PAUL: Authentic French Fare?

I really like this photo! It’s like a French-Bistro filled with asians, Singapore’s very own little Paris perhaps? It’s rather funny to look at too, since the diners don’t look the slightest bit happy.

Going outside, it looks much more Paris-ien, with more expats seated along the alfresco dining area.

Well, my favorite part of any bakery is the well-stocked glass casing… Think croissants, danishes, tarts and breads, all fresh out of the oven! They don’t only look good, they smell amazing. A genius way to attract customers. Free smells anyone?

Rows and rows of perfectly shaped, and rather large, macarons front the glass case, along with generously sized eclairs of all sorts, and a whole variety of tarts. A dessert lovers paradise.

Look at that decisive hand, pointing to the side, “I’ll have that (humongous) chocolate dome in the corner, please.”

Finding a seat was no problem in this quaint cafe, as the staff promptly greeted me and my foodie friend to a seat upon greeting us with a bright small. Brownie points for good service!

My friend ordered the Carrot Juice ($7.80) which was freshly squeezed and bursting with orange-y beta carotene goodness.

Have any of you heard of Hot Vanilla before? I know Hot Chocolate is a crowd favorite, but for me, I’ll go for Hot Vanilla any day. It tastes like melted vanilla ice cream… Sweet, creamy, and frothy. The perfect hot drink to sip on after a long hard day.

Well, now that you know that about me, it’s no surprise then that I chose the Hot Vanilla Flavored Milk ($4.90) as the drink of my choice. It was rather disappointing though. It was only slightly warm when I was served, and it was on the brink of being too sweet. I much prefer Cafe Galilee’s Hot Vanilla to this.

Instead of lunch, my friend chose to have the Hi-tea set ($12.90) instead. For my sweet toothed readers, listen carefully!

The set comes with your choice of tea, macarons, creme brulee and a slice of cake. Dessert, dessert and more dessert.

The tea was the Red Fruit Tea which was nice and fragrant. The creme brulee was really nice, and not too sweet. The top was perfectly torched, and cracked beautifully to reveal the creamy custardy centre.

The Macarons were amazing. Definitely better than Canele. I was impressed with high quality of their desserts. I would definitely recommend their high tea set.

The praises don’t stop there! Even their chocolate torte was nice and chocolatey, it was rich but a bit dry. But on the whole, their Hi-tea set was perfection on a plate.

Their savouries on the other hand, didn’t fare as well. In fact, they didn’t even come close to the standard of their sweet treats!

Omelette ($14.90)
The omelette is served with salad and an oven roasted tomato, which were average. The omelette was normal as well, rather forgettable. The omelette was not exactly kid-friendly, since they used higher quality cheese which may not have been suited to kiddy tastes. For food connoisseurs on the other hand, it’s a good thing! I was rather put off by the fact that it wasn’t served piping hot. I like my food hot, really hot.

Mushroom Crepe ($16.90)
They were generous with the mushrooms, however it was served only slightly warm as well, so it wasn’t as enjoyable. The salad and tomato, same as the one served with the omelette, was normal to say the least. Their crepe doesn’t come close to the ones they serve at Marche.

The crepe was thin, and filled with sauteed mushrooms, but that was it. It wasn’t bursting with ingredients like those at Marche. The crepe was rather tasteless too.

 

One thing they could work on is the presentation of the savouries, since the fare served is rather basic, presentation is key! After all, we are paying more than $10 for an omelette.

I liked the atmosphere, which was very comfortable and laid back. The service was impressive, with the friendly staff who were always checking up on us. I would only recommend their bakery items though, their savouries aren’t worth the price.

Rating:
5/10 (Savouries)
8/10 (Desserts)

Product Review: Sunnyhills Pineapple Cakes

Its a sunny yellow banana day… Sound familiar? Anyone else remember the hilarious commercial with the dancing cow advertising HL’s banana milk? Oh dear, looks like I’ve gone on a tangent before I’ve even started my review.

Well, I was blessed with the opportunity to try Sunnyhills Pineapple Cakes after winning a box of 10 Pineapple tarts in a giveaway by Palate. This box of 10 is worth SGD$25, and are individually wrapped. I was not paid to review this, and all thoughts and comments about this product are my own 🙂

Their shop is located in a quiet stretch of shops on Level 3 of Raffles Hotel, do look out for it cause its rather easy to miss!  Sunnyhills pride themselves in freshly baked pineapple cakes made with natural ingredients and red-yolk eggs. In fact, they recently became Halal-certified, so this could be a go to place for Hari Raya gifts!

Honestly, I have absolutely no idea why its called a Pineapple Cake, when it looks and tastes like a Pineapple Tart, with the buttery casing and all. For those of you who have no idea what a Pineapple tart is, it is a small pastry either topped with pineapple jam, or in some cases the pastry encases the jam, which is commonly eaten during Chinese New Year.

Each Pineapple Cake comes individually wrapped in paper, which allows for easy, mess-free consumption. I really liked their cardboard box which added a sort of down-to-earthy yet classy feel to the packaging. Since no preservatives are added, the pineapple cakes are good for 3 weeks at room temperature. My recommendation is to consume them as soon as possible as the quality does drop over time.

