Dua

When Raya founder Raymond Tan visited Stockholm, he was struck by the city’s famous princess cake: a classic Scandi torte of airy sponge, pastry cream and jam wrapped in green marzipan. At his “Scandinasian” bakery Dua (“two” in Malay) he’s put a Southeast Asian spin on it with pandan chiffon, pandan pastry cream and pandan marzipan.

The inventive cakes, cookies and pastries that Tan built his name on (and quite literally turned into art) still feature here, but Dua’s specialty is bread. There’s fluffy shokupan, Japan’s favourite bread for sandos. But also melonpan, a soft, sweet Japanese bun with a crisscrossed, crumbly cookie crust, here piped with almond paste in a reimagining of Sweden’s semla bun. And pandesal, a light, airy Filipino milk bread coated in breadcrumbs, is packed with ube cream.

Savoury options include spam and egg salad sangas, pork and prawn siu mai sausage rolls and snacky breakfast plates, again drawing on Scandi cafes. That theme extends to the mid-century fit-out. Tan sourced designer lightshades, vintage Ikea pieces and a modular sofa from Mood Objects, creating an ideal place to pause with a cherry mocha or a strawberry matcha with malted milk.