WHITE BRICK OVEN – Artisanal breads, scones and cakes

I’ve been intrigued by this passionate homebased baker who makes artisanal breads with a brick oven in his home. He even goes as far as milling his own flour. Further to that, only organic flour are used in his bakes.

In fact, it’s been years since I’ve first heard of him and the urge to visit was at least 4 years overdue!

This Chinese New Year, I was stuck in KL. Having just recovered from a month long illness, I wisely abandoned my CNY Singapore visits and stayed home.
Taking advantage of the perceived smoother traffic in Klang Valley, I’ve planned to work my way through my ” food outlets to-visit-list”.

Though traffic wasn’t as smooth as I liked, I managed to cross some outlets off my long list and one of them is none other than the elusive White Brick Oven!

Getting to White Brick Oven is tricky.
It is not exactly in a prime location and it’s approximately 20 km/40 mins drive away from my home.

Further to that, it is only open to public on Sundays so it isn’t a place that you can hop in anytime you like.

Thankfully they are open on the second day of CNY (which happened to be a Sunday this year) and thus with the appeal of less traffic and the promise of alternative sustenance from the mamak food I have to consume during CNY, I set out with high hopes of glorious scones and hearty breads.

The scone disappointed.
I would have preferred a plain scone but what I saw displayed was only the scones with raisins.
I don’t mind particularly mind raisins and since I’ve wanted to try the scones here badly, I ordered one together with the croissant.

A good croissant can be challenging to find in KL and I’ve had high hopes of the croissant here after reading so much about Martin Prior’s (aka Mustaffa) prowess in breadmaking.

Maybe it is just his interpretation of croissant; but what I had was this – tad undercooked insides instead of the well separated flaky layers I prefer.

Croissant (RM3.50) – buttery, crispy outer but doughy insides.

The scone was decent in taste with generous amount of raisins. Like I said, I don’t mind raisins but overall, the scone was just alright; nothing that would elicit future cravings nor make me purchase more to take home.

Scone (3.00).
I wasn’t sure if the butter and jam was supposed to be for the croissant or scone since both was served together.
However if it was for the scones, I’m not sure how could anyone add sweet jam to an already overly sweet scone with that many raisins!

 

Delightedly, the tomato soup, only RM5.00 for a big bowl plus a side of sourdough bread was WONDERFUL.

The soup was robust, filling and absolutely satisfying in both texture and flavours. It wasn’t heavy on cream but with good tomato flavour and body nonetheless.

For RM5.00, this was a steal.

Baker Mustaffa creates and uses his own natural levain (made from sourdough) instead of commercial yeast in all of his product (from bread to scones) and that what was truly set White Brick Oven apart from the other “artisanal bakeries” in town.

In addition to that,  no additives or preservatives were used.
His bakes are VEGAN and most are sourdough breads made with whole wheat, rye and spelt.
Martin use no sugar in their core breads, minimal salt and absolutely no softeners.

The texture of his breads take some getting used to if you’re a typical Malaysian who loves fluffy breads.
Those used to or those who seeks true European breads would love White Brick Oven. Not surprisingly, White Brick Oven is popular with the expat community in KL.

Martin/Mustaffa personally looks into every aspect of taste and quality and had even built his own wood fire oven to bake his breads.

There are very few bakers in Malaysia who make natural bread as it requires long fermentation periods and cannot be mass produced.
Profits are low and the work is tedious.

Martin is indeed the last few of the real craftsmen of authentic, all natural food using traditional methods.

You can buy directly from Martin on Sundays or via online ordering (as of Jan 2017 he has stopped deliveries for a while until he sorts out delivery issues).
Otherwise you can purchase his bakes from JustLife or BSC.

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Other food items:

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A popular order for those in a big group is the pizzas, made to order.
However, if you are lone diner like myself, you can always enjoy it by slice (RM7). 

Otherwise there are pastries and cakes by slices or whole cakes.

If there are specific breads that you would like, do call and order in advance as they do not have a fixed selection weekly.
Otherwise, you’ll have to contend with whatever they have on the shelves.

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Limited BEVERAGES:

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The short beverage list offers coffee (cappuccino, latte, affogato, etc) and tea. The only non-coffee or tea beverage was hot chocolate but unfortunately for me, they didn’t have hot chocolate (Mardia said they use Beryl’s) on the Sunday I visited.
Since I wasn’t supposed to drink coffee or tea due to my condition, I was left with only the choice of plain water.

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LOCATION:

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Don’t be alarmed if you find yourself driving through villages and lone roads.
If you’re coming from Kepong using LDP, you will see all this when you use WAZE.

White Brick Oven

1675-A1 Jalan Gajah 15
Kampung Kubu Gajah
47000 Sungai Buloh
Selangor.
Tel: +6018-350 3068
www.whitebrickoven.com
Email: [email protected]
Cafe’s business hours: Sunday 10am to 6pm only.

Limited parking is available by the small lane in front of WBO but be sure to not block the small road.