The pineapple jam is surrounded with a flaky, buttery crust.. a rather sturdy crust I must add, since it kept its rectangular shape. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The crust was dry, and the pineapple filling did not fare much better, since it was dry and fibrous as well. One thing that I liked was that it wasn’t overly sweet, like many of the commercially made pineapple tarts.

Perhaps it was due to the lack of preservatives, and the fact that the box I received was already a week old… nonetheless, despite their not-so-spectacular pineapple cake, I would like to commend them for their excellent service.

Since it was my first time to Raffles Hotel, Little Ms Blur here ended up at the back door of the shop. Yet, the shopkeepers gamely led me in from the back, all the while smiling, and not the slightest bit annoyed that I had entered their work space. They offered me a cuppa tea and a tart to try before I collected my box, but I politely declined since I had to rush off elsewhere. The two lovely ladies efficiently gathered my goods, while chattering away about how the pineapple cakes were made, and how soon to consume them. Their amiable service was much appreciated, and I definitely felt more than welcome in their cosy little shop.

If you plan on giving them a try, do take time to sit down in their shop and enjoy the laid back vibe and eclectic furniture as you have your tea and cake.

For those of you who are more health-conscious, the nutrition facts are quite a shocker. Despite the short ingredient list, and the all-natural ingredients, one pineapple cake along will set you back 205 calories. That is one very calorie dense pineapple tart!

Great service, but not so great food? It pains me to give them a bad rating, but its all about the food isn’t it? I would like to give them a raving rating like all the other food bloggers out there, but I have to be honest. Their pineapple tart/cakes were not up to standard. Nonetheless, I’m willing to give them another go, hopefully when its fresh, so I can taste it at its best! But for now, Sunnyhills loses out to L.E Confectionery’s golf ball sized pineapple tarts for sure. Buy it or fly by it? I’d go with fly by it. Its not worth 205 calories.

Rating: 4/10

Mmmm…marche

Ahh, marche. Its been ages since I have been to Marche. I have fond memories of Marche from my childhood. We were frequent visitors to the Marche Outlet at Heeren. I remember the dim lighting, the sound of food being freshly prepared, the smells of all kinds of delectable goodies wafting from different directions.. If you faced the left, you could smell rosti being fried, the symphony of sizzles making you hungrier by the minute. On the toher side, you could smell the sweet crepes, slathered with rich chocolate and mounds of ice cream, any child’s dream. My favorite thing about Marche, however, was their playground. The cold metal structures were simple and not very inviting, to be honest, but the childhood friends I played with led me to associate that place with fun times and good food. Fun, friends, and food… Marche was my heaven.

Finally after so many years, I am back at Marche. This time, at the 313 Somerset branch (no playground here, unfortunately). The restaurant is now more brightly lit, with staff dressed in adorable uniforms, and cute decoration strung from every corner.

Upon entering the dining area, I was greeted with a beautiful sight of mountains of food piled high at each counter, there were fruits, vegetables, drinks, freshly baked bread, everything I could dream of. It was a feast for the eyes, for which I give Marche brownie points for creating such a welcoming and homely atmosphere that would whet one’s appetite.

Don’t skim through these photos too quickly.. you should enjoy this insiders’ view of Marche if you have yet to go there. Turns out, photography is not allowed in their premises, so these photos are exclusively for you. (One of their staff members stopped me from taking photographs, so the sneak peeks will end soon) I do not blame them for not allowing photography though, their concept is one worth learning from.

I really adore their decor, it is so fitting for the occasion. It gives one the idea of fresh, homecooked goodness in a chill atmosphere. Almost like a farmers’ market, your mother’s kitchen and a cosy cafe all nestled into a brilliant package.

Even the dining area is adorable, it reminds me of Goldilocks and the three Bears. Maybe they purchased their furniture from the same shop? Okay, I kid. Let’s move on to the food, after all, that’s what matters.

In case you did not know, they follow a credit card system here. Upon entering, each person is given a card, to pay for their food at various counters. (Think high class food court) At the end of your meal, you will be charged for whatever you “swiped” your card for. Now that I think of it, this is a clever concept since you’ll enjoy your food better without having to handover your beloved cash to get your food..until you leave the place that is.

Here’s what I tried,

Rosti with Cheese Sausage ($6.20 + $6.90)

How could I not try their famous rosti? Shredded potato fried to perfection, each bite yielding a crispy web of mouthwatering goodness. Coupled with sour cream, this is a match made in heaven. The sausage was a last minute addition, although on hindsight, it wasn’t worth the extra cost. The sausage was hot and cheesy, but just like any cheese sausage you will find elsewhere. 

I would definitely recommend their rosti. If you intend to try other dishes, just share a plate of rosti without any add-ons. You’ll thank me for it.

Strawberry and Nutella Crepe ($8.20)

Desserts, sweet desserts. A thin layer of crepe smothered in nutella, and generously topped with fresh strawberries, and a sprinkle of icing sugar. Kudos to them for making the crepes fresh! The crepe was good, not outstanding though, but enough to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Mushroom and Cheese Crepe ($13.20)

I never knew that Marche had savoury crepes, and I am so glad that I discovered this gem. The portion was humongous, just the way I like it. The crepe is prepared right before your eyes, with generous helpings of shredded lettuce/cabbage topped with mounds of mushrooms and cheese. All this served with their special cream sauce, and a side salad. I would think this dish is pretty healthy.

