Gourmet Chocolate in Dempsey Hill: Mr Bucket's Factory

Mr Bucket Chocolaterie turns Asian cacao into bars inside a 5,000 sq ft factory café at 13 Dempsey Road, #01-03/04, Singapore 249674, and a one-hour Chocolate Tour and Tasting costs S$20 a person. The Dempsey shop opens from 11am on weekdays and 9am at weekends. Anyone searching gourmet chocolate near me around Dempsey Hill or the Botanic Gardens can watch the beans become chocolate here before buying it.

Jerome Penafort founded Mr Bucket in 2020 after leaving a career in real estate and finance, according to a Vulcan Post profile. The name is a nod to Charlie Bucket, the boy who wins the golden ticket. His first shop sat at the foot of an HDB block on Sin Ming Road, a long way from the leafy former barracks at Dempsey where the brand now runs its biggest site.

From the start the company has used only Asian cacao, and Penafort's first farm visit was in Davao in the Philippines. That choice shows up on the shelf: the single-origin bars are named after Asian farms and regions rather than the West African and Latin American origins that dominate most chocolate counters in Singapore. Besides Dempsey, there are outlets at Takashimaya and in the transit areas of Changi Terminals 1 and 3.

The Dempsey space is laid out so the production area is visible from the café, and the company calls it a factory rather than a shop. There is indoor and outdoor seating, the café is pet friendly, and the menu is built around cacao in tapas-style plates. A counter called The Dispensary lets you bring your own container to fill, which suits regulars who buy drinking chocolate in bulk.

The bars that get people talking are the filled ones. The Singapore Kaya Toast Filled Bar costs S$25 and puts the coconut-and-egg jam of a kopitiam breakfast inside a chocolate shell. The Dubai Pistachio Kunafa Filled Bar, 128g, is the same price and follows the pistachio-and-pastry trend. Of the two, the kaya bar is the one you will not find in London or Dubai, so buy that if you only buy one.

For tasting the cacao itself, the single-origin bars are better value at S$16 each, including a 66% Dark Panchor and a 75% Dark Ron Thong. The Kopi O Dark Chocolate Dragee, S$25, borrows its name from the black coffee of the kopitiam. Bonbons come in a box of 8 for S$32 or 16 for S$58, and 72% Dark Drinking Chocolate Granules cost S$19 for anyone who wants the café's hot chocolate at home.

The workshop list runs from casual to serious. DIY Bar Making costs S$70 a person and includes a hot drink and three bars to take away. Bon Bon Making and Brunch costs S$250 for two, with brunch included, and makes a good weekend gift. The Build Your Own Chocolate Race Car workshop costs S$75 and is aimed at families, and a Sip and Paint session was added to the shop this October.

Whole cakes are a Dempsey-only pickup item. The Chocolate Cake comes in 800g for S$47, 1200g for S$68 and 1600g for S$89, so order ahead for birthdays rather than expecting one on the shelf. The shop publishes an email address, hello@mrbucket.com.sg, rather than a phone number, and that is the route for cake orders, group workshops and allergy questions.

Families should note the age split. The tour is set at 12 and up, so younger children are better suited to the Creation Station or the race car workshop, where the point is decorating rather than listening. Adults who care most about flavour should skip the cakes on a first visit; they are pickup items meant for celebrations, while the S$16 single-origin bars show what the Asian cacao actually tastes like.

Dempsey opens 11am to 7pm Monday to Wednesday, 11am to 10pm on Thursday and Friday, and 9am to 10pm on Saturday and Sunday, according to the contact page; the dine-in page gives Thursday to Sunday as 11am to 10pm, so treat Thursday and Sunday evenings as the safest late slots. The 9am weekend opening is the earliest of the week, which makes Saturday and Sunday the days to combine a factory visit with breakfast.

If Dempsey is full, the Takashimaya counter at #B2-41, 391A Orchard Road, opens 10am to 10pm daily and is next to Orchard MRT, though it has no factory to watch. The Changi outlets open 6am to 1am but sit airside, so they only help if you are flying. The nearest MRT to Dempsey is Napier on the Thomson-East Coast Line.

Dempsey makes an easy half day with the Singapore Botanic Gardens, the country's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed in 2015, a short walk away. Start with the gardens in the cooler morning, then walk to Mr Bucket for a tour or a slab. For a second chocolate stop, ANJALICHOCOLAT runs a workshop studio and pickup counter at 73 Loewen Road, inside the same Dempsey estate.

Address: 13 Dempsey Road, #01-03/04, Singapore 249674. Nearest MRT: Napier. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 11am to 7pm, Thursday and Friday 11am to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 10pm. Contact: hello@mrbucket.com.sg. Prices: Chocolate Tour and Tasting S$20, Creation Station slab S$24.80, Kaya Toast Filled Bar S$25, single-origin bar S$16, box of 8 bonbons S$32. Pets are welcome in the café. For a city-centre stop without the factory, the Takashimaya outlet at #B2-41 opens 10am to 10pm daily.