\n<\/p>\n
Beyond cakes and curry puffs, Polar was one of only two cafes that served ice cream sundaes. It was also among the few businesses that stayed open during the Japanese Occupation.<\/p>\n
After the war, the High Street area became the Orchard Road of its time, surrounded by key landmarks like the Supreme Court, the old Parliament House and Metro.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lawyers, politicians, expatriates and executives frequented the cafe. Former Deputy Prime Minister Goh Keng Swee was reportedly fond of the curry puffs.<\/p>\n
For six decades, Polar Cafe served as both a neighbourhood fixture and a date spot.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been told that people went there for romantic dates,” said Dr Chan, whose team has been searching for customers whose parents or grandparents took photos at the cafe.<\/p>\n
He remembers going to the cafe in secondary school, when the curry puffs were still served on trays and customers paid for what they ate.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, the curry puffs were very spicy. Maybe it\u2019s because I was still young,\u201d he said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
In 1986, the government reclaimed the land for Parliament House. The cafe closed its doors, and a Straits Times headline captured the city’s sentiment: “Polar Cafe, that long-time purveyor of curry puffs and other tea-time temptations, is no more. Long live the curry puffs!”<\/p>\n
The curry puffs did live on. When Polar reopened as a kiosk near Raffles Place MRT station in 1987, customers queued for the flaky pastries they had been craving. A news report at the time noted that “tastebuds still tingled for their puffs” despite the year-long absence.<\/p>\n
The kiosk model proved to be a hit. Puffs were baked on site in ovens, just like at the cafe, and the grab-and-go format suited the growing demand for convenience.<\/p>\n
“It was beyond expectations,” Dr Chan says. “It grew and then we had to rent a factory to produce for the multiple outlets that were growing.”<\/p>\n
Other recipes, such as sugar rolls and chicken pies, soon followed. Today, sugar rolls are Polar\u2019s top-selling product, followed by the pies and puffs.<\/p>\n
The brand sells more than 1 million sugar rolls annually \u2013 part of a total of over 4 million pastries and cakes sold each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n