Ottie Pancakes (HarbourFront Centre)

Got to learn about the existence of Ottie Pancakes whilst walking around Harbourfront Centre not too long ago — whilst these folks might sound like a relatively new brand to the masses at large, it does seem that the outlet of Ottie Pancakes at Harbourfront Centre isn’t their very first one in Singapore; the very first location of Ottie Pancakes is actually within the one-north neighbourhood, situated within Galaxis in the Fusionopolis district. Ottie Pancakes’ location at Harbourfront Centre takes over the former premises of the now-defunct Tuk Tuk Cha outlet; this is a shop space that actually features a dual frontage, being situated close to the branch of DBS Bank at Harbourfront Centre. The store facade is pretty eye-catching with the use of orange-coloured elements against white walls and fittings that features wooden accents — that being said, the entire look of the store does seem to resemble the vibes of another well-known establishment that serves up Min Jiang Kueh and Pancakes named Munchi Pancakes; a brand that had first started out at Yishun Park Hawker Centre, but had since expanded to multiple locations all around the island. The resemblance to Munchi Pancakes does not stop at how the space is being decked out; it even extends all the way to the design of the marketing collaterals and display that one would come across at Munchi Pancakes. Whilst the former tenants of the space used to have a space dedicated for dine-in patrons, Ottie Pancakes had made do without it for a larger food preparation area; the establishment being one that is strictly meant for takeaways only. Even the menu of pancakes / Min Jiang Kueh offerings follows closely to what Munchi Pancakes has to offer — Ottie Pancakes offers a line-up of Min Jing Kueh, as well as a fusion-style of pancakes which seems closer to that of Western-style pancakes that comes with a line-up of different fillings. This is also not forgetting the range of Mini Ottie which are essentially bite-sized versions of the Ottie Pancakes that are being sold in a set of six (6) of up to a mix of two (2) different flavours; both the Ottie Pancakes and Mini Otties being reminiscent to Munchi Pancakes’ Munchi Pancakes and Mini Munchi offerings as well.

It is worth noting that Ottie Pancakes does serve other Min Jiang Kueh in three different types of pancake batter — yet another point that bears resemblance to that of Munchi Pancakes’ Min Jiang Kueh offerings; they do offer a variety of Min Jiang Kueh flavours with Green Tea, Charcoal and Original batter. The flavours of the fillings that patrons can choose from would include Coconut, Peanut, Red Bean, Kaya, Black Sesame, Hazelnut and Biscoff. The black-on-black aesthetic of the Charcoal Black Sesame Min Jiang Kueh had always appealed to us even when we make our visits to Munchi Pancakes offers— it was needless to say that this would be the Min Jiang Kueh that we found ourselves being pretty intrigued with whilst skimming through the display shelf on the different variants of Min Jiang Kueh that they have to offer. Just like the Min Jiang Kueh that Munchi Pancakes have to offer, the pancake itself comes especially thick; more so than the typical Min Jiang Kueh that one would find from a typical stall serving the same at a hawker centre / coffeeshop setting. The batter comes jet black from the use of charcoal; the pancake definitely carrying a chewy tension that one would typically expect for Min Jiang Kueh — one of the factors that make the Min Jiang Kueh from Munchi Pancakes stand out. The Black Sesame Spread here is sufficiently moist; this does carry a somewhat “sandy” texture where it hints heavily of a roasty, sesame fragrance with a bit of a crunch factor — not too sweet, and definitely works well for the sesame-lover in us being fairly similar to what we would expect of the same being served at Munchi Pancakes as well.

We also went with the Original Kaya Min Jiang Kueh just to try out a rendition of the Ottie Pancakes’ Min Jiang Kueh with the original batter. We were served with a corner slice which sees the distinct “overhang” of the batter around the edge that one would also typically observe with the Min Jiang Kueh served up at Munchi Pancakes. Just like how it is with the Charcoal Black Sesame Min Jiang Kueh, these folks are pretty generous with the amount of Kaya that they lather above the pancake. The Kaya carries a smoother and also denser consistency as compared to the usual commercially-made Kaya that one would typically find being sold in supermarkets; crazily rich and also somewhat sinful. With that being said, this version is less sweet than what we had encountered with the version served up at Munchi Pancakes, though the crisp edges also suffer from the same problems when left aired out for too long — the edges of the Min Jiang Kueh being a little limp and stiff; not too easy to chew through. Considering the amount of similarities between the pancakes served up at Ottie Pancakes when compared to that of Munchi Pancakes, one can only wonder on how the Ottie Pancakes branding had come about. Truth to be told, the offerings from both brands seemed to come with very minimal differences; both also coming with similar shortcomings as well. With Ottie Pancakes being situated in locations that are not well-served by Munchi Pancakes at this current juncture, it does seem that the folks in the one-north area and around Harbourfront do have a spot to head to so as to resolve their cravings for such style of Min Jiang Kueh when it hits!