All that glitters is not gold

I really like pastries.

Each time I walk by Brunetti in Tanglin Mall, I'm attracted by how good everything seems to look on those wonderful shelves! They have heaps of shiny, colourful pastries screaming "try me" at the bar.

Recently, I went for a medical check-up at Gleneagles and needed to wait 2 hours for my medical report. It's a rare 2 hours for some "me time".

Since I didn't know what to do, I walked over to Tanglin Mall to have a morning coffee, catch up on some reading and then do some shopping.

I finally managed to try out Brunetti.

Alas, I was really quite disappointed.

The chocolate eclair I got wasn't good. The coffee was just alright taste wise but it wasn't hot enough...

Everything at the bar looked a lot less shiny to me after my coffee.. I decided I shouldn't spoil my day further, so I left soon after I finished my drink.

What a disappointing experience.

Nevertheless, I had a good time shopping in Tanglin Mall after that. The mall has a lot of interesting children's stores!

Brunetti Singapore
Add: 163 Tanglin Road #01-35/36, Tanglin Mall Singapore 247933
Tel: (65) 6733 9088

Arbite at Serangoon Gardens

Arbite is a restaurant at Serangoon Gardens with pretty good online reviews and I have been meaning to go there for lunch for a while now but never got the opportunity to visit.

We went there on a weekday and was disappointed to know that the new weekday set lunch was only available the next day.

"Oh, what about the old set lunch then?"

"That's not available today as well."

The board outside the restaurant didn't seem to indicate so.

Nonetheless, we went ahead to order.

I had the Truffle Beef Burger and The Husband ordered the Arbite Breakfast.

The burger was a disappointment. I could taste some truffle spread onto the sesame bun but the bun was really too dry. The beef patty was chewy and not well seasoned too. The wedges that came with it was okay - crispy but very dry. Best taken with lots of ketchup.

I looked over at The Husband and he didn't look like he was enjoying his meal too. He avoided the scrambled eggs as it was too creamy and under seasoned.

I was too disappointed to order the supposedly famous chocolate cake..

The drinks were nice though. My ice lemon tea was home made and not too sweet.. The Husband's vanilla milk shake was good - like drinking vanilla ice-cream, as a good milkshake should be.

Nonetheless, for a lunch of around $25 per person, Arbite didn't impress.

I'd be hard for me to return there again for lunch.. not when there are so many other better options at Serangoon Gardens.

Birthday Lunch at Au Petit Salut

It's been a while since The Husband and I have been out for fine dining. For my birthday treat, The Husband selected Au Petit Salut at Dempsey.

The restaurant didn't allow prams indoors, so we were given a seat outdoors. I thought the outdoor sheltered seats were much better though.. especially on a cloudy day like today. Although.. it'd be wise to apply some mosquito repellent if you are prone to mosquito bites. The Husband and Little N were okay.. but I was lunch for the resident mosquitoes of the restaurant.

This place offered pretty good set lunches. I managed to really enjoyed my whole lunch at a leisurely pace. Little N was fairly cooperative. At one point she got a little cranky as she was really tired.. but she managed to take a short nap through our main course and after she woke, she was all friendly through desserts and coffee. 

I started lunch with the home cured smoked trout, which came with beetroot purée and pistachio milk. It was beautifully done and came with some salted salmon roe that balanced everything really well. For my main course, I had the confit duck leg with cauliflower purée and pomegranate relish. The duck confit was probably one of the best I've had in Singapore. It was crispy on the outside yet the meat was so tender. I thought the smooth cauliflower purée went perfectly with the pomegranate relish.

I always loved desserts - for dessert I ordered the chocolate and pear mousse cake with vanilla, whilst The Husband had the dessert of the day - Opera cake with coffee ice-cream. Both were delicious!

To The Husband - thanks for finding this place! It was a most satisfying lunch. This is a restaurant I will no doubt visit again.
 

Warm crusty bread is a must for any good restaurant

Smoked trout and crispy duck confit

The desserts were lovely.. I do wish the servings were larger though.. haha

Little N's lunch

Here's Little N at almost 5 months

The outdoor seating area was quite comfortable on a cooling day like today

Au Petit Salut
Add: 40C Harding Road
Tel: +65-64751976

A Mini Break

On Monday, I met up with 3 other church friends for high tea.

All four of us had our babies in August and September this year. This high tea session was supposed to be a mini break for us.

