foodphd's Reviews
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We had read about Crystal Jade Dining IN’s Cream Custard Bun with Salted Egg Yolk on 8 Days and were very tempted by the attractive pictures. But sadly, we were greatly deceived. The Cream Custard Bun with Salted Egg Yolk were of very low standards. The outer bun was stiff, hard and tasteless. The amount of cream custard was miserable and exuded a strong smelly eggy taste. It would be better if they had achieved a right balance of cream custard and salty egg yolk.
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Little Red Shop 小紅店, or better known as the Balestier Road’s 611 Tau Sar Piah, is arguably one of Singapore’s more popular 豆沙饼 shops. It is the first time we are trying their bean paste pastries and we chose the 2 conventional flavours – traditionally salty and traditionally sweet.
The Traditionally Salty bean paste was rather coarse. It wasn’t all that salty and was lacking in the strong aroma and taste of salty bean paste. It was a far cry from the Him Heang Tambun Biscuits from Penang.
For the Traditionally Sweet, the texture of the bean paste was akin to the lotus fillings in mooncakes. In general, Little Red Shop’s Tau Sar Piah were on the oily side; taste wise, they did not go well with our taste buds.
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Chocolate Orange Scookie – the best of both worlds; take a bite out of this scone-cookie with melting chocolate chips and orange zest. An interesting fusion between scone and cookie, we were very much looking forward to this unique dessert. Texture wise, it wasn’t scone like, nor cookie like. It didn’t have the crunchiness of a cookie, neither did it have the authentic scone texture and aroma. It was more bread-like instead. Sadly, the scookie wasn’t served warm, hence the “melting chocolate chips” were noticeably absent. There were just chunks of solid chocolate. The scookie was strong in orange zest flavour. Overall, we were slightly disappointed as this ‘unique’ cookie-scone combination didn’t outstandingly portray the qualities of scones and cookies. At s$3.50 per scookie, one would be better off with those from Da Paolo Gastr0nomia which delivers a perfect scone and cookie blend.
Flourless Chocolate Cake – A chocolate cake coated with rich milk chocolate ganache, sprinkled generously with crunchy almond flakes; for fans with a taste for the classics. The flourless chocolate cake was made of distinct layers of sponge and fudge. The sponge was very moist, soft and dense – something similar to banana cakes. The fudge had a very strong toffee-like sweetness, accompanied by a milk chocolate aftertaste. We felt that the chocolate cake, be it the fudge or sponge, was not very rich in chocolate. The outer fudge coating also detached easily from the cake itself, and they felt like 2 separate entities. Not exactly the best chocolate cake around, but something new for the taste buds and might be a favourite amongst those with a sweet tooth.
Bitter Chocolate Tart – with a thick crusty edge, enriching enough to satisfy all cravings. So far, the best chocolate tart we have tried is from Laurent’s. And after trying Barracks’ version, our stand remains unchanged. Barrack’s chocolate tart had a rather thin soft crust, with no strong buttery or chocolate aroma. The chocolate fillings consisted of 2 layers; the top darker chocolate was more bitter and slightly fudgier, while the inner layer of chocolate ganache tend towards a softer, creamier and sweeter note. Sadly, the tart left us with no sense of satisfaction.
Chai Chocolate Cake – infused with the fragrance of chai tea leaves, this dark chocolate cake is a royal sweet treat with a twist. Chai is a kind of spiced tea from the Indian subcontinent. The Chai Chocolate Cake consisted of layers of chocolate fudge and sponge. The cake was exceptionally rich in Chai flavour. One bite of the cake and our taste buds were entirely overwhelmed with the aroma and taste of spiced tea. It was a very refreshing and unique experience. The chocolate sponge was moist and dense, not overly sweet. The fudge was the component which was heavily infused with Chai. As a chocolate cake, it probably isn’t one of the richest or densest, but it sure was a very unique pairing between chocolate and tea. Its uniqueness makes this Chai Chocolate Cake one of the must-tries in Barracks.