They also sell smoked salmon/roasted vegetables/smoked duck/chicken crepes, so if you love your meat, you have many other options available.

Oh, let me marvel a little longer at the sheer size of this beauty. I would say it is about the size of 3-4 popiahs. It was definitely filling and I have no complaints about that! The cream sauce was nothing to rave about, I felt that it barely did anything for the crepe. Plus, why add the unnecessary oily (check out those yellow globules!) sauce to an otherwise wholesome meal? If you really need sauce, help yourself to some sauce available at the central counter.

As I already mentioned, the crepe was generously filled, and I had more than enough filling with each bite. It took me a good half hour to polish this off on my own. For the little ladies who can’t eat much, I suggest you share this with your fellow ladies who lunch. I liked how the fresh vegetables provided a nice crunch to the melty cheese, and sauteed mushrooms. Even though the crepe base was probably similar, I prefer the savory crepe to the sweet crepe. Please do try their savory crepes! Its one of the most value for money items in Marche 🙂

Marche is a great place to go for a meal, especially since they make up for the cost with the hearty portions. Remember to go after 12pm though, because they aren’t ready before that. I went around 11am and had to wait around for about an hour until they had set up. They should get ready beforehand though, since they stated that they were open at 11am, so they ought to be ready for business.

That’s all for now, so happy feasting, my fellow foodies!

Rating: 7/10 (+1 for ambience)

Restaurant Week: 211 Roof Terrace Cafe

Restaurant Week 2013

For those of you who have not heard of restaurant week, its basically a week where participating restaurants serve you a special set lunch or set dinner for $25++ and $35++, with an additional fee of $15 for the more high class restaurants. Restaurant Week is a global event, and I had the fun of taking part this year.

I booked a reservation at 211 Roof Terrace Cafe for their set lunch, so here’s how it went.

Located on the 4th floor of 211 Holland Avenue (hence the name), 211 Roof Terrace Cafe is a serene hideout, popular with expatriates. Lined with pretty fountains and luscious greenery, the alfresco dining area would be a nice place for dinner (not lunch, the sweltering heat will leave you melting… definitely not the ideal dining experience). Since I went at lunch time, I sat in the air conditioned area, at the far end of the restaurant.

Before I begin my review of their Restaurant Week set lunch, I would just like to highlight their other offerings which are quite reasonably priced. Its a good place to go for a quiet breakfast or for high tea with your friends. (I saw quite a few groups of ladies having their cakes and a cuppa)

Now, on to the Set Lunch!

This is their menu, specially created for Restaurant Week. You won’t find these dishes on their menu. I ordered the Roasted Tomato Soup, Prawn Gnocchi and Molten Lava Cake.

Their dinner menu was slightly different:

Quite worth it, if you can appreciate foie gras. Its not for me though.

Tomato Basil Soup

The Tomato Basil Soup was very nice, topped with pesto, the tartness of the tomato and the strong flavors from the pesto really helped to ‘wake up’ my taste buds, in preparation for the food to come. There was a single Spinach Ricotta Ravioli inside the soup as you can see below.

However, I felt that it didn’t contribute to the dish in any way, and may in fact have spoiled the dish since the pasta was hard, and the filling was dry and tasteless.

My foodie-in-crime ordered the Salad Nicoise which was topped with a perfectly poached egg and seared tuna. 

The salad was not bad too, but I didn’t really like the horseradish sauce drizzled over. Also, the seared tuna seemed a little dry to me, in fact it tasted almost like dry chicken meat.

On to the mains! Prawn Gnocchi sounded interesting since I’ve never tried gnocchi before, and the other option of duck did not appeal to me at all. After all, the only duck I’m willing to eat is in Braised Duck Rice.

Two generous portions of prawn gnocchi.

There was basil pesto drizzled over the Prawn Gnocchi as well. The dish was extremely rich, and after a while, it became rather monotonous. There was no oomph, just a super thick sauce, with thick pasta. I felt that it needed something to balance it out. It was my first time eating gnocchi, and this dish reminded me of korean rice cakes and mee hoon kway, although I think I prefer those to this dish. There were also chunks of butternut squash mixed in, but once again, it didn’t help to add any dimension to the dish.

Kudos to them for the homemade gnocchi, which was al dente and nicely chewy. Not sure if gnocchi is meant to be like that, but if the texture is supposed to be similar to that of Korean Rice Cakes, then they did it correctly.

Given the price we paid for lunch, I expected better quality prawns, so I was disappointed to be served frozen prawns which cheapened the entire experience. The main course is supposed to impress, after all.

On the whole, I did not really like this dish.

Thankfully, the dessert was a saving grace. They certainly saved the best for last, with their yummy Molten Lava Cake!

Unfortunately, the cake they served my foodie-in-crime was already broken, so the lava was already oozing out.   But it was rather picturesque in its own right, so I began snapping photos of it.

My foodie friend was hilarious, she tried to turn the side with the flowing lava away from the camera, saying that “Don’t take this side, its broken already. Its so messy.” I burst out laughing, saying that the lava was what people  wanted to see, rather than the ‘neater’ side.

