Together with few Yebbers, we joined a foodie eat out at Tea Cosy. We had a selection of mains from the planned menu just for the gathering.
For the set, there was the homemade mushroom soup, infamous decadent salad, choice of main (laksa pasta, grilled lime chicken and pan fried foie gras). Paid $25.90 for pasta or chicken. Those who took the foie gras paid $32.90 .
It took them quite awhile to get the soup served. The mushroom soup was alright. Nothing special about it. Then after another long wait, the salad came.
It's quite sad to see the portion smaller than usual. Isn't it supposed to be a special promotional set? Promotional in terms of pricing and not the serving size right? If paying lesser for sets means getting lesser in serving, than what's the point of getting the promotion? Or at least it should be made aware to the customers that the salad served will be of sampling size or something? That aside, everyone at my table had to agree that the salad live up to its standard. The mayo on it was very tasty. Vegetables was fresh and the entire combination (with the saddening few tiny pieces of foie gras) was good. This will be the only thing that'll tempt me to go back for more.
The chicken was alright. Grilled to slightly charred on the outside and the sauce was alright only. Vegetables on the side could have been crunchier.
The desserts were not bad and I'll recommend girls who want a place to hang out over mini tea party to check Tea Cosy out. It's quite an experience with all the unique antique furnitures.
Overall my first experience at Tea Cosy was average. At times I feel upset too. This I shall not talk about it since it was a miscommunication between the mid-shift waitress they hired just for that night and us. In fact, the management should have given a better briefing before the night. Or perhaps get a more experience waitress the next time.
The only think I remember now is the smelly table. :(
It was quite a bad experience when I was there for dinner. When we walked into the sitting/dining area behind the serving/ordering counter, the place was quite messed up with tables and chairs misaligned and many tables uncleared. We sat ourselves at the "cleaniest" table we can find and looked at the menu. The food was quite cheap and there were quite a lot of variety. Then we spotted a piece of A6 paper with scribbling of some promo set available. $7.90 for main course with drink. (Can't remember if there's soup thou.)
We ordered the Grilled Sirloin Steak and Seafood Aglio Oli both at promotional price of $7.90. Added Fried Calamari for starter.
While waiting for the order, a lady came to clean our tables and after she wiped the table, there was a strong stinge of smell left behind by the cloth she used! It was as thou the cloth has been left unwashed for few days! Smell worst then toilet can? What disgusted me more was that the same pair of hands that handled the smelly table cloth was serving the food and folding paper napkins loh! I had to apply medicated oil on my nose to cover the smell. And when our food was served, all my appetite was gone. Good thing the food was still presentable the least.
When my steak came, I then realised that we didn't get to choose the done-ness of it. It was cooked, almost to complete well done. So it was too tough to chew. Didn't really enjoy it. Boyfriend's pasta was a tad better. At least the seafood was presentable and of a good size. There was more of a black pepper taste instead of how aglio olio pasta should taste like.
Our starter was then served after the main courses. (Hmm...) We should have expected what was served since it was only $2.50 for the Fried Calamari. It was pathetic and the calamari was overcooked. Again too tough to chew.
Guess I was just unlucky to get this kind of experience at Spagetti Too since the 2 ladies before me enjoyed themselves at the same location. Chef was different perhaps. And the lady serving was different too?
Food: 3 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Cleanliness: 1.5 out of 5
Value for money: 3 out of 5
With its own on-site coffee roasting facilities in its flagship gourmet coffee house at Holland Village, Coffee Club took the coffee culture by storm and set a new standard in the industry in 1991. However, even with 21 outlets today, this flagship outlet remains close to my heart, even as a non-coffee lover. I like the impeccable service and aromatic coffee there and recently, its newly launched menu gave me more enticement to visit this place. I gave the NEW Banana Butterscotch Latte ($6.20) a try and what you get is an interesting blend of a very rich and sweet latte that is of acquired taste. Don’t get me wrong, the coffee was still aromatic, but I find the butterscotch flavour too overwhelming and with the addition of the banana in it, the drink was just too sweet for my liking – perhaps someone with a sweeter tooth will appreciate it better!
The NEW Spice Chicken Wings ($8.50) marinated with lemon juice was a delight. So much so that we devoured it within minutes. The skin was well marinated and the savoury & sour combination was truly pleasurable. The only flaw was that the greens that accompanied with it was all dried and wrinkled, and the texture was too rough for consumption – the least I expected was some olive oil drizzled on it – as I found out later that they only served salad dressing to their specialty salad dishes.