Happy wasn't able to get help so she brought her little son, Little Z along. He was very well-behaved so our tea session really wasn't disrupted by him at all.

We talked, complained, shared and laughed. I had a great time and felt revitalized after the high tea!

Of course, the food at 10 Scotts was great as well.

I loved the hot dish of the day - mushrooms and pasta with meatballs. The scones were as usual very very good - I really loved the hot scones with clotted cream and raspberry coulis. The 2 tier tea set (items refillable upon request) came with delicate sandwiches, crab cake and local delights like kueh pie tee, popiah and curry puff. The crab cake and curry puff were both exceptionally good.

The desserts were buffet style and they were all delicious as well. I liked the raspberry sorbet and dark chocolate ice-cream.

The best part of the afternoon was of course the company of my 3 friends and really look forward to another catch up some time in the near future!

The 2 tier tea set

Pasta and meatballs

The desserts were all good

The glorious scones - the clotted cream is to die for

I love how the ice-cream and sorbet came in little frozen pots

Photos not tagged with Openkitchenconcept are all courtesy of Happy.

10 Scotts

Grand Hyatt hotel
Add: 10 Scotts Rd (where else?)
Click here to make a reservation

Best Strawberry Shortcake

I like eating Strawberry Shortcakes. The name itself makes me feel a little happier. It reminds me of the cartoon character of the same name and other cartoon characters that used to be so popular in my days (Carebears, Smurfs and all)

Surprisingly, I think the best one in Singapore is from Four Leaves, a bakery chain with a store in almost every major shopping mall. The cream is light and slightly sweet and the sponge cake is nice and fluffy. Most importantly, it's available in almost every mall so it's easy to get your hands on one.

Tampopo Deli (at Liang Court) also sell a very good one. I like their strawberry shortcake and Scoop Cake. Some think they sell the best strawberry shortcakes in Singapore. I think their cream, which is milky yet light, is indeed nicer than most other places.

Patisserie Glace (at Icon) also makes a pretty good one. It's one of their best sellers and the cake indeed looks very pretty. The plus side about their strawberry shortcake is that they don't stinge on the strawberries. But I find the cake a tad too moist and hence not as fluffy as I'd like it to be.

If you know of any fabulous strawberry shortcakes, do let me know!

Four Leaves' creation

Tampopo Deli

From Patisserie Glace

Share Tea

I've always liked drinking bubble tea.

And I have certainly been drinking lots of it over the last 2 weeks.

For one, I've been on leave and hence have got time to roam around as I like. Plus, I found a great bubble tea store not too far away from my home.

The most popular bubble tea shops in Singapore seem to be Koi and Gong Cha, judging from the queues for the outlets of these 2 shops around town. However, I've come to realised that I very much prefer Share Tea.

The teas at Share tea are pretty good, though in general not as fragrant as that of some of the bubble tea stores in Taiwan. The star however, are the mini-pearls. Unlike the big pearls that most bubble tea stores in Singapore serve up, Share Tea offers mini-pearls as an option and you can drink these using a standard straw.

The service at Share Tea is usually also nice and friendly, and like many of the other bubble tea stores, they are happy to "custom-make" your drink for you - you specify the sugar level you like, how much ice you want and if you want less or more pearls. The pearls and mini pearls are offered as add-ons to any drink free of charge, which is a nice touch as well.

The outlet I've been frequenting is the one at Nex mall. They have a number of outlets around the island as well.

My favourites are Oolong Milk Tea (with or without glass jelly) and Pudding Milk Tea. The Kiwi with Ice Jelly Fruit Tea is also nice. If you don't like your drinks sweet like me, remember to ask for no sugar or 30% sugar.

L'etoile

This is a cafe tucked away at a corner of Owen Road, with Japanese-French influences.

I loved the cafe's set-up and decoration. The decoration is simple, yet quaint. Level 2 has a slightly different vibe, but I don't have pictures of Level 2.

The food though is passable, nothing great. We had breakfast there and found the food so-so. The prices though, have increased from what a few popular blogs seem to indicate. I think it's because they've revamped the menu and prices recently.

It's not a bad place to spend a long afternoon with some girl friends. If you run out of new places to visit, this is a place you can consider for an afternoon tea.

L'etoile

Add: 160 Owen Road
Tel: +65 6298 2872
Website: http://letoile.com.sg/

Desserts from Sun with Moon

Very yummy tofu cheesecake

Many of my friends like to visit Sun with Moon at Wheelock Place.

Considering how much I like Japanese food, even I'm surprised I've never been to this place.