The lava cake was topped with a delicious Vanilla Bean Ice cream (yes, they did use real vanilla beans, you can see specks of it) which scored many brownie points. I am very particular about the use of vanilla beans rather than vanilla essence, especially in restaurants. Also, this time round, the little touches did make a difference! The raspberries were tangy and juicy and served as a nice contrast to the creamy ice cream, and rich chocolatey lava. The sweet and crispy crumble sprinkled on the plate also added a nice crunch. The Molten Lava Cake was perfect in so many ways.

I certainly wished it could have flowed more, after all, that’s what a lava cake is about eh? Then again, the serving size was perfect for dessert, leaving us satisfied rather than stuffed.

One improvement they could make would be to use suitable cutlery and a smaller plate. By serving us the cake on a dinner sized plate, the cake appeared even smaller. Also, they served us the dessert with a normal sized fork and spoon. A dainty dessert calls for a dainty plate and dessert spoons!

Finally, ending off on a sweet note, the chocolate lava cake was intensely and deliciously chocolatey, with a hint of hazelnut, and none of that artificial sweetener nonsense. Cold and warm, sweet and decadent, crunchy and smooth, all at once. This dessert was a stunning end to our meal. (you probably can tell from my endless raving about it)

Here’s a peek at the scenic al fresco dining area, before I conclude this review:

With above average food, (spectacular desserts!) and a nice atmosphere, this would be a nice place for a casual lunch or dinner. However, in terms of value, I feel that a restaurant like Wild Honey, gives more bang for buck.

Nonetheless, I’d recommend you to come down for a slice of cake to escape from the hustle of city life, at least once. Or at least to try their Molten Lava Cake 😛

Rating: 7/10

Churrosity worth your curiosity?

You follow the tantalizing smell of cinnamon, visions of freshly made churros coated generously with sweet specks of cinnamon sugar running through your mind… all those fond childhood memories come rushing back at you. And then you see it, a small store amidst the hustle and bustle of Holland Village, Churrosity. 

You hurry across the street, only one thing on your mind, churros, pronto. You order one original churro, (why mess with a divine creation?), fork out $2.50 (Money isn’t an issue when it comes to food), only to be handed a barely warm churro, half the size of what you’re normally given.

Disappointment begins to set in.. still the smell of cinnamon sugar gets to you, and you take a bite of sugary, mouthwatering goodness… wait what? The churro is not what you expected, in fact it doesn’t even come close to what you expected. It doesn’t dissolve into a million delicious pieces forming delectable little rainbows to dance with your tastebuds, its nothing like that. So much for freshly made churros. Its even on the verge of being tough, oh, how i miss the sweet churro I used to know.

Although it looks good, as you can see in the picture, the churros from Churrosity, don’t taste as good as it looks. Its a far cry from the churros I used to buy at funfairs, and make shift carnivals. Hopefully they’ll start to fry their churros fresh, rather than keeping them warm in the little metal case. That, and they have got to increase the size of their churros! Only about 20cm for $2.50? I’d rather buy a curry puff or a frosty.

If I had to sum all that up into one line, no animosity intended, I’m sad to say Churrosity is not worth your curiosity. 

Rating: 4/10

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Bread Recipe

Is it a bread? Is it a cake? A healthy banana bread recipe? Is that even possible?

So many questions, so little time. Let’s skip the mundane questioning and jump straight in.

Brace yourselves for an amazing recipe that I’ve tweaked from Yammie’s brilliant recipe.

I wasn’t intending to make any changes apart from the type of flour used, but my brother ate one of the bananas I set aside for baking, so I ended up adding more applesauce to make up for it. Luckily, the end result was super moist and yummy. As I always do for baking, I omitted the salt.. you can’t even taste the difference honestly, so you might as well go without!

We were too eager to dig in that the bread was attacked from all directions, resulting in the oddly shaped leftover blocks.

But looks don’t matter of course, its what’s inside that counts.

And do you know what’s inside these not-so-aesthetically pleasing brown blocks?

PEANUT BUTTER CHIPS!!

See those light brown chunks that look like hunks of peanut? Those are the nomworthy peanut butter chips.

I was so pleased when I stumbled upon them in Walmart when I was in the United States. I used them once in Reeses’ Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies (sounds decadent eh?), but that’s another story.

This banana bread was so moist and flavorful, I couldn’t stop at a piece. (They are healthy, so I guess I can eat more right? :P) In fact, it tasted so good, you wouldn’t know that they were made without butter or oil! These taste best when they are fresh out of the oven, but they are still tasty when eaten at room temperature when you are on the go.

As everyone knows, peanut butter and banana were match made in heaven. So its actually no surprise that this pairing turned out so perfectly. Maybe someone should try a PBJ banana bread… now that would be an interesting threesome. (Keep those thoughts clean, there are children around)

I bet you aren’t even reading what I’m saying.. you’re probably just waiting for me to end this long story and share the recipe with you. Well, the time has come… *drumroll*

PB CUBE RECIPE (Peanut Butter Banana Bread)

 {See what I did there? B cube cause there are three Bs and I spelled cube out cause I cut them into cubes!  *Crickets chirping*  You better get that funny bone checked, my friend… You seem to be suffering from a severe lack of humor.}

Jokes aside, here’s the recipe, for real this time.