Thankfully, the NEW dessert in town saved the night – Chocolate Delice ($7.00), consisting of bittersweet chocolate mousse with chocolate syrup drenched over it and vanilla ice cream on a base of crisp, flaky puff pastry accompanied by crunchy Valrhona rice crispies, this dessert is a winner in many ways. Presentation wise – it was brilliant, taste wise – the chocolate mousse is beyond description, one simply has to taste it to know what I mean. If one enjoys Bakerzin’s signatured Warm Chocolate Cake, then this cold dessert is the one for you!
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Ever since Marutama entered the ramen scene, there hadn’t been a new entrant that created such a wave of euphoria as one like Ramen Santouka. Touted as the 1st place winner in the most delicious ramen noodle salt-flavoured soup category by the popular magazine “Hokkaido Walker” in the year 2006, this place is also famous for its house speciality of Tokusen Toroniku, or Choice Pork that is said to be limited to 60 servings per day! This is because only 200 to 300 grams of this highly coveted pork cheek, known for its taste and tenderness, can be found per pig.
After hearing so much rave reviews of this place, my cousin and I set off for dinner at The Central. Finding this outlet is a little tricky – hidden away in the corner of 2nd floor, one would need to cut through Grains, which occupy both sides of the passageway to get to it. What greeted us was a nice frontage that grants one a view of the Singapore River, but inside was a pretty small outlet that I suspect, sit not more than 20 pax.
Beside their award winning Shio, or Salt Flavoured Ramen, Ramen Santouka also offers Shoyu, or Soy Sauce Flavoured Ramen and Miso, Soybean Paste Flavoured Ramen, along with Kara-Miso, or spicy version of the Miso. We pick the Shoyu and Miso ($12.00 each), along with sides of Tokusen Toroniku ($8.00), Gyoza ($5.00) and Komi-Tamago, or Flavoured Egg ($1.00). The Choice Pork was the first to arrive and I was surprise by its tenderness despite the lacked of marbling fats. This result in a texture that provides one with a bite before the meat disintegrates into the mouth. However, Marutama’s Char Siu is still the one to beat in terms of tenderness IMHO.
The Flavoured Egg was next to arrived and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. In fact it was done so badly that ‘disgust’ would be a better word to describe it. The yolk was way too overcooked till the side has hardened, and there was hardly any flavour on the white. It was so bad that I did not even finished it and definitely not even worth the dollar I have paid for it.
The Ramen was served next and the first remark my cousin made was “Oh, certainly looks like Maggie Mee to me”. The noodle was fat and curly, similar to Miharu, though texture wise a tad rougher. My bet on why people are coming back lies on the milky Tonkotsu soup based. However, before one complains that the soup does not come piping hot enough, be made known that it is intentionally done so that elderly and child can enjoy it better and reassured that it is also within this temperature that their soup is most delicious. The soup was so rich and intense, that I rate it slightly better than Ichiban-Tei, but too much of it and one might find it greasy. Both of us agree that the Shoyu was also slightly better than the Miso.
The Gyoza eventually arrived after a wait but it was nothing to shout about. Not that it was bad, but nothing noteworthy to mention really.
Overall, my preference is still Marutama on the 3rd level, despite its not so intense soup. The only reason I can see why I should be back is to sample the award winning Shio version, otherwise it would not merit a re-visit especially after the explicitly outrageous experience of its Tamago.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
After staying away from sweet and oily donuts for awhile, I decided that its time to try something new. Saw this store at IMM few times I was there and finally decides to try it.
I used to be a fan for egg tarts before the craze for donuts. And this little store serves sweet little tarts with quite a number of different fillings. The original one looks like the usual Portuguese's egg tarts but of a different shape. I bought two flavors, the Melting Chocolate (shown in photo) and the Strawberry one.
The tart is soft yet the texture is well maintained. It's not too buttery nor eggy. Taste is just right. Topped with chocolate chips and inside filled with melted chocolate. The piece I got, the chocolate was only visible when I bite off almost half of the tart. But once there, every bite into the tart is greeted with just the right amount of melted chocolate and egg. Great delight when ate while its still warm.