Well, I finally made it there for dinner with a group of girlfriends last Wednesday.

To be honest, having heard all about this place, I thought the food was just "so-so". It wasn't bad but it wasn't great.. I had sushi with a salmon cheek soup and my friends ordered teppanyaki. The food was really quite forgettable.

The desserts, however, made the day.

We ordered a tofu cheesecake and a green tea parfait to share.

The tofu cheesecake was very good. It came in a very dainty looking bird's cage which made me think that they had to dress up the cake because it wasn't very good. I was so glad to be wrong. It was really quite good - the texture was very much like that of a piece of good tofu and it was a very light, not-to-sweet piece of cheesecake with a salty biscuit base I really liked. (It reminded me of this recipe from Kitchen M, which I've always wanted to try..)

The green tea parfait was really good as well. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a photo of it! Well, never mind.. This means I have a very good excuse to visit this place for the green tea parfait again. Next time, I won't share the parfait with anyone.. Hah! (You can find a picture of the parfait from this blog post)

It was delicious, with layers of everything I like. It had starts with some good green tea ice-cream, red bean and chestnut, followed by layers of mochi, green tea jelly, green tea cake and cornflakes right at the bottom.

The desserts left me with an overall positive experience at Sun with Moon. I wouldn't go back for the mains, but I'd definitely be back for the desserts.

If you are thinking of visiting though, be sure to call and make a reservation. We were there on a Wednesday night and they were packed. Hm.. I wonder if everyone else is also there for the desserts..

Sun with Moon Japanese Dining Restaurant & Cafe

Add: 501 Orchard Rd #03-15
Tel: +65 6733 6636

Savor Rye La Mian Xiao Long Bao

I mentioned a few posts back about having xiao long bao at Kampong Bahru, where Chef Icon can be found.

Actually, the restaurant for xiao long bao and other "mainland Chinese" goodies is just next to Chef Icon.

The restaurant's name is Savor Rye La Mian Xiao Long Bao. I think the owners are Shanghainese from their accent, but I haven't heard them speaking Shanghainese dialect yet. But they are definitely recent immigrants from mainland China, from their accent and the authenticity of the food.

The Husband and I visit this restaurant whenever we miss real "mainland" Chinese food.. not the typical Singapore "Chinese" food.. but those we eat when we were in Beijing and Shanghai.

It is a humble little restaurant with a very extensive menu. As such, not everything is nice but the following dishes we've tried and we think are spot on in terms of flavour and authenticity.

Xiao long bao - almost every table would order at least one of these. Good and cheap (SGD 3.80)

Pan-Fried Bao, or Sheng Jian Bao (生煎包) 

- not the best I've ever had but good enough. I haven't found a fantastic one in Singapore

 Beijing Zha Jiang Mian (北京炸酱面) - quite authentic and good. 

I would prefer more vegetables and less meat though

Hot and Sour Soup (酸辣汤) - this is really good. The best I've had so far in Singapore. 

This doesn't come with the wantons. We like to order the Shanghainese wanton separately and add the wanton to the soup. Trust me, you'd want to try it this way as well.. It makes the soup and wanton both better!

Dry Fried Four Seasons Beans (干煸四季豆) 

- this dish is very authentic, it tastes like those we often have in Beijing

Garlic Pork slices (蒜泥白肉) - this is a cold dish. 

I don't like pork but my family liked this a lot..

This place is a hidden gem.. I'm sure there are other nice dishes as well, but the above are some tried and tested ones. There have been misses too, for sure.. like their Dan Dan noodles.. but overall, this is a really nice little restaurant to visit.. Plus you can pop by next door to buy a Chocolate Trovana cake after your meal too!

Note: Photos of this post are taken over a few trips, hence the difference in lighting and look (some are taken with my phone..)

Savor Rye La Mian Xiao Long Bao Restaurant

Add: 3 Kampong Bahru Road
Tel: +65 6223 5038

Tiong Bahru Bakery and Yong Siak Street

Tiong Bahru is one of the oldest housing estate. The Tiong Bahru wet market and hawker centre, is one of my favourite market and hawker centre. There are lots of good food available there.

This sleepy area is increasingly becoming a place where specialty cafes, restaurants and shops can be found.

Yesterday, I met up with D for lunch at Tiong Bahru Bakery (56 Eng Hoon Street).

D and I were both surprised at how busy the bakery was on a weekday afternoon. The cafe was almost full and there were lots of people coming in to take away the pastries and cakes.