Made in a 9×9 baking tin. (Should fill a 10 inch loaf pan)

You’ll need:

2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup wholewheat flour
1 cup peanut butter chips
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (tweaked to your liking)
1 cup mashed ripe bananas

Switch things up with: chocolate chips, dried fruits, chopped nuts etc.

Steps:

1) Grease your loaf pan or baking tin. (I suggest you lay a baking sheet for easy removal)

2) Preheat the oven to 350º F.

3) Mix together the eggs, honey, applesauce, and vanilla.

4) Mix together the flour, salt, soda, powder, and cinnamon and add to the wet ingredients. Stir in the mashed bananas and mix well.

5) Add in any mix-ins. (I added PB chips!)

6) Pour into the loaf pan/baking tin and bake for 45 minutes.

Now enjoy the delicious smells that will come wafting from your oven in a couple of minutes. Ahh, the sweet smell of success.

Hope you like the recipe!

Chocolat N Spice, and everything nice.

If you asked me to choose between muffins or cupcakes, I would definitely go for the former.

While cupcakes may be pretty with their icing and cute designs, it is what is on the inside that truly matters to me. That’s why I’d go for a albeit less photogenic muffin, with delectable fillings well mixed in, finished off with a crisp yet moist muffin top!

I’m sure many of you have heard of the famed Chocolat N Spice Muffin bakery at Shun Fu Market. Well, I felt that it was  about time I reviewed their majestic muffins, or so I thought.

I have fond memories of the chocolate chip muffins from Chocolat N Spice.. I remember enormous muffins filled with an abundance of chocolate chips, and topped with even more chocolate sprinkles! I remember the moistness of the muffins, and the beautiful dome shaped muffin top that was crisped to perfection. They were perfect even at room temperature.

With this fond memory in mind, I eagerly joined the snaking queue of hungry people on an early Saturday morning.

 

Kudos to them for the efficient, slightly brusque, service which kept the crazy crowds under control. What’s more? The free smells from the baked goods which were being constantly churned out made waiting time all the more bearable.

A small suggestion, they should paste a “sold out” sticker on the muffins which are already sold out so that customers can have time to plan out their alternative orders, and so that they would not have to repeat themselves to every customer (which resulted in some annoyance on their part).

Anyway, it was not long before I got my hands on a box of their prized muffins! The muffins range from $1.20 to $1.50, and I chose 4 basic muffin flavours. Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate, Banana Walnut and Blueberry.

If you order less than 5 muffins, you have to pay extra for the box. (Minus brownie points for being stingy) This policy does not really make much sense to me, as squishing 5 muffins into a small cardboard box just makes them even less palatable.

Unfortunately, I received a rather nasty surprise when I opened the box, hoping to see my favorite childhood muffin.

Although the muffins looked the same from the top view, I was horrified to see that the part I loved the most was pretty much non-existent! Yes, I love muffin tops (No..not the flabby bits around our waist of course, who likes those?!) They complete a muffin. Without a good muffin top, muffins are just like an ugly cupcake. (Looks like a cupcake base without the beauty, and sad excuse of a muffin)

Muffin tops are to muffins what peanut butter is to bananas, what milk is to cereal, what kaya is to butter.. you get my point.

Now look at the picture above. Isn’t that simply disappointing? It looks like the muffin deflated. Oh, let us have a minute of silence for the poor muffin.

Guess what, disappointment #2: The muffins have become smaller. Maybe its the rising cost of food, or perhaps the need to cut corners to earn more profit, whatever the reason is, they reduced the size of the muffins. Not a good move I must say, their once renown muffins now look no better than a muffin from any old bakery. Why, even my homebaked muffins look better!

But of course, food is not just about looks. After all, char kway teow, oyster omelette and most of our favorite hawker foods look far from appetizing (to foreigners at least, for they have never tasted what looks like a brown sludge mixed with bits of goodness knows what)

So, I did what any rational foodie would do.. and whipped out my favorite flavour (Chocolate Chip) to do a taste test!

Luckily for them, what was left of the muffin top was still crisp to the bite, with the sweet taste of sugar bringing back fond memories of nostalgia… but then disappointment #3 just had to ruin the moment.

WHERE ARE MY CHOCOLATE CHIPS??? Sure, don’t give me my muffin top, but don’t take away the chocolate chips! Its a chocolate chip muffin for crying out loud. Now its just a muff-ailure.

Also, while the muffins weren’t cloyingly sweet, they also were not as moist as before. I was definitely not expecting such a large fall in standard, especially with the long queue. Just another case of blind following the blind, I suppose.

Likewise, when I tasted the other muffins, the fillings were sparse. The muffin tops were still crispy when heated up, but that was about it. Looks like I have to find another muffin stall to patronize!

Well, piece of cake, my decision is made. Chocolat N Spice has fallen of my mmmm..muffin list, and the time has come to find a new replacement. Save yourself a trip, and just bake your own muffins instead. Why, just bake some Betty Crocker instant mix blueberry muffins if you can’t be bothered, don’t worry, you won’t be missing out.

Rating: 5/10

Address:
Blk 320, #02-12 & #02-13 Shunfu Mart (Shunfu Market)
Singapore 570320
(View map)
Business Hours :
8.30am – 2.30pm (Tues. – Sat.)
Closed on Sun. & Mon.