The strawberry filling one is a tad too sweet for my liking. Perhaps the next time I will give the savory choices a try. They've the Mushroom Chicken and Pepper Chicken tarts too. Pretty unique since most egg tarts sold in the market are usually sweet ones.
The only sad part is their pricing. Each tart goes at $1.20. And you'll only save $1.20 if you buy 12 pieces. Not that encouraging for customers to want to buy more at a go. 12 pieces is a tad too many, unless you're buying for a party or to share with friends at gatherings ya?
Singapore Airlines... one of the brands our country is identified with all the time in many countries all over the world.
I had the chance to travel on it *again* recently and was very satisfied. The flight I was on, was quite empty so my friend and I got a free seat between the two of us so we had plenty of space to move about in.
Boarding the plane we were nicely greeted and the blankets and pillows were already waiting patiently on our seats for us. The stewardess and stewards were eloquent enough and didn't bother passengers unneccessarily. And even when some of the passengers across the aisle made some irritating demands, the service didn't falter.
The flight was turbulent at a few points but I think it was thanks to the cloudy situation. The take off and landing was smooth which was great.
Definitely very satisfied with it but they ARE expensive. Luckily I didn't pay for this trip. haha :)
Mother's Day second week of the month of May, my family and I decided to buy a cake for my mum to celebrate with her after the dinner.
I went to White Sand outlet to purchase the cake as I plan to buy Coffee Cake for my mum as she love coffee but the outlet don't have the flavour so I choose mango cake for her.
Mango Tropicana - $24, Size 15cm X 15cm
Fruits topping, a layer of mango flavour jelly on top of the cake, mango mousse layered on the vanilla sponge in the middle and mango slice layered in between mango mousse, vanilla sponge on the base.
The cake were soft and light but the side of the cake were abit dry. Overall the cake was not bad. As my family always feel their cake were nice too.
Due to Mother's Day, My family decided to celebrate in advance as my mum don't really like to go out eat so we decided to order home delivery KFC.
My brother call in and choose the order of Mother's Day Meal, within 40 minutes the delivery has arrival. The food were hot when it has arrival.
Mother's Day Meal includes;
- 10 piece of Chicken
- 1 Large Popcorn Chicken
- 1 Large Whipped Potato
- 1 Med Coleslaw
- 1 Ladies Bag (*Free)
- My Spa package (*Free)
We request for 5 piece of Crispy and 5 piece of Orginal.
The crispy chicken were big and crispy but it wasn't spicy at all. A bit disappointed as I feel there didn't blend well with the spices.
The orginal chicken were blend of 11 herbs and spices. Sad to say I can't really taste the herbs and spices as I feel it kind of a bit oily.
The Popcorn chicken was ok. I feel nothing really special about it.
As for the wipped potato and coleslaw was still not bad as I have try from other fast food it was not really that good.
I still feel when I was young KFC taste much better.
Mother's Day Meal ($27.66), Delivery Charges ($1.87), GST (2.07)
Managed to book myself in for a special dessert tasting session at Rogues one weekday evening all thanks to its pastry chef, Gerard. During my previous visit to Rogues when it first opened a year and a half back, only lunch was served and come nightfall, the place transformed into a watering hole. However I'm pleased to note that such an arrangement has since changed and Rogues now serves food in the evening as well.
The interior was as I remembered it, opulent with plush sofas and floor to ceiling windows. A nice place to chill out after a day's work if I may say.
Starter - Warm Granny Smith Crumble, Chilled Cream of Mango Sago, Lychee Air, Cranberry Reduction - I liked the apple crumble quite a bit. Very crusty without being too hard or too sweet and filled with cubes of delicious Granny Smith apples. I didn't quite appreciate the lychee air though, tasteless and probably present solely for aesthetic purposes.
Most places do a very thick rendition of the cream of mango sago so it came as a mild surprise that this one was relatively smooth and a little runny, harbouring a tinge of sweetness within. However it will still render you nauseous if you take too much of it. Hence the shot glass serving.
Entree - Satin Pistachio Praline Mousse, Home Made Zabayone Gelato, Liquorise Orange Candy Shot, Summer Berry Coulis - I've never really been a fan of pistachio so the praline mousse didn't exactly wow me although I must admit that it was quite good. Creamily smooth with a heart of crunchy pistachio which had a texture similar to biscuit wafer.