We ordered a tuna focaccia and a Kouign Aman to share. I found the focaccia so-so but the Kouign Aman was as good as ever. They also served pretty good coffees and tea as well. D enjoyed her cappuccino and I liked my Gryphon tea. I had the "Pearl of Orient", which as a green tea with a hint of rose.

After lunch, we walked around the Tiong Bahru area and D brought me to Yong Siak Street. This was where a lot of the specialty cafes and stores first opened up in Tiong Bahru.

I especially liked the specialty bookstore Books Actually (9 Yong Siak Street). Here, you can find books by local writers, vintage books (Hardy boys hardcover series) and lots of interesting vintage knickknacks.

Books Actually - a very interesting bookstore

Lots of interesting vintage stuff at Books Actually. 

Everything is available for sale.. some of these are stuff my grandmother and my mum still keep!

A notebook-cum-Singlish dictionary (Note: Singlish = Singapore English)

Apart from Books Actually, there are also other interesting shops along Yong Siak Street.

Such as...
- Strangelets (7 Yong Siak Street), with lots of interesting animal shaped decorations/ furniture
- Aussie-Style cafe 40 Hands (78 Yong Siak Street)
- Open Door Policy (19 Yong Siak Street), popular restaurant that opens late into the night

Nearby are other interesting shops/ cafes as such Drips Bakery Cafe (82 Tiong Poh Road) and Flea & Trees (68 Seng Poh Lane).

The Tiong Bahru area is a nice place to wander around on a lazy weekday afternoon. You'd wish you have a few stomachs though, to try all the good food around the area.

Kouign Aman from Tiong Bahru Bakery

Usually, once I find something I like from a restaurant, I tend to stick with that "something" for a bit and it usually takes a while before I'd try out something new from the restaurant. It's the same with bakeries, cafes and hawker stalls.

However, it was upon my second visit that I decided to try the Kouign Aman instead of buying a croissant.

Oh, I wanted to order their croissant, which I think is the best I've eaten in Singapore. But my colleague insisted I try this pastry instead.

It was VERY GOOD.

Very sinfully buttery and sweet.. but oh.. so good.

It was crispy, even more crispy than their croissant because of the caramelised sugar coating all over the pastry. It was also more buttery than the croissant and much sweeter.. but it went so well with a cup of hot, strong tea without sugar.

The pastry is crispy and flaky all around the sides and as you bite into the centre, it gets more pillowy and moist. It is also slightly (very slightly) salty and that balances up the sweetness of the pastry.

This pastry is called Kouign Aman (Or Kouign Amann, with a slightly different spelling). I later on learnt that Kouign Amann is not strictly a pastry but a crusty cake. It is made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with fewer layers. The resulting cake is baked slowly until the butter puffs up the dough and the sugar caramelizes.

This blog details out how this cake is made.. it is really a complicated cake to make.. and the amount of butter and sugar used is slightly disconcerting. This cake is from Brittany and ‘Kouign’ means cake and ‘Amann’ means butter. Well, considering the amount used, it's a very good name for this cake.

Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier

252 North Bridge Road #B1-11/12
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Chocolate Trovana from Chef Icon

Ever since I read Petunia's post last year on Chef Icon's Trovana Chocolate Cake, I knew I wanted to try this cake.

I went by the shop a few of times and failed to get a cake - they don't open on Sundays, public holidays and they close at 8pm. And they don't always have the cake available if you didn't pre-order.

We went to Kampong Bahru on Saturday evening for some xiao long bao, and I thought of trying my luck with this cake again.

The chef was around that day and when he said, "Hmph.. let me check, we might have a 500g one still in the fridge", I held my breath. After all, it was 730pm on a Saturday, so the possibility of having any cakes in a bakery that was almost empty wasn't high.

But he came out with a cake on his hand and finally, I get to try this elusive chocolate cake. The trovana chocolate cake comes in an assortment of flavours - pure, blueberry, black forest, banana or strawberry. The pure chocolate one was the one available and that was the one we brought home.

The cake looked really basic (As Petunia said, "non-descript appearance") but it was really quite good.

"Pure" is a very good way to name this chocolate cake. The chocolate was smooth and rich yet just subtly so. You really do feel like you are eating a very pure and basic piece of soft chocolate with every bite.