Phone Orders (No delivery):
93830413

A thousand layers of happiness? Featuring First Love Patisserie’s Mille Crepe.

My apologies, its been ages since I last posted. But I have been so caught up with school and CCA, I simply could not find the time to write a review. (I had no trouble trying out new places of course, so my list of places to be reviewed is piling up!)

Fret not, you guys are in for a treat today! Today’s post is all about the trendy thousand layer Mille Crepe. Some call it the thousand layer cake, others call it a mille crepe.. I call it.. literally-layers-of-crepe-and-cream cake.

The crepe sure is a beauty, don’t you think? Its like an atas version of kueh lapis. I certainly respect the chefs cause it must be hard work having to prepare hundreds of cakes layer by layer daily.

Hopefully you are as intrigued by the many layers of crepe as I am, because I went crazy with food shots, so prepare yourselves for a visual feast.

The brochure, filled with hilarious spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. You ready to see more “devine” photos of this cake? 😛

I’m pleased to announce that First Love Patisserie’s Mille Crepe looks just like what is shown on the brochure/box, so thumbs up for no false advertising!

Look at the meticulously layered cake… visually stunning in every way.

Before I tried it, I always imagined the Mille Crepe to taste like a creamy, yet light cake. While I was a tad disappointed to realise that it was literally just layers of crepe and cream, the lightness of the cream definitely lived up to what I had fantasized it to be.

You can definitely taste the quality of the ingredients, and the fact that they use real vanilla beans in the cream helps to bring out the flavor even better. If you look very carefully at the photos, you can see specs of vanilla bean dotting the layers of cream. 

This is the less photographed side of the Mille Crepe.. what can I say? I like to show both sides of the picture 🙂

The Mille Crepes are sold in slices, with each slice gingerly placed on a thin sheet of aluminium foil. You could order the whole cake, of course, but I think it would be hard to slice it as deftly as they do. With so many fragile layers of crepe, I recommend leaving the slicing to the professionals.

A close up of the back.

Side view. I still can’t get over how beautiful a Mille Crepe is. Food is an art, we really ought to put more effort into our food presentation.

Here’s what one layer of crepe looks like. Thin, spongy and sweet, with a smooth layer of vanilla cream. Yum.

Cross section of the cake. See the specks of vanilla bean?

On hindsight, the cream filling is reminiscent of Beard Papa’s cream puff. And the crepe layers are like softened pastry, so this could be aptly described as a deconstructed Beard Papa Cream Puff  reconstructed in a cake. Phew, try saying that 10 times!

Personally, I like the cake frozen, cause it tastes more like an ice-cream cake (I adore ice cream cakes), and the firmness of the cake made it easier to eat. However, my foodie-in-crime preferred it cool, with its softer, melt in the mouth texture. Like everything in life, its based on personal preference, so there is no right or wrong way to eat the Mille Crepe.

Despite having been singing praises thus far, I must say that it is rather expensive at $6.50 a slice… but you should try it at least once. Just so you can level-up in the foodie world.

Oh, and one more thing, despite seeming like its from Japan (Hokkaido Thousand Layer Cake).. First Love Patisserie is actually a Jakarta brand. They sell other flavours like Cookies and Cream, and Strawberries too. Do give them a shot, and let me know how you find it!

Location: ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn, #B4, Orchard, 238801

Rating: 7/10

A taste of Singapore

Credits

Singapore is a food lover’s paradise.. there’s no doubt about that. Being a multi-racial society, we are a melting pot of tastes and cultures. We have all kinds of food available in Singapore, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Western, Japanese.. the list is endless. What’s even better is that this stunning variety of food is offered nearly everywhere, at hawker centres, food courts and malls. It is extremely rare to see such a wide array of food so easily accessible to everyone.

I think food defines us as Singaporeans, and today’s post is dedicated to my list of Top 10 must-tries in Singapore.

Going on a holiday and being away from your familiar food can be rather daunting and exhilarating at the same time. Well, in order to enhance your Singapore experience if you happen to travel here, I’ve compiled a list of must tries in Singapore if you happen to be visiting. I deliberately did not include ‘atas’ restaurants and cafes in my list, despite their rising popularity in Singapore, as I feel that our local hawker fare is what makes us uniquely Singaporean. Well, that and the fact that I didn’t want to make it harder on myself to choose just 10 types of food from the smorgasbord of food available here.

credits

So, without further ado, here is Foogo’s Top 10 Must-Tries in Singapore:

I listed them by the type of food, rather than a particular stall since we have so many amazing hawkers around, and the best version would be subjective to your personal tastes and preferences. I did, however, take the liberty to name a few hawkers for you to choose from. Enjoy!

1. Chicken Rice

Credits

Funny thing is, I don’t have a photo of chicken rice, despite the countless times that I have eaten this local dish. I suppose I don’t exactly find it very picturesque. My tastebuds think otherwise though. Chicken rice is essentially boiled or roasted chicken with fragrant rice. A word to the health conscious, the rice tastes so good because it is cooked in chicken fat. Nonetheless, this is a dish you have to try!

As simple as it sounds, this dish is not just about the chicken and the rice. The side dishes also play an important role in creating the perfect chicken rice meal, and it is often a combination of good quality ingredients, and well defined flavors that differentiates the best chicken rice from the rest. What side dishes, you may ask? The chili sauce, the ginger, the soup and sometimes the gravy poured over the chicken.

