KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — You might have noticed these two perky pastry chefs at a night market or weekend bazaar near you. With a cheerful smile, they will be thrilled to explain every single flavour of bagels on offer to you.
This is the duo behind 36 Degree Bakehouse: Lee Min An, 25, and Kong Cheng Yee, 24.
Prior to launching their bagel business, they were both graduates in pastry-making at local culinary and baking schools, and had worked at a multi-chain bakery for a couple of years.
Lee shares, “We had often wondered why there weren’t bagels with fillings. This was prior to 2023, when the majority of the bagels had their accompaniments separately served on the side.”
Today their filled bagel flavours run the gamut from healthy options such as Oat, Poppy Seed, and Black & White Sesame as well as more decadent offerings including Double Chocolate, Matcha Milky and Coffee.
Those who prefer savoury bagels aren’t left out: try their Baked Chicken Sausage, Jalapeño Cheese or Ham & Cheese. A bit of Taiwanese-Japanese flair comes through in their Peanut Sesame Brown Sugar Mochi and Charcoal Taro Floss bagels.
Popular bagels: Earl Grey Lemon Yuzu (left) and Charcoal Taro Floss (right). — Picture courtesy of 36 Degree Bakehouse
However, the customer favourite has to be their Earl Grey Lemon Yuzu bagels.
Kong explains, “Earl Grey and lemon yuzu are both popular traditional fine dessert flavours, but we never experienced them together on pastries. The results were surprisingly good, both from a recipe perspective as well as our customers’ acceptance.”
Even with positive feedback from their regulars, the reality is that there are so many bagel makers these days. How does 36 Degree Bakehouse stand out from the pack?
Kneading and rolling dough. — Picture courtesy of 36 Degree Bakehouse
Lee shares, “A lot of bagel places are more traditional where the customer is required to dine in to get the ‘full’ experience. We aim to change that by trying to make the bagel eating experience more hand-held and on-the-go.”
This approach was easier said than done; solely selling online felt too impersonal in the beginning, whereas opening a physical shop felt like too much of a risk.
It turned out that launching a bagel business was more than simply kneading and rolling dough.
Kong recalls, “When we were starting 36 Degree Bakehouse in the early days with little to zero capital, we had to look at other options to have the most impact while also providing a closer relationship with our customers for product feedback.”
Limited edition bagel flavours include Pistachio Raspberry (left) and Garlic Cream Cheese (right). — Picture courtesy of 36 Degree Bakehouse
Therefore, rather than depending solely on an online presence (where there was too much noise with various competitors, including those with an advertising budget), the duo decided to venture into night markets as their main channel of sales and promotion.
Lee says, “We had countless sleepless nights, spending most of our time baking and running our stalls at various night markets. That took a little while to get used to.”
Being a pastry chef and running a pastry business are two different skill sets, of course.
This is a lesson many eager young pastry chefs have had to learn when they try to start their own business after a few years working at bakeries or even when freshly graduated.
Peach Oolong Pretzel (left) and Strawberry Cream Cheese Pretzel (right). — Picture courtesy of 36 Degree Bakehouse
Kong agrees: “While we were experienced in pastry making, the initial challenges we faced were in learning how to do a business. There are many other factors that need to be considered.”
Happily, their business has stabilised substantially compared to their humble beginning. A stream of regular customers. A full-fledged website where they can announce new or limited edition bagel flavours such as Pistachio Raspberry and Garlic Cream Cheese.
They have also begun to expand their repertoire to include non-bagel baked goods, from sourdough breads to focaccia. Their latest products are pretzels, with unique flavours such as Peach Oolong and Strawberry Cream Cheese.
Best of all might be the continued joy in working together. Of course, things can always be even better, as they both share: “The big dream is to have our own little shop!”
Working together. — Picture courtesy of 36 Degree Bakehouse
36 Degree Bakehouse
Pre-order 2 days in advance here.
Also catch them at weekly markets: Mon (SS2), Wed (Taman Connaught), Sat (Setia Alam) and Sun (Kepong Baru) 5pm-10pm
