Uggli Muffins - Ugly but Tasty Muffins in Toa Payoh

The history of Uggli Muffin dates back all the way to 1969, which started off as a Zi Char store. Over the years, the business has slowly pivoted towards Baking goods. As the saying goes “never judge a book by its cover”, will Uggli Muffin tastes good despite its “Uggli” appearance?

When at Toa Payoh West Market and Food Centre, you will likely catch the whiff of freshly baked muffins and notice a snaking queue in front of a hawker store that has a white signboard. The white signboard oddly reads “Bliss Haven Restaurant” with images of noodles but don’t let that fool you. In fact, everyone in that line is queueing for Uggli Muffin. If you are sharp enough, you would notice a smaller brown Uggli Muffin signboard that is overshadowed.

With around 6 people queuing in front of us, we waited about 30minutes before we got our hands on the muffin. That was because the muffins were made fresh, and we had to wait for new batches to be done. However the wait was rather pleasant, as the boss was going around distributing complimentary muffins for those in the queue. We even got to sample his new chestnut cookies! As the muffins’ flavours vary daily, customers of Uggli Muffin will need to ask the boss what is available when it is their turn to purchase, or leave your fate in the hands of the friendly uncle. We got a box of 12 and the boss was generous enough to stuff in extra pieces. The flavours we had were – Macadamia, Chocolate, Oreo, Walnut and Golden Raisin.

If I were to visualise a perfect muffin, I would imagine a muffin top that is golden brown and perfectly rounded. Uggli Muffin is far from that. The Uggli muffin has an uneven top – some parts squared, some triangular, and others had torn sides as a result of being roughly handled (on purpose) when the boss separates each muffin. But, looks aren’t everything… right?

Compared to normal muffins, Uggli Muffins were smaller in size. It had a slightly charred top and if you are a huge fan of eating muffin crust (the slightly crunchier exterior of a muffin), you will enjoy Uggli Muffins as it was mostly coated in crust!

The Uggli muffins were unlike the usual moist, dense and cakey muffins. It had a chewy bite to it. As it was freshly baked, you could smell a strong buttery aroma when tearing into the Uggli Muffin. Unsurprisingly, the muffins were also generously stuffed with toppings. I loved the macadamia toppings especially, every bite had a piece of macadamia in it.

While it may not look aesthetically pleasing, at only $1.20 a piece, this purchase is a no brainer. The only downside is that your favourite flavour may not be available all the time and also the long wait time. But if it’s not worth the wait, there wouldn’t be a queue in the first place right?