Every stall offers different side dishes, and have added their own unique touches to this common dish.

• Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice

Maxwell Road Food Centre

1 Kadayanallur Street, #01-10, S069184

11am to 8pm, closed on Mondays.

-The highlight of this dish is the powerful gravy that is poured over the chicken. It is bursting with flavor and complements the tender chicken extremely well. I love their chilli and ginger as well which gives a nice kick to the chicken rice.

• Sin Kee/Xin Ji Famous Chicken Rice

Mei Chin Food Centre, 159 Mei Chin Road, #02-22, S140159,

11am to 8pm, closed on Mondays

-Equally tender and robust chicken, the strength of this stall is their chilli which is sweet, spicy and sour all at the same time. I love it!

2. Nasi Lemak

Credits to the Pleasure Monger.

Coconut rice served with fried chicken, otah, cucumbers, ikan bilis, fried egg, fried fish (you choose what to add.. but there’s usually fried egg and fried chicken wings) and of course the most important sweet sambal chilli! This is a Malay dish that is very popular for breakfast, lunch or dinner in Singapore. Of course, I only have one recommendation, cause I love love love their sambal chilli… do check them out!

• Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak

No. 2 Adam Road Food Centre

I have been a loyal customer of their nasi lemak for many years now, and I will never grow tired of their delicious Sambal chilli which is delightfully sweet and spicy at the same time. I could just eat it with the rice. Ah, one thing to note though, their rice is not always consistent and you might get some undercooked grains, or parts that aren’t well mixed with the coconut milk. Nonetheless, they do have one of  the best Nasi Lemak’s in Singapore.

3. Roti Prata

Credits

Essentially a fried flour-based pancake. Doesn’t sound very appetizing? Well, when you receive a plate of freshly made plain Roti Prata, served with some curry and sugar, you’ll understand why I included this in my must try list of Singapore food. Sometimes simple is the way to go. I love to eat this fuss free meal with both curry and sugar, at the same time! Most people choose either curry or sugar to dip their prata in, but I find that eating both at the same time creates a really unique flavor. The sweet crunchy sugar complements the smooth spicy gravy so well, making your roti prata even more enjoyable.

You can order your roti prata in different variations too, egg, banana, chocolate, and even tissue prata which is served in a cone!

While most Indian hawker stalls sell Roti Prata, if you want to try the very best roti prata..

• Casuarina Curry Restaurant

136 Casuarina Road, S9579524)

A casual restaurant with an open kitchen so you can watch them make your prata! I love their banana prata which is HUGE. It’s actually a dessert prata, but I like to order it as my main course. Do order a Milo Dinosaur (milo topped with extra milo powder) as well, as that’s often the go-to drink to pair with prata.

• Mr and Mrs Mohgan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata

7 Crane Road, Poh Ho Restaurant

6.30am-1.30pm

Closed Tue/Wed 3rd week of the month

A nice place for breakfast in a local coffeeshop.. what makes this place unique is that they have 3 types of curry for you to choose from! (Dhal, Fish or Mutton)

4. Kaya Toast and Soft boiled eggs

Kaya Toast, Kopi and soft boiled eggs.. now that’s local breakfast for you! Kaya is a coconut jam, often freshly made by the better coffee shops like Yakun and Chin Mee Chin. The sweet kaya, rich butter and crispy toast combine to form a mouthwatering and extremely affordable breakfast.

• Ya Kun Kaya Toast18 China Street

Probably the pioneers of kaya toast, Ya kun has managed to uphold their standard as one of the best kaya toast makers in Singapore. There are many outlets all over Singapore, but do head down to their first outlet if you have the chance!

• Chin Mee Chin Confectionary

204 East Coast Road

The kaya toast here is served on round buns rather than the usual toast.. but it is still equally delicious. The kaya here is deliciously eggy and sweet.

5. Chilli/black pepper crab

Credits

Another local delight! I like to dip freshly fried mantous into the chilli crab gravy.

Just one place to reccomend.. my all time favorite JUMBO SEAFOOD RESTAURANT

• Jumbo Seafood Restaurant

East Coast Seafood Centre
Blk 1206 East Coast Parkway #01-07/08, East Coast Seafood Centre, Singapore 449883
Tel:             6442-3435      , Fax: 6444-5373 

Mon – Sat	:	5pm – 11.45pm (last order at 11.15pm)
Sun & P.H.	:	12pm – 12am (last order at 11.15pm)

They have a few outlets, but this is my favorite outlet cause it is by the sea, so the ambiance is pretty amazing. If I’m not wrong, this is their biggest outlet as well.

6. Dim Sum

Rather like a chinese version of Spanish Tapas, you can choose from many small individual portions of food served in small bamboo baskets or plates. The items range from dumplings, to paus (steamed bun with fillings) and even to heartier fare like noodles.

• Swee Choon Dim Sum Restaurant

183/185/187/189/191 Jalan Besar, Singapore 208882

Opening hours: 6pm – 10am, closed on tuesdays

I suggest that you go to this alleyway eatery at night since they are sold out for most items in the morning. Plus, the lively atmosphere at night will definitely enhance your experience. Not sure what to order? Check out my review on Swee Choon.