Alcoholics would like the Liquorise Orange Candy but personally, I found the alcohol taste in the jelly too strong for my liking.
The zabayone gelato was a little tiny but rather pleasing with a sweet undertone. Just for the record, zabayone is a custard made by whipping egg whites with muscato and finishing it with a little cointreau.
Curtains - Warm Cuban Chocolate Cake, Heart of Hot Hazelnut Lava, Home Made Chocolate Mint Gelato, Hazelnut Truffle - Interestingly, Cuban chocolate was used to make the cake. Not that I could taste any difference from the usual valrhona ones though. The crust was a tad too dry but I liked the hazelnut lava, which came across as savoury instead of sweet - a deviation from the norm.
The mint gelato came served in a nice cubic glass and wasn't too strong on the mint taste. Appetising yet reserved. Not too shabby and that's coming from someone who has a moderate dislike for mint.
The hazelnut truffle came served atop a shot glass of sesame seeds with a slice of hardened candy acting as a divider. Honestly, the truffle looked and tasted like a piece of Ferraro Rocher chocolate, which was obviously nothing too spectacular.
In case you were wondering. No, the dessert tasting wasn't free. It came at a price. $50 for 2 pax to be exact, which might seem a tad too expensive for only 3 desserts and a drink. However I must point out that the desserts are of reasonably good quality and do not feature on the menu, which in some way, gives it a novelty status.
ps: I'm still thinking of the Chocolate Paradise I had during my first visit.
Bakerzin is a well-known name in the local desserts scenes. Touted for their pastries and desserts, Bakerzin started in 1998 and has since open 4 outlets in our island. Dinner was at the branch at Paragon, the place was rather small but it was packed to the house.
The desserts are all available at the counter, not found in their menus. So you’ll have to come to the counter and make your picks.
Assam Prawns with linguini ($14.80) The owner chef Daniel paired up our local favourites Assam prawns with linguini to create a marriage between east and west. The overall taste of the fusion dish was not too bad.
Braised Pork Belly with Japanese rice ($13.80) This was the fatal mistake of the night. At $13.80 for like six pieces of braised pork belly, the dish is clearly a rip-off. Gods know what my friend was thinking when he ordered this dish. And yes he didn’t finish the dish.
Aglio olio spaghetti with ham & bacon ($11.80) Aglio olio spaghetti sauteed with olive oil, garlic, chili padi. The simple dish was not up to the mark, for a start its not hot enough with the chili padi. There wasn’t much texture in the spaghetti and I struggled to finish off the dish basically sums up everything.
Ham, bacon & mushroom flaky pizza ($12.80) With popular ingredients like ham, bacon and mushroom, I guess nothing can go wrong with the Pizza. Mozzarella cheese spread on thin crispy pizza and the serving is pretty decent.
Warm Chocolate lava cake with scoop of ice cream Complimentary dessert from using Citibank credit card, with spendings above $50. A dip into the warm chocolate lava cake, all the chocolate came rushing out like a volcano. Coupled with the cold vanilla ice-cream, its a delighful combination
For desserts, we also had Sumatra, which is a combination of dark chocolate & white chocolate mousse with Sumatra coffee. And a slice of the cookies & cream cheesecake. Both are $6.50. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos because my dear friends actually ordered the two cakes while waiting for me.
Total bill was $99.57 for 4 person. We spent a large portion on drinks, around $20 bucks for three drinks, the violet lime ($5.80), ice hazelnut blend ($6.80), and ice latte ($6.80). I always do not like ordering drinks from restaurants as they tend to mark up the price by a very significant amount. And Bakerzin does not serves ice-water.
The experience at Bakerzin was flat, I was quite stunned by the bill when it arrived given the quality of food we had. To be fair the main course isn’t that expensive going in the range of 10s. But the quality of the mains really leave no rooms for desire.
The desserts are all in the $6-$10 repertoire. And i must say they are excellent, if you were to ask me to go back Bakerzin for a meal, i’ll leave a flat no. But if you ask me back for desserts, no problems there.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Just ignore the mains, and get stuck in with the desserts. You have been warned. “
1=SGD 0.0587
Love the salad and desserts.
Together with few Yebbers, we joined a foodie eat out at Tea Cosy. We had a selection of mains from the planned menu just for the gathering.