Barracks Good Ole Fish n Chips – a hot pocket of cod fish a la English, paired with Barracks’ truffle fries to dip with malt vinegar and a homemade tartar sauce. A goreng pisang-like looking fish and chips, it felt more like a fusion dish due to the accompanying dip that tasted strongly of Indian spices. But the fusion was beautifully done this time, the sourish spicy dip was appetizing and awakes our largely unused taste buds for savory food. The choice of cod fish in Barracks’ fish n chips, unlike the commonly used haddock, was something different from other restaurants. However, the skin was not removed from the fillet and those portions with fish skin tasted slightly fishy. We felt that the batter was slightly too oily too.
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Coffee Bean has been around for so long, but it hasn’t never crossed our minds to try their scones, simply because we have never seen scones at the outlets we have been to. Perhaps it’s because our visits to Coffee Bean had always been in the evenings and their scones were probably sold out by then. So imagine our surprise and delight when we saw 2 pretty scones sitting at their display counter at 8am this morning.
My Mum’s Scone ($2.90) was its name. There wasn’t any description and with such an ambiguous name, we weren’t sure what to expect from this scone. First impression was that the scone was pretty oily as the bottom part of the paper bag was stained badly with oil. Texture wise, it was slightly different from authentic British scones. The freshly baked scone was pretty crumbly, it wasn’t as sticky and chewy and there was no buttery taste or aroma. Instead, there was a faint orange peel taste and with the juicy raisins, the scone was towards the sweet side. In general, My Mum’s Scone was pretty good, save for the fact that given its small size, $2.90 was on the steep side.
This time round, we tried Coffee Bean’s Buster’s Weekly Cheesecake. As mentioned in older entries, Coffee Bean’s cheesecakes are one of our favourites. The ones we’ve tried include the Espresso Cheescake, New York and Chicago Cheesecake. This time round, we tried Buster’s Weekly Cheesecake. Not too sure who or what Buster refers to, but Buster’s was essentially a Blueberry Cheesecake. There was a layer of blueberry jam on the top. It would definitely be more appetizing and attractive if the cheesecake was topped with fresh blueberries instead. Perhaps it was because we didn’t refrigerate the cheesecake and left in an air-conditioned room for a few hours, the cheesecake turned out pretty soft. Taste wise, it was still comparable to the usual Coffee Bean standard. However, texture wise, both the cheesecake and the base were too soft. The base looked flaky and crunchy, but it ended up with a non-crispy bread-like texture. I guess we can only blame ourselves for not refrigerating it.
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We ordered a waffle with 2 scoops of ice cream – Belgium Chocolate and Rum & Raisins. We also tried 2 other flavours – Guinness Chocolate and Baileys. The Baileys ice cream was pretty bland and lacking in the alcoholic aroma and taste of the Irish whiskey and cream based liqueur. The Guinness Chocolate had a strong taste in Guinness, but we did not like beer hence we ended up choosing Belgium Chocolate (which was reportedly one of the best sellers) and Rum & Raisins (the only other alcoholic flavour).
Pardon us, but we simply have to compare Icekimo to Udders. The waffle at Icekimo was pathetically scrawny. It was rather flat and the entire waffle was hard and crispy. There was no soft fluffiness in the waffle, unlike that at Udders. Coupled with this slightly charred taste, it seemed that the waffle was too burnt, resulting in its dry and hard texture. The waffles from Udders are crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside, with a nice toasted aroma. Icekimo‘s waffles are a far cry from Udders’.
The 2 scoops of ice cream were rather huge, hence increasing the outward appeal of the dessert. However, taste wise, it was another disappointment. The Belgian chocolate was mediocre and the standard was akin to Wall’s and King’s ice cream. In fact, it was nowhere different from the cup ice cream sold at Convenience stores. The Rum & Raisins ice cream tasted largely like Vanilla ice cream; it was sorely lacking in rum alcoholic flavour. The only saving grace of this desserts turned out to be the raisins in the ice cream. Each raisin was rather big, fat and juicy. But the main commendable factor was that the raisins were thoroughly soaked in rum, hence a bite into the raisins revealed a burst of rum taste. That was the only positive factor in our virgin Icekimo visit.
With its current standards, it will be hard for Icekimo to venture out of Sin Ming and into the streets of Orchard. Right now, it is better off as a neighbourhood ice cream parlour. Sadly, Icekimo – it will never be our ice cream parlour.
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