Marmalade Pantry (Palais Renaissance)

Foie Gras is in my blood. Having said that, I’m more beef than Foie Gras, really. Wedges here, is my awesome assistant, The new Spring fashion is so passé, sun-dried tomato is the latest in-thing now! Marmalade Pantry’s famous, Sun-dried tomato Foie Gras Burger ($26).

My name is Chocolate, Chocolate Truffe ($7.80). I’m the ladies man, smooth is my texture, sweet is my nature. Try me, and you are sold. No one can resist my temptations, the thick, oh-so-thick chocolate which is so rich and good.

Hello everybody, eh, my name is Chocolate Tart ($4.20). I don’t have anything to say about myself. I’m a simple guy, but they say my chocolate is wondeful, I will rather keep a low profile. Please, don’t tell anybody else. Thank you.

They call me little miss rose ($4.2). I’m very girly and feminine in nature, but most people just judged me by my appearances. I snub those pretentious of my kind who can only face the world with their frosting make-ups. Simple is beautiful, once you get to know me, the ladies worship me and the guys adore me.

The spokesperson for Marmalade, everybody calls for me when they are here. It will be impossible if you have not heard about Sticky Date toffee pudding ($12) by now. My companion, the lovely Vanilla bean ice cream compliments me perfectly.

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Having heard so much about Marmalade Pantry Foie Gras burger, the few of us were rather disappointed by it because there just wasn’t much foie gras taste. But the wedges that accompanied the burger was very good.

The chocolate truffle cake, and chocolate tart was wonderful, with the chocolate being very sweet yet not overly heavy. By now having tried two of Toast (under the same group as Marmalade) cupcakes and another one today, I must say their cupcakes are the better ones around. Moist and rich, there wasn’t any pretty frosting, just a solid good cupcake.

The sticky date toffee pudding also did not impressed us. Perhaps it was undone by its famous reputation, we were somewhat expecting more from it, but it never came. Nonetheless, nobody could resist having cold icy vanilla bean ice cream with the warm pudding.

Total bill was $64.15 for 6 person. Even though the burger and pudding did not exactly wow me, but I will definitely come back to try the array of desserts available, and of course their cupcakes.

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!

Situated right in the centre of Palais Renaissance, you can find this place easily as it's at the foot of the escalator. My galfriend and I went there on a weekday afternoon just before lunch hours so we had the luxury of choosing any seat we wanted. I had expected it to remain quiet save for a few tai-tais but BOY was I wrong. At noon, the whole place filled up.

We sat for quite a bit, chatting and taking a long time going through the menu. Throughout that time, no iced water was served. I thought that this is one of those that refuse to serve water so I commented about it to my friend. She laughed and replied that you have to ASK for it though it's free. That really puzzled me.

Food ordered: Linguini with crabmeat tomato chllis and pinenuts $22 I had this dish. Don't be fooled but that little lump. It really is quite a filling portion. The pinenuts added a nice crunchy texture to the pasta and the pasta was suitably done. The downside of this dish was the sauce. It tasted fine on the first few bites but halfway I really couldn't stand the fishy taste of the crabmeat anymore. It was also unbearably salty after a while and I didn't finish my pasta.

Scrambled Eggs with Sausage on Toast and Field Mushrooms $18 The description forgot to add that it had fries too. My friend ordered it, thinking it sounded like a great brunch only to be surprised by the large serving of fries that came with it. The combination was a little odd but each item tasted fine on their own. I didn't relish putting them altogether in one mouthful though.

Deluxe Chocolate Pecan Brownie Again, the description failed to include that there was ice cream served with this brownie (although I do know that most places have ice cream but it's not quite polite to assume.) If I had known this, I would have requested for the ice cream to placed on a separate dish. Not to mention if you take a good look at my picture, the ice cream was already melting when it arrived. Since my friend and I had no intention of having the ice cream in the first place we didn't ask for a change. I found the brownie a little too dry for my taste and the chocolate taste wasn't strong enough. It was more like a cake with a hard crust. We chatted for 3 hours and managed to finish this in the end. No easy feat though.

The staff were quite efficient in taking orders and serving but they lack a certain warmth. I guess that's their style.

Would I go back again? Only if a good friend suggested it.