For the set, there was the homemade mushroom soup, infamous decadent salad, choice of main (laksa pasta, grilled lime chicken and pan fried foie gras). Paid $25.90 for pasta or chicken. Those who took the foie gras paid $32.90 .
It took them quite awhile to get the soup served. The mushroom soup was alright. Nothing special about it. Then after another long wait, the salad came.
It's quite sad to see the portion smaller than usual. Isn't it supposed to be a special promotional set? Promotional in terms of pricing and not the serving size right? If paying lesser for sets means getting lesser in serving, than what's the point of getting the promotion? Or at least it should be made aware to the customers that the salad served will be of sampling size or something? That aside, everyone at my table had to agree that the salad live up to its standard. The mayo on it was very tasty. Vegetables was fresh and the entire combination (with the saddening few tiny pieces of foie gras) was good. This will be the only thing that'll tempt me to go back for more.
The chicken was alright. Grilled to slightly charred on the outside and the sauce was alright only. Vegetables on the side could have been crunchier.
The desserts were not bad and I'll recommend girls who want a place to hang out over mini tea party to check Tea Cosy out. It's quite an experience with all the unique antique furnitures.
Overall my first experience at Tea Cosy was average. At times I feel upset too. This I shall not talk about it since it was a miscommunication between the mid-shift waitress they hired just for that night and us. In fact, the management should have given a better briefing before the night. Or perhaps get a more experience waitress the next time.
Rating given:
The only think I remember now is the smelly table. :(
It was quite a bad experience when I was there for dinner. When we walked into the sitting/dining area behind the serving/ordering counter, the place was quite messed up with tables and chairs misaligned and many tables uncleared. We sat ourselves at the "cleaniest" table we can find and looked at the menu. The food was quite cheap and there were quite a lot of variety. Then we spotted a piece of A6 paper with scribbling of some promo set available. $7.90 for main course with drink. (Can't remember if there's soup thou.)
We ordered the Grilled Sirloin Steak and Seafood Aglio Oli both at promotional price of $7.90. Added Fried Calamari for starter.
While waiting for the order, a lady came to clean our tables and after she wiped the table, there was a strong stinge of smell left behind by the cloth she used! It was as thou the cloth has been left unwashed for few days! Smell worst then toilet can? What disgusted me more was that the same pair of hands that handled the smelly table cloth was serving the food and folding paper napkins loh! I had to apply medicated oil on my nose to cover the smell. And when our food was served, all my appetite was gone. Good thing the food was still presentable the least.
When my steak came, I then realised that we didn't get to choose the done-ness of it. It was cooked, almost to complete well done. So it was too tough to chew. Didn't really enjoy it. Boyfriend's pasta was a tad better. At least the seafood was presentable and of a good size. There was more of a black pepper taste instead of how aglio olio pasta should taste like.
Our starter was then served after the main courses. (Hmm...) We should have expected what was served since it was only $2.50 for the Fried Calamari. It was pathetic and the calamari was overcooked. Again too tough to chew.
Guess I was just unlucky to get this kind of experience at Spagetti Too since the 2 ladies before me enjoyed themselves at the same location. Chef was different perhaps. And the lady serving was different too?
Food: 3 out of 5
Service: 2 out of 5
Cleanliness: 1.5 out of 5
Value for money: 3 out of 5
Rating given:
With its own on-site coffee roasting facilities in its flagship gourmet coffee house at Holland Village, Coffee Club took the coffee culture by storm and set a new standard in the industry in 1991. However, even with 21 outlets today, this flagship outlet remains close to my heart, even as a non-coffee lover. I like the impeccable service and aromatic coffee there and recently, its newly launched menu gave me more enticement to visit this place. I gave the NEW Banana Butterscotch Latte ($6.20) a try and what you get is an interesting blend of a very rich and sweet latte that is of acquired taste. Don’t get me wrong, the coffee was still aromatic, but I find the butterscotch flavour too overwhelming and with the addition of the banana in it, the drink was just too sweet for my liking – perhaps someone with a sweeter tooth will appreciate it better!
The NEW Spice Chicken Wings ($8.50) marinated with lemon juice was a delight. So much so that we devoured it within minutes. The skin was well marinated and the savoury & sour combination was truly pleasurable. The only flaw was that the greens that accompanied with it was all dried and wrinkled, and the texture was too rough for consumption – the least I expected was some olive oil drizzled on it – as I found out later that they only served salad dressing to their specialty salad dishes.
