Le Pont Boulangerie Crowned Basque Cheesecake King At 20th Asian King Of Catering Awards

Le Pont Boulangerie team on stage receiving the Basque Cheesecake King award at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards.

Le Pont Boulangerie accepts the Basque Cheesecake King title at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards in Beijing.

Exquisite French-style dishes by Chef Soong Chee Heen of Le Pont Boulangerie – Hokkaido Scallop with Ikura, Seared Salmon with Cabbage, 64% Chocolate Lava Cake, Basque Cheesecake King winner.

Chef Soong Chee Heen's dishes: Hokkaido Scallop with Ikura, Seared Salmon with Cabbage, 64% Chocolate Lava Cake, each exquisite, full of French cuisine style.

Le Pont Boulangerie is crowned Basque Cheesecake King at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards, with Chef Soong Chee Heen accepting the award and giving exclusive interviews to international media.

LE PONT BOULANGERIE was awarded the title of BASQUE CHEESECAKE KING. Chef Soong Chee Heen received the award and shared his insights in exclusive interviews with international media.

20th Asian King of Catering Awards held at Beijing Yuxiandu near China Royal Gastronomy Museum; dual ceremony-cultural experience setting with Chinese performances, Tang suit photos and Asian culinary exchanges.

20th Asian King of Catering Awards at Beijing Yuxiandu features a dual ceremony and cultural experience setting with Chinese performances and culinary exchanges.

Winning guests accept their awards on stage at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards in Beijing, a prestigious Asian culinary event.

Winning guests take the stage to accept honors at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards.

Malaysia’s Le Pont Boulangerie wins Basque Cheesecake King at the 20th Asian King of Catering Awards, led by Michelin-trained Chef Soong.

This honor is for our craft. We blend French techniques with premium ingredients to create Basque Cheesecake, bridging Sino-French flavors with heart.”

— Soong Chee Heen, Executive Chef, Le Pont Boulangerie

JOHOR BAHRU, JOHOR, MALAYSIA, February 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SOONG CHEE HEEN OF LE PONT BOULANGERIE: THE CRAFTSMANSHIP BEHIND THE BASQUE CHEESECAKE KING
LE PONT BOULANGERIE has been awarded the title Basque Cheesecake King. Founded in 2015, this French-style bakery brand has embodied craftsmanship for 11 years, with the concept of “bridge” connecting French and Chinese palates, emotions, and precious moments.

Chef Soong Chee Heen has trained under world-class Michelin-starred French chefs, integrating the essence of fine dining into every creation. In the exclusive interview, he shared that the signature Basque Cheesecake earned its reputation through strictly selected premium imported cheese and pure animal cream. Using high-temperature, short-time baking, it delivers a caramelized, thin and firm crust with a smooth, molten center—rich in milky aroma yet light and non-greasy, preserving classic flavors while embracing modern aesthetics.

When speaking about the restaurant’s offerings, Chef Soong Chee Heen introduced that besides the award-winning cheesecake, the bakery series includes the Hazelnut Mousse Chocolate Cake made with premium French Valrhona chocolate, featuring silky mousse wrapped with crispy hazelnut pieces for rich layers. The best-selling Lemon Tart uses a buttery base instead of traditional cream, with a crisp crust and a perfectly balanced sweet and sour filling that is refreshing and light.

For hot dishes, the Slow-Braised Beef Cheek uses premium beef cheek, braised for hours until tender and melting-in-the-mouth, served with a rich sauce. Other signature dishes include:

HOKKAIDO SCALLOP & IKURA SYMPHONY: Hokkaido scallops paired with salmon roe, with uni mousse and crispy corn chips at the base for diverse textures.
SALMON TATAKI & CABBAGE ELEGANCE: Seared salmon with slow-cooked cabbage, enhanced with kombu dashi for a unique umami taste.
CEMOI 64% CHOCOLATE COULANT: 64% Cemoi chocolate lava cake, served with Madagascar vanilla ice cream, creating a perfect harmony of hot and cold.

