figured that it would taste good judging from the big basket of ripe yellow bananas I saw which just arrived at the bakery door. (Signs of fresh ingredients denotes signs of fresh food).

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The banana cake was very light and had spongy texture which is not very usual for this type of cake that is known to be kind of dense. The taste of the bananas and butter from the still warm cake fresh from the charcoal oven were ever present but yet not completely overwhelming or overpowering.. just the right combination of flavour to compliment the slightly fluffy cake. All in all, it made for a very satisfactory morning with another hidden gem uncovered.

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Nonetheless, it must be noted the cake doesn't keep well for very long. If you decide not eat it on the same day you buy it (which is a challenge in itself), it must be refrigerated or else it would go bad.. Keep it out for more than a day and you might as well chuck the whole thing in the bin. Unfortunately, this is what happened when I tried to bring it back to some people during a weekend back in KL.. yes, I really cant stay away from KL too long.. its an addiction. But if all your after is a light snack to munch on then a slice of banana cake from Hiap Joo Bakery could very well fix your day.