Thankfully, the NEW dessert in town saved the night – Chocolate Delice ($7.00), consisting of bittersweet chocolate mousse with chocolate syrup drenched over it and vanilla ice cream on a base of crisp, flaky puff pastry accompanied by crunchy Valrhona rice crispies, this dessert is a winner in many ways. Presentation wise – it was brilliant, taste wise – the chocolate mousse is beyond description, one simply has to taste it to know what I mean. If one enjoys Bakerzin’s signatured Warm Chocolate Cake, then this cold dessert is the one for you!
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
Ever since Marutama entered the ramen scene, there hadn’t been a new entrant that created such a wave of euphoria as one like Ramen Santouka. Touted as the 1st place winner in the most delicious ramen noodle salt-flavoured soup category by the popular magazine “Hokkaido Walker” in the year 2006, this place is also famous for its house speciality of Tokusen Toroniku, or Choice Pork that is said to be limited to 60 servings per day! This is because only 200 to 300 grams of this highly coveted pork cheek, known for its taste and tenderness, can be found per pig.
After hearing so much rave reviews of this place, my cousin and I set off for dinner at The Central. Finding this outlet is a little tricky – hidden away in the corner of 2nd floor, one would need to cut through Grains, which occupy both sides of the passageway to get to it. What greeted us was a nice frontage that grants one a view of the Singapore River, but inside was a pretty small outlet that I suspect, sit not more than 20 pax.
Beside their award winning Shio, or Salt Flavoured Ramen, Ramen Santouka also offers Shoyu, or Soy Sauce Flavoured Ramen and Miso, Soybean Paste Flavoured Ramen, along with Kara-Miso, or spicy version of the Miso. We pick the Shoyu and Miso ($12.00 each), along with sides of Tokusen Toroniku ($8.00), Gyoza ($5.00) and Komi-Tamago, or Flavoured Egg ($1.00). The Choice Pork was the first to arrive and I was surprise by its tenderness despite the lacked of marbling fats. This result in a texture that provides one with a bite before the meat disintegrates into the mouth. However, Marutama’s Char Siu is still the one to beat in terms of tenderness IMHO.
The Flavoured Egg was next to arrived and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. In fact it was done so badly that ‘disgust’ would be a better word to describe it. The yolk was way too overcooked till the side has hardened, and there was hardly any flavour on the white. It was so bad that I did not even finished it and definitely not even worth the dollar I have paid for it.
The Ramen was served next and the first remark my cousin made was “Oh, certainly looks like Maggie Mee to me”. The noodle was fat and curly, similar to Miharu, though texture wise a tad rougher. My bet on why people are coming back lies on the milky Tonkotsu soup based. However, before one complains that the soup does not come piping hot enough, be made known that it is intentionally done so that elderly and child can enjoy it better and reassured that it is also within this temperature that their soup is most delicious. The soup was so rich and intense, that I rate it slightly better than Ichiban-Tei, but too much of it and one might find it greasy. Both of us agree that the Shoyu was also slightly better than the Miso.
The Gyoza eventually arrived after a wait but it was nothing to shout about. Not that it was bad, but nothing noteworthy to mention really.
Overall, my preference is still Marutama on the 3rd level, despite its not so intense soup. The only reason I can see why I should be back is to sample the award winning Shio version, otherwise it would not merit a re-visit especially after the explicitly outrageous experience of its Tamago.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given:
Mini delights to warm one's heart.
After staying away from sweet and oily donuts for awhile, I decided that its time to try something new. Saw this store at IMM few times I was there and finally decides to try it.
I used to be a fan for egg tarts before the craze for donuts. And this little store serves sweet little tarts with quite a number of different fillings. The original one looks like the usual Portuguese's egg tarts but of a different shape. I bought two flavors, the Melting Chocolate (shown in photo) and the Strawberry one.
The tart is soft yet the texture is well maintained. It's not too buttery nor eggy. Taste is just right. Topped with chocolate chips and inside filled with melted chocolate. The piece I got, the chocolate was only visible when I bite off almost half of the tart. But once there, every bite into the tart is greeted with just the right amount of melted chocolate and egg. Great delight when ate while its still warm.
The strawberry filling one is a tad too sweet for my liking. Perhaps the next time I will give the savory choices a try. They've the Mushroom Chicken and Pepper Chicken tarts too. Pretty unique since most egg tarts sold in the market are usually sweet ones.