Regarding the restaurant’s highlights, Chef Soong Chee Heen mentioned that the ground floor is a European-style French bakery and pastry outlet, while the upper two floors feature a stylish mix of concrete and wood, creating an atmosphere just like a Parisian street café—ideal for family gatherings and friends’ bonding.

For future prospects, Chef Soong Chee Heen stated that “Le Pont” is not only a bakery but also a bridge of emotions. The brand will continue using natural yeast for sourdough fermentation to bring customers the “taste of time”. It will also develop more healthy specialty beverages infused with flowers, herbs, and fruits, using craftsmanship to connect more beautiful encounters between taste and soul, making French romance and delightful flavors cherished memories for everyone.

FRA NOMINATES THREE BRANDS FOR "KING" TITLES, DISCOVERING INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE FOODS & SHOWCASING THEIR UNIQUE CHARM
Malaysia’s outstanding performance at the grand ceremony is attributed to the full support and rigorous selection by the Malaysia Food and Restaurants Association (FRA).

Dr. Dillon Yeap, President of FRA, shared at the event that as a multicultural ASEAN country, Malaysia has developed unique flavor preferences in the northern, central and southern regions due to cultural differences. FRA has long been committed to discovering intangible cultural heritage foods, and its evaluation focuses on in-depth experience of local tastes and textures to further highlight Malaysia’s charm as a “Gourmet Paradise”.

FRA takes “JOM Makan Visit Malaysia 2026” as its core promotion, integrating the “Food + Tourism” integrated advantage of the 2026 Visit Malaysia Year. In 2025, after a rigorous selection from hundreds of high-quality brands across the country, FRA nominated three outstanding representatives to compete in Beijing.

These three brands lived up to expectations and won the “King” titles, making Malaysian specialty foods such as Penang Laksa, Basque Cheesecake and Durian Nasi Lemak well-known among more Asian consumers. It conveys the diverse and inclusive cultural heritage and tropical charm of Malaysia, enhances local tourism appeal, and achieves multi-improvement in food promotion, tourism publicity and brand development.
This is also the core significance of FRA joining hands with Tourism Malaysia to promote local delicacies.
20TH ASIAN KING OF CATERING AWARDS CONCLUDES SUCCESSFULLY; THREE MALAYSIAN REPRESENTATIVES SECURE "KING" TITLES

The 20th Asian King of Catering Awards concluded successfully at Beijing Yuxiandu on January 27. As a milestone event marking 20 years of industry history, it gathered top culinary elites from across Asia and unveiled the highly anticipated Asian King of Catering Food Guide “Like Leaderboard”, opening a new chapter for the Asian F&B industry. With the core theme “Showcasing Asian Standards, Honoring Crafted Flavors”, the ceremony broke down national and culinary boundaries, focusing on taste, heritage and innovation to select industry benchmarks. Three outstanding Malaysian brands — PENANG ROAD FAMOUS LAKSA, LE PONT BOULANGERIE and CHA YANG KOPITIAM — won the prestigious “King” titles through their exceptional strength, promoting the unique charm of Malaysian cuisine to the Asian market.

As an authoritative event in the Asian catering industry, the Asian King of Catering Awards was launched in Hong Kong in 2006. After 20 years of development, it has grown from an initial industry exchange platform into a heavyweight culinary award covering multiple Asian countries and regions. In his speech, founder Edmund Leung reviewed the 20-year journey and put forward the philosophy “Asian cuisine is decided by Asians”, emphasizing that the standards of Asian catering should be defined by Asians themselves. This philosophy ran through the entire ceremony. On site, talent performances integrating Asian food culture showed profound heritage and openness, building a bridge of regional emotions through art and making food a cultural link connecting people, tradition and the future.

The finally announced Asian King of Catering Food Guide “Like Leaderboard” is an “Asian flavor map” painted by hundreds of millions of diners’ word-of-mouth, demonstrating the confidence of Asian food culture. Each name on the list represents the peak level of Asian culinary skills and points to the future trend of the catering industry.