The chef mentioned that he uses a blend of cocoa beans from France and recommended that we eat the cake with a cup of unsweetened red tea to complement the taste of the chocolate. He was right. It went perfectly with the red tea and leaves you wanting more, which is what every good chocolate cake should make you feel.

This bakery uses only all natural ingredients and does not add any preservatives, artificial ingredients, or hydrogenated fats into their products. 

The Chocolate Trovana cake is one of the 2 signature cakes from Chef Icon. The other one is the New York Cheesecake, which I'd love to try next time. Both cakes are available only as whole cakes (500g, 1kg or 2kg).

Chef Icon Nature Bakery

Add: 5 Kampong Bahru Rd
Tel: +65 9337 3900

Yayoiken at Liang Court

Yayoiken restaurant at Liang Court Shopping Mall is a typical Japanese "family restaurant" that serves up good food at very reasonable prices.

"Family restaurants", or also called "famiresu" in Japan, include chains such as Gusto, Royal Host and Saizeriya, are casual dining restaurants that typically belong to a nationwide chain and offer a variety of Western, Chinese and Japanese dishes.

Yayoiken is a chain restaurant from Japan, and I find it very similar to Ootoya, although the prices in Singapore are slightly lower than that of Ootoya.

They serve up a variety of Japanese set meals with fish and meat, as well as Japanese-styled western dishes.

I love the Japanese pickles ("tsukemono") the restaurant provides freely at each table. I could have that and the fragrant free flow Japanese rice and miso soup for dinner.

The dishes are pretty decent too and I think they try to include a good balance of vegetables with each set to provide a wholesome, nutritious meal.

It's a restaurant I'd definitely be visiting often, especially since I love Mediya Supermarket, which is just next to the restaurant.

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant

177 River Valley Road
#B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Daily: 10am – 10pm

Croissants from Tiong Bahru Bakery

Forget about the croissants from Maison Kayser or Dean & Deluca, these croissants from Tiong Bahru beat all the other croissants I've eaten in Singapore hands down.

I've always thought that because Singapore is so humid, it's impossible to get crispy, yet fluffy croissants in Singapore unless you have them pretty fresh from the oven. But these croissants from Tiong Bahru Bakery prove that it is possible to have crispy croissants in Singapore, even if you are not having them beside the oven door.

The Husband bought these after work today and we had them at about 8pm in the evening. I was very impressed by how these croissants look and how crispy they were. They look so perfect I thought they were fake!

These croissants are so crispy the flakes on the outside are crunchy. The layers on the outside are so distinct you can peel them off layer by layer. The inside is fluffy and soft, with a nice buttery taste that is not too overpowering. The plain croissant is slightly sweet, which is just the way I like it. The chocolate croissant is pretty good as well.. equally crispy and with a little bit of sweet, moist chocolate that leaves you wanting for more.

I first came across Tiong Bahru Bakery when we visited Orange Thimble, and there was such a long queue at the bakery that Sunday. They have recently opened a branch at Raffles City Shopping Centre and The Husband bought these after work with no queue.. so hurry there before the word starts spreading!

Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier

252 North Bridge Road #B1-11/12
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Fat Boy's - The Burger Bar

I've been lamenting enough about work over Facebook, so I shouldn't talk very much about work over this blog.

Instead, I do want to try finish up all my posts on Switzerland (I know, it's been forever) and share some places I've been to recently.

I've been meaning to try out Fat Boy's for a while now.

The Joo Chiat branch we often go pass but we would invariably end up choosing Ju Shin Jung or Long Phung instead. The Thomson branch was too crowded the few times we went by.. and I wasn't really prepared to queue 30mins for any burger.

Last Saturday, we went by the Thomson branch pretty early in the evening, right after our prenatal class. There was, for once, no queue at the restaurant, so we decided to eat an early dinner at Fat Boy's.

I like the simple menu - mainly burgers, milkshakes and waffles, with some basic sides.

The Husband ordered "The Wimpy", a single patty version of the Fat Boy's house specialty called "Fat Bastard". It was pretty good - a juicy beef patty with chewy bacon, cheddar cheese, a fried egg and homemade sauce on a sesame bun. I liked the thick fries that came with the burger.

I opted for the Chicken Ceasar Salad which wasn't terrible but it wasn't impressive either. The milk shakes and sausages our neighbouring table were having looked good as well. I'd be keen to try those and the "Swiss Shroom" burger next time.

Fat Boy's (Thomson)

Add: 187 Upper Thomson Road
Tel: +65 6252 8780
Website: http://www.fatboys.sg/index.html