The only sad part is their pricing. Each tart goes at $1.20. And you'll only save $1.20 if you buy 12 pieces. Not that encouraging for customers to want to buy more at a go. 12 pieces is a tad too many, unless you're buying for a party or to share with friends at gatherings ya?
Rating given:
Singapore Airlines... one of the brands our country is identified with all the time in many countries all over the world.
I had the chance to travel on it *again* recently and was very satisfied. The flight I was on, was quite empty so my friend and I got a free seat between the two of us so we had plenty of space to move about in.
Boarding the plane we were nicely greeted and the blankets and pillows were already waiting patiently on our seats for us. The stewardess and stewards were eloquent enough and didn't bother passengers unneccessarily. And even when some of the passengers across the aisle made some irritating demands, the service didn't falter.
The flight was turbulent at a few points but I think it was thanks to the cloudy situation. The take off and landing was smooth which was great.
Definitely very satisfied with it but they ARE expensive. Luckily I didn't pay for this trip. haha :)
Rating given:
Mother's Day second week of the month of May, my family and I decided to buy a cake for my mum to celebrate with her after the dinner.
I went to White Sand outlet to purchase the cake as I plan to buy Coffee Cake for my mum as she love coffee but the outlet don't have the flavour so I choose mango cake for her.
Mango Tropicana - $24, Size 15cm X 15cm
Fruits topping, a layer of mango flavour jelly on top of the cake, mango mousse layered on the vanilla sponge in the middle and mango slice layered in between mango mousse, vanilla sponge on the base.
The cake were soft and light but the side of the cake were abit dry. Overall the cake was not bad. As my family always feel their cake were nice too.
Rating given:
Due to Mother's Day, My family decided to celebrate in advance as my mum don't really like to go out eat so we decided to order home delivery KFC.
My brother call in and choose the order of Mother's Day Meal, within 40 minutes the delivery has arrival. The food were hot when it has arrival.
Mother's Day Meal includes;
- 10 piece of Chicken
- 1 Large Popcorn Chicken
- 1 Large Whipped Potato
- 1 Med Coleslaw
- 1 Ladies Bag (*Free)
- My Spa package (*Free)
We request for 5 piece of Crispy and 5 piece of Orginal.
The crispy chicken were big and crispy but it wasn't spicy at all. A bit disappointed as I feel there didn't blend well with the spices.
The orginal chicken were blend of 11 herbs and spices. Sad to say I can't really taste the herbs and spices as I feel it kind of a bit oily.
The Popcorn chicken was ok. I feel nothing really special about it.
As for the wipped potato and coleslaw was still not bad as I have try from other fast food it was not really that good.
I still feel when I was young KFC taste much better.
Mother's Day Meal ($27.66), Delivery Charges ($1.87), GST (2.07)
Total Bill: $31.60
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Managed to book myself in for a special dessert tasting session at Rogues one weekday evening all thanks to its pastry chef, Gerard. During my previous visit to Rogues when it first opened a year and a half back, only lunch was served and come nightfall, the place transformed into a watering hole. However I'm pleased to note that such an arrangement has since changed and Rogues now serves food in the evening as well.
The interior was as I remembered it, opulent with plush sofas and floor to ceiling windows. A nice place to chill out after a day's work if I may say.
Starter - Warm Granny Smith Crumble, Chilled Cream of Mango Sago, Lychee Air, Cranberry Reduction - I liked the apple crumble quite a bit. Very crusty without being too hard or too sweet and filled with cubes of delicious Granny Smith apples. I didn't quite appreciate the lychee air though, tasteless and probably present solely for aesthetic purposes.
Most places do a very thick rendition of the cream of mango sago so it came as a mild surprise that this one was relatively smooth and a little runny, harbouring a tinge of sweetness within. However it will still render you nauseous if you take too much of it. Hence the shot glass serving.
Entree - Satin Pistachio Praline Mousse, Home Made Zabayone Gelato, Liquorise Orange Candy Shot, Summer Berry Coulis - I've never really been a fan of pistachio so the praline mousse didn't exactly wow me although I must admit that it was quite good. Creamily smooth with a heart of crunchy pistachio which had a texture similar to biscuit wafer.
Alcoholics would like the Liquorise Orange Candy but personally, I found the alcohol taste in the jelly too strong for my liking.
