Gram was born in Osaka in 2014, where it quickly gained a following for its pillowy confections. But just a year later, in 2015, it suddenly announced it was rebranding its cafe, and changed the shop’s name to the bland-sounding Bran Cafe. The reason for the abrupt rebranding was reportedly due to a copycat pancake cafe that had also opened in Osaka, which brazenly took on Gram’s name, branding and menu items. Alas, the original Gram had not trademarked its name and thus had no legal claim to it. Sad, but true. The counterfeit Gram then went on to boldly open a chain of outlets in Japan, and attracted many customers (including our colleague while she was on holiday in Tokyo) who had mistaken the chain for the OG cafe.

Meanwhile, the original Bran Cafe suffered from competition from the imposter, and eventually closed down in 2018. Only the ‘copied’ version of Gram exists now.

Photo: Bran Cafe

Interestingly, Takeda Takeshi, the man behind the faux Gram chain, had also been accused of copying Singaporean cafe The Tiramisu Hero. The homegrown tiramisu cafe, which opened in 2012, had branched out into Japan in 2013 under its The Tiramisu Hero name. According to Japan’s largest broadsheet The Japan Times, Takeda Takeshi then allegedly adapted the brand for his own business, opening a tiramisu cafe called Hero's Produced Tiramisu, which uses a very similar version of the distinctive cartoon cat logo that The Tiramisu Hero created.

The ensuing copycat drama was heavily scrutinised by the Japanese media and netizens, and the social media backlash against Takeshi’s company apparently forced the company to concede that The Tiramisu Hero should continue using its cat logo exclusively. But The Tiramisu Hero Singapore was still forced to change its name to The Tiramisu Star in Japan, as it’d have to pay to use its own name ’cos Takeshi had registered the name as an official trademark in Japan. Cautionary tale — please trademark your brand, people. (Plot twist: SG’s The Tiramisu Hero, was in turn, accused of copying the cat icon from British artist Gemma Correll for its self-drawn logo. But that’s another story).

Photo: The Tiramisu Hero

Other than its native Japan, Gram has six other franchised international outlets in Hong Kong, Bangkok, San Francisco, and now, Singapore. The local franchise is brought in by three Singaporeans: husband-and-wife Perpetua Loke, 37, and Lucas Ng, 39, and their pal Nicole Neo, 41. The avid Japan travellers adore Gram’s pancakes, and decided to bring in the franchise after a Japanese business partner linked them up with Gram’s owner Takeda Takeshi.

When we mention the copycat saga, Perpetua says: “It has nothing to do with us. We took the franchise name one year ago, and we just want to bring the best food here. He [Takeda Takeshi] reassured us that [Gram] was a brand he created.”

It’s the first time that the trio are venturing into F&B; Perpetua tells us that she and her husband still run a spa business full-time, while Nicole is currently working a “corporate job” in the automotive industry. They spent “about half a million” to set up the Gram franchise in Singapore. They are however cautious about expanding aggressively here. “We’ll see how this outlet does first,” explains Nicole.

Gram’s famous Premium Pancakes, a stack of three fat soufflé pancakes served with house-made whipped cream and butter, are cooked by pouring a meringue-rich pancake mix into cylindrical paper molds on a griddle, and left to fluff up over low heat into individual, pillowy discs under a dome-shaped lid. Kinda like baking a mini cake on the stove. The pancakes take about half an hour to prepare, and are made with the same recipe used in Japan.

Now, if you want the Premium Pancakes, you can only eat ’em at three ‘time slots’: 11am, 3pm and 6pm. Per Gram Japan’s strict quality control rule, the pancakes are only made in batches of 30 sets per seating because they’re so time-consuming to prep. Gram’s PR rep tells us that each customer should drop by the cafe “around half an hour before their desired time slot” to collect a card that will let them buy the Premium Pancakes set. After you get your card, you're free to stroll around before returning at the appointed time for your treat.

If you are too impatient to wait, the cafe will be launching a Premium to Go takeout pancake set to open at a later date, where you can tapow the pancakes home to eat. It looks like a pancake sandwich, with a mound of whipped cream between two soufflé pancakes.

Our pancakes, each measuring a towering 4cm high, jiggle suggestively on the plate when they’re placed on our table. They’re so soft, they threaten to topple over when we dig our fork and knife into the pile. The pancake’s texture is pretty fabulous: soft and fluffy, with a delicately eggy flavour that goes well with earthy-sweet maple syrup. It fares much better than the stodgy, dense and oily specimens that our colleague had at a Gram branch in Tokyo recently. The whipped cream here is insanely smooth and adds extra decadence to the pancakes. While the accompanying dome-shaped pat of butter is apparently house-made, it tastes like mid-range supermarket butter to us.

That said, we still prefer rival Japanese pancake cafe Riz Labo Kitchen’s shorter and less photogenic but heavenly soufflé pancakes, which boast a more delicate, softer, slightly creamy texture — perhaps due to the rice flour it contains (Gram Singapore declines to reveal what kind of flour it uses).

These are not soufflé pancakes, but rather, classic flatter pancakes infused with espresso and layered with mascarpone cream and cocoa powder. We had this after the Premium Pancakes and acutely feel the difference in pancake textures. While the Tiramisu Pancakes are still reasonably fluffy with a lovely coffee fragrance, it’s not as shiok as the jiggly Premium Pancakes.

Gram in Japan and Singapore also offers savoury pancakes, like this chilli beef version. The same flattish classic pancakes are topped with minced beef cooked with chillies and beans, and served with a sausage, diced potatoes and salad greens. The Tex-Mex-style beef chilli con carne is tasty and moreish, but makes for an odd combination with fluffy pancakes. Only order this if you don’t have a single sweet tooth in you. The Singapore outlet will also soon launch an exclusive Japanese Curry pancake set.

Not a pancake fan? The cafe serves French Toast topped with fresh cream, maple syrup, bananas, chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It’s not terribly exciting; our forkfuls of toast taste rather dry, and the dish feels like something we can get at a typical hipster cafe in Singapore. But then again, why order French toast at a cafe famous for its pancakes?

Our pancakes during the media tasting session were cooked by Gram Japan’s supervisor Tatsuta Naoki (pictured), 28, who is based in Gram’s Osaka headquarters. He, together with fellow Gram supervisor Yasumura Teruyuki, 41, flew to Singapore to train the local staff, and will be here for two weeks to oversee the opening. The duo also conducts training for Gram’s other franchised outlets overseas. A locally-hired Singaporean chef who trained at Gram’s headquarters will do the cooking here permanently after their departure.

There are only 40 seats in this cafe, so get ready for the inevitable insane queue. We dropped by for a preview tasting while the shop’s hoarding was still up, which made the space feel rather cramped and claustrophobic. But the plant-heavy decor here is fancier than Gram in Tokyo, which our colleague says is reminiscent of, er, a Mos Burger joint.

Are Gram’s Premium Pancakes worth the hype? Well, based on our hosted media preview tasting, yes. We adore its fab texture and delicious whipped cream. Ironically, they taste far better than the blah pancakes our colleague had at a Gram cafe branch in Tokyo. We can only hope Gram Singapore’s pancakes remain as good after the Japanese head chefs leave and local staff take over the cooking duties. The cafe's flatter ‘classic’ pancakes are decent, but we say only order ’em if you can’t get your paws on the more exciting premium one.

Gram Café & Pancakes opens 16 June, #02-110 VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk, S098585. Tel: 8666-6277. Open daily 11am-10pm. Premium pancakes only available at 11am, 3pm & 6pm. www.facebook.com/grampancakessingapore.

PHOTOS: YIP JIEYING