20TH ASIAN KING OF CATERING FOOD GUIDE "LIKE LEADERBOARD"
• PENANG ROAD FAMOUS LAKSA – Penang Laksa King
• LE PONT BOULANGERIE – Basque Cheesecake King
• CHA YANG KOPITIAM – Durian Nasi Lemak King
• ZHANG ZHEN JI – Seafood King
• XIN DOU JI – Cantonese Roasted Delicacies King
• TAO TAO JU – Cantonese Tea House King
• HUANG JI HUANG – Three-Sauce Braised Pot King
• SHI BA DAO – Artistic Fusion Cuisine King
• MA LIU JI – Sichuan Street Food King
• JU XING XING HAO – Traditional Noodles King
• DADONG ROAST DUCK – Artistic Cuisine King
• SHENG JI RESTAURANT – Authentic Cantonese Cuisine King
• REN YU PIN CAI GUAN – Exquisite Henan Cuisine King
• FU LIN XUAN – Classic Cantonese Cuisine King
• YUAN NIU DAO – Japanese Yakiniku King
• YA TANG SHENG YAN – Crispy Roast Duck King
• DONG MEN YIN YUAN – Modern Henan Cuisine King
• YU FENG YUAN – Nourishing Braised Noodles King
• QIAO LAO YE CHA CAN TING – Hong Kong Style Tea Restaurant King
• PING MIN CHI WANG – Roasted Wings King
• LAO MEN KOU BAO DU SHUAN ROU – Beijing Style Hot Pot King
• DA HAI WAN – Zhajiangmian King
• PARAMOUNT CATERING GROUP – Chaoshan Private Kitchen King
• YU LONG XUAN – Halal Henan Cuisine King
• REN YU PIN GE RESTAURANT – Premium Henan Cuisine King
• CHI FU SIGNATURE WAN ZAI CHI – Wan Zai Chi King
• XIN ZHONG ZHOU FU YUAN HOTEL – Modern Pioneer Chinese Cuisine King
• HONG KONG CHOI KEE SPICY CRAB PRIVATE KITCHEN – Spicy Crab King
• NIU DA REN – Taiwan Hot Pot King
• HENG YI FOOD CO., LTD. – Quality Ingredients King
• HUNDRED-YEAR QIANMEN COPPER POT HOT POT – Old Beijing Copper Pot Hot Pot King
• BEIJING KAIRI YUXIANDU CATERING GROUP – Royal Cuisine King
• TAIWAN HANA IWATE HANDCRAFTED COFFEE – Specialty Coffee King
• YUN XUAN, CONRAD GUANGZHOU – Cantonese Dim Sum King
• DONG GUO SEAFOOD HOT POT CITY – Seafood Hot Pot King
• CHAIRMAN HOUSE, GRAND HYATT SHENZHEN – Premium Chinese Cuisine King
• REGAL COURT, REGAL KOWLOON HOTEL HONG KONG – Cantonese Seafood King
• KOREA BBQ VILLAGE – Korean Fried Chicken King
• YUE YUET HIN, SHERATON HONG KONG TUNG CHUNG HOTEL – Creative Cantonese Cuisine King
• HONG KONG ELITE ENTREPRENEURS CLUB – Food Culture Promotion King
• YUE WANG TAI, THE LANDMARK CANTON HOTEL GUANGZHOU – Lingnan Artistic Cuisine King
• DIGITAL OPERATOR OF NATIONAL INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE SHAXIAN SNACKS – Intangible Cultural Heritage Snack Promotion King
• SKY GARDEN, GRAND HYATT GUANGZHOU – High-Altitude View Dining King

Dr Dillon Yeap
Malaysia Food and Restaurants Association
+60 18-792 4596
fragourmet@gmail.com
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LE PONT – Asia’s New Basque Cheesecake King 2026

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