Cute Shio Pan ‘ATM’ By Butter Town Sisters Dispense Limited-Ed Bolo Buns For CNY
Singapore’s shio pan sisters Serene Tan, 33, and Danielle Tan, 29, from hawker stall Butter Town are back — not with another new stall or cafe collab, but with a vending machine dispensing their bread.
Located at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, the machine, or ‘Shio Pan ATM’ as the sisters call it, dispenses fresh, pre-packed shio pan (crescent-shaped roll with a salted crispy crust and chewy butter-soaked center popular in Japanese bakeries) that are just as tasty as those you’d get from their stalls.
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How did the Shio Pan ATM come about?
Older sis Serene tells 8days.sg that it started with one of those moments when she had to use the automated teller machine. “You know, I was just withdrawing money,” she says, when the eureka moment came.
As hawker-bakers, the duo had always wanted to make their bread more accessible. Since establishing their brick-and-mortar hawker bakery in Holland Drive Food Centre, they have also established a central kitchen in Kallang, and even collaborated with local Japanese-style café chain Hvala last year to sell their bakes.
“It hit us – why couldn’t we make our bread as accessible as the way banks make banking accessible?” younger sister Danielle adds
Pineapple Bolo Shio Pan
What can you get at the Shio Pan ATM?
The Shio Pan ATM stocks three of Butter Town’s crowd favourites: Au Chocolat ($8.40), OG ($7.20) and Garlic Cheese ($8.40) shio pan. These are sold in packets of three shio pan, sealed and kept in a temperature-controlled environment.
Inspired by Hong Kong’s cha chaan teng-style bolo buns, these festive treats lean more towards the nostalgic flavours of a tea house classic with a sugary crust rather than the signature saltiness of a Japanese shio pan. Still, for a unique CNY snack, they’re worth a try.
The sisters tell 8days.sg that they are still looking for new venues to house more Shio Pan ATMs. But they will have to wait till after the CNY festivities.
Currently, due to manpower constraints, the sisters will only restock the shio pan at 5pm on weekdays, but weekends will have two restock slots at 12pm and 5pm. The weekday 12.30pm restock slot will resume after the festive period.
“Sales have been pretty good,” says Serene. “We're mostly happy that our shio pan can now be closer to more customers.”
Butter Town’s Shio Pan ATM can be found at Woodleigh Village Hawker Centre, 202C Woodleigh Link, Singapore 363202. More info via Instagram & website.
Photos: 8 Days/Butter Town
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