• Red Star Restaurant

54 Chin Swee Road, Singapore 160054

This is probably Singapore’s largest dim sum restaurant. With servers pushing around carts of dim sum, and the noisy atmosphere from the perpetual crowd, the ambiance here is hard to beat. Have fun trying to flag down the push cart women in a bid to get your dim sum.

7. Popiah

I’d describe this as the healthy asian version of a burrito. A chockful of ingredients (veggies like lettuce, cooked radishes, turnips, carrots, bean sprouts even shrimp, crabmeat and tofu at times…) are wrapped up in a thin paper like crepe to form a popiah. Sauces like chilli and sweet sauce are spread on the popiah skin before adding the filling, and you can customise your order by choosing from the variety of toppings available (ground peanuts, mashed eggs, fried pork lard, chinese sausage..)

Popiah can be found in most hawker centres, but for a good popiah, I’d recommend the following places.

• Old Long House Popiah 

Blk 22, Lorong 7 Toa Payoh, #01-03

Toa Payoh Food Centre

6am – 5pm, Closed on Mon and Tue

The popiah skin here is sturdy enough to hold the generous fillings together so that they won’t fall out on the arduous journey from the plate to your drooling mouth.

• My Cosy Corner 

587 Bukit Timah Road, Coronation Plaza, #02-02

Opening hours: Mon-sat 10am – 7.30pm, Sun: 11am-3pm

If you can take spicy food, ask for extra chilli for an added oomph! It can really numb your tongue.

• Good Chance Popiah

149 Silat Avenue, #01-58, Singapore 160149

Opening hours: Lunch- 11am to 2.30pm, Dinner – 6pm to 9.30pm, Closed on Mondays

For the fun of it, if you want to have a go at rolling your own popiah, do head down to Good Chance Popiah to put your nimble hands to the test. Simple, homely fare in a cosy old restaurant, just sit back, relax and roll some popiah!

8. Char Kway Teow

Credits

Ooh, that looks appetizing. A piping hot plate of brown slop which vaguely resembles earthworms and squished slugs. Delicious. Kidding aside, despite its looks, Char Kway Teow tastes pretty amazing. Kway teow (flat rice noodles aka the flattened slugs) and egg noodles (the earthworms) are fried together with a unique blend of sauces, eggs, beansprouts, chinese sausage and cockles to create a dish of gastronomic proportions. Each plate is often cooked to order, so you are assured of a steaming plate of noodles. This is one dish that tastes better than it looks.

• Outram Park Char Kway Teow

Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, Blk 531A, Stall 02-17

Opening Hours: Mon-Sat: 6am-4.30pm, Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

This is my personal favorite because the char kway teow is slightly on the sweeter side. The portions here are slightly smaller than usual though, so a lone plate may not suffice.

• Meng Kee Char Kway Teow

Blk 22, Havelock Road, Beo Crescent

Opening Hours: Mon – Sat: 10.30am to 7pm, Sunday: 10.30am – 4pm

What makes this plate of Char Kway Teow stand out is the smoothness of the kway teow which makes it even more palatable than usual.

9. Tau Huay

Credits

The traditional tau hway (soya beancurd) can be eaten hot or cold, and is served in a sweet syrup. If you like, you can dip freshly fried dough fritters (you tiao) into your tau huay for a unique experience of savory meets sweet.

• Rochor Beancurd

432 Balestier Road, Public Mansions, #01-436

Opening Hours: Mon – Sun : 9am- 12am

I love their hot tau huay with a fresh you tiao to go with it. Their soya bean drinks and sides (other fried doughy goods) are good as well.

Credits

Lately, there has been a craze for this new modern version of soya beancurd. It is more like a soy pudding, and is only eaten cold. The texture is extremely smooth, and it is much lighter than the traditional beancurd. Honestly, it is hard to differentiate a good version of this beancurd from another because they are mostly factory made unlike the traditional beancurd. I decided not to recommend a particular stall since they taste quite the same to me, just head down to any hawker centre, and you’re bound to see a stall selling this in various flavours. (durian, strawberry, almond, coffee, chocolate..)

Call me boring, but I’ll still choose the traditional beancurd over these factory made ones.

10. Durian

credits

Last, but definitely not the least… THE KING OF FRUITS! Presenting, the almighty Durian. I am sure you’ve heard of this famous or infamous fruit, the spiky fruit that you either hate or love. To the haters, the smell is probably the worst part of eating durian.  I used to hate durian, but I have grown to love the rich, creamy taste of durian. There are various kinds of durians available, but I recommend D24 and Mao Shan Wang as they tend to be fleshier and creamier than most. Mao Shan Wang has a sweet note to it, while D24 has a hint of bitterness.

A quick tip before I end this post.. wash your hands and gargle your mouth with water that has been washed down a durian husk. It helps to get rid of the strong odor. I’d love to hear about your first experience with durian, so do leave a comment below if you happen to try it in Singapore.

I don’t have a particular stall to recommend, so just look out for a makeshift kiosk with the spiky fruit on display and try your luck!

credits

Finally, I hope that you have an amazing food and fun-filled experience in Singapore! There are so many more types of food for you to try, but if I wrote everything down, I would not need to sleep for days. My suggestion? Just follow the queues. If the queues are long, the food SHOULD be good.

Happy holidays!