The zabayone gelato was a little tiny but rather pleasing with a sweet undertone. Just for the record, zabayone is a custard made by whipping egg whites with muscato and finishing it with a little cointreau.
Curtains - Warm Cuban Chocolate Cake, Heart of Hot Hazelnut Lava, Home Made Chocolate Mint Gelato, Hazelnut Truffle - Interestingly, Cuban chocolate was used to make the cake. Not that I could taste any difference from the usual valrhona ones though. The crust was a tad too dry but I liked the hazelnut lava, which came across as savoury instead of sweet - a deviation from the norm.
The mint gelato came served in a nice cubic glass and wasn't too strong on the mint taste. Appetising yet reserved. Not too shabby and that's coming from someone who has a moderate dislike for mint.
The hazelnut truffle came served atop a shot glass of sesame seeds with a slice of hardened candy acting as a divider. Honestly, the truffle looked and tasted like a piece of Ferraro Rocher chocolate, which was obviously nothing too spectacular.
In case you were wondering. No, the dessert tasting wasn't free. It came at a price. $50 for 2 pax to be exact, which might seem a tad too expensive for only 3 desserts and a drink. However I must point out that the desserts are of reasonably good quality and do not feature on the menu, which in some way, gives it a novelty status.
ps: I'm still thinking of the Chocolate Paradise I had during my first visit.
See all my pictures here.
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Bakerzin is a well-known name in the local desserts scenes. Touted for their pastries and desserts, Bakerzin started in 1998 and has since open 4 outlets in our island. Dinner was at the branch at Paragon, the place was rather small but it was packed to the house.
The desserts are all available at the counter, not found in their menus. So you’ll have to come to the counter and make your picks.
Assam Prawns with linguini ($14.80)
The owner chef Daniel paired up our local favourites Assam prawns with linguini to create a marriage between east and west. The overall taste of the fusion dish was not too bad.
Braised Pork Belly with Japanese rice ($13.80)
This was the fatal mistake of the night. At $13.80 for like six pieces of braised pork belly, the dish is clearly a rip-off. Gods know what my friend was thinking when he ordered this dish. And yes he didn’t finish the dish.
Aglio olio spaghetti with ham & bacon ($11.80)
Aglio olio spaghetti sauteed with olive oil, garlic, chili padi. The simple dish was not up to the mark, for a start its not hot enough with the chili padi. There wasn’t much texture in the spaghetti and I struggled to finish off the dish basically sums up everything.
Ham, bacon & mushroom flaky pizza ($12.80)
With popular ingredients like ham, bacon and mushroom, I guess nothing can go wrong with the Pizza. Mozzarella cheese spread on thin crispy pizza and the serving is pretty decent.
Warm Chocolate lava cake with scoop of ice cream
Complimentary dessert from using Citibank credit card, with spendings above $50. A dip into the warm chocolate lava cake, all the chocolate came rushing out like a volcano. Coupled with the cold vanilla ice-cream, its a delighful combination
For desserts, we also had Sumatra, which is a combination of dark chocolate & white chocolate mousse with Sumatra coffee. And a slice of the cookies & cream cheesecake. Both are $6.50. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos because my dear friends actually ordered the two cakes while waiting for me.
Total bill was $99.57 for 4 person. We spent a large portion on drinks, around $20 bucks for three drinks, the violet lime ($5.80), ice hazelnut blend ($6.80), and ice latte ($6.80). I always do not like ordering drinks from restaurants as they tend to mark up the price by a very significant amount. And Bakerzin does not serves ice-water.
The experience at Bakerzin was flat, I was quite stunned by the bill when it arrived given the quality of food we had. To be fair the main course isn’t that expensive going in the range of 10s. But the quality of the mains really leave no rooms for desire.
The desserts are all in the $6-$10 repertoire. And i must say they are excellent, if you were to ask me to go back Bakerzin for a meal, i’ll leave a flat no. But if you ask me back for desserts, no problems there.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written above are my genuine feelings expressed in words that may be subjected to my personal distortion or biasness. Please do not feel emotional or distress should you have any violent objections. Kindly click the little X at the upper, extreme right of your screen if negative adjectives would be derived. Otherwise, feel free to furnish me with comments, may it be positive or negative : )
” Just ignore the mains, and get stuck in with the desserts. You have been warned. “
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