Rainbow cake

Got this light bulb moment when I was browsing through an 8 days eat article on 20 yummiest desserts in Singapore. Everything looked so yummy and I hadn't even tried one of them! Shows how much I've been missing out on the dessert scene in Singapore. 

Henceforth begins my (mis)adventure to try each and every one of these desserts mentioned in the article. And I hope to do so with 20 different friends so I have 20 different stories to tell.

(1) adventure one: rainbow cake at nom paterisserie

Rainbow connection?

Notes: a dreary working Monday made less dreary by thought of a generous slice of salted caramel rainbow cake. 

Company: 2 ex schoolmates whom I have been trying to matchmake for the longest time

Verdict: a little awkward but definitely a match. Besides ordering 2 slices of rainbow cake (1 with choc cream and the other with salted caramel) we also ordered a bevy of other dishes like chicken skin, smoked duck pizza and fish n chips. My vote goes to the beer battered fish n chips- super yummy and in generous portions too. Not too oily, yet retaining its crispiness after 1 hour.  Rainbow cake (6.90 a piece) was definitely a cut above the other versions I've tried, boasting a rich buttery crumb. Definitely a crowd pleaser. Almost every table ordered a slice. I personally preferred the chocolate to the salted caramel but my dining companions begged to differ. 

Adventure quotient: 7. It's in a nondescript community club in the middle of rows of hdb flats. Not v accessible. We had to take a train to Mac pherson, hail a bus from there and walk a little. Restaurant comes across a little sparse and the background music can get a little stifling at times especially if u sit near the speakers. Check out the retro dragon playground slide (for kids under 3 only)

Hoshino coffee @ plaza singapura

Always wanted to try Hoshino, having read superb reviews on their pancake toasts.

Having been forewarned of bad service, I thought I was mentally prepared but this was really worse than expected. 

There was only 1 waiter serving our whole section of 10 tables. He was a sour faced bespectacled old man immaculately decked in smart western waiter outfit.  While his English was impeccable, he was also prone to impatient outbursts especially when we clarified on credit card promotions and took too long to make our order. Water took ages to refill and we had to help ourselves in the end. 

What really irked me was how attentive the other staff suddenly became from the time our food arrived right up till the time we settled the bill. They were probably eager to close and couldn't wait to shoo us out. All our food arrived in a quick succession even though I had ordered a starter (soup), main (pasta) and dessert. It was a miserable sight watching my ice cream melt and my pancake toast turn soggy as I tried to quickly gulp down my soup and pasta. 

To add salt to the wound, multiple persons kept checking our order chit, repeatedly informing us that our orders had arrived.

For the record, the hoshino pasta (with bacon, soft boiled egg and shimejj mushroom) was nice but nothing to rave about. Miam miam serves an identical version, if not better.

Dessert was a hit and miss. The chocolate banana pancake toast (with vanilla softee) turned out to be disappointing with a strange bitterness within the batter. 

Faring better was the French toast whose  pillowy soft bread was well complemented by a dollop of whipped cream and lashings of maple syrup.

Don't recommend visiting this place unless u are into Japanese food photography and maybe, coffee. 

Open Door Policy @ Yong Siak

Wow. Can't believe its been such a long time since I posted. Feels like a lifetime has passed. 

Catch up time!!

Going forward I'll have to write more succintly since time is short.

Here's my first post of 2012- open door policy at yong siak street tiong bahru.

Foodwise- overrated. Restaurant Ember still wins in terms of taste though I like the dingy quirkiness of Open Door Policy. (chairs are semi rusty and a light actually fell on an unfortunate diner seated behind us halfway into the meal)

First starter- Halloumi cheese with olives, sweet pea leaves and croutons. Best eaten piping hot since the cheese starts to taste like those primary school rubbers once they turn cold. I enjoyed this dish but it didn't make me go "Hallelujah"

Second starter- Chicken wing (boneless) with some exotic egg yolk like concoction which actually turned out to be twisties curry flavoured sauce. The portion was really measly for the price and the fried chicken was mediocre.

Third starter- Watermelon with scallop and some shredded ham. Judging from the way my kakis were "playing with the food" and the time we took to finish this dish, I can safely say it was our least favourite starter. Sorry no pictures!

First Main course- Mussels in basil sauce with fries. I finished this within 5 mins and still felt hungry (and cheated). The portion was really pathetic. For a moment, I wish I was teleported to Brussel Sprouts, which serve solid mussels and free flow fries.

Second main course- Since I was still hungry and saw lots of people ordering the mushroom risotto, I decided to give it a go. It was really salty but this time the portion was very generous. The risotto was a little too hard for my liking.

Third main course- Pan seared sea bass. Nice and hearty. I enjoyed the crisp crust. It was well executed but not particularly memorable either. A safe choice.

Fourth main course- 48 hour braised beef cheek with potato mochi. The meat was fall off the bone tender and this has definitely got to be one of the signature dishes of the restaurant (the other being steak tatare which we were too chicken to try)

First dessert- Pistachio scented chocolate souffle. Very impressive presentation and a very generous helping. The insides were light and airy which is telling of a well risen souffle. Tastewise I'll defer to comment since I'm not a fan of pistachio.

Second dessert- Deconstructed black forest cake. Looks like a mess but tastes pretty good. They were strangely generous with the boozy cherries (counted at least 15 of them!) Is it just my imagination or is black forest cake making some sort of resurgence in Singapore?

Third dessert- Pineapple tartin with yoghurt ice cream. Since there was no apple tartin in the menu, I opted for this, only to be highly disappointed at the one dimensional flavor.

Coffee. Purportedly brewed by the folks from Forty Hands. I don't take coffee but my kakis do. One ordered a flat white while the other ordered a macchiato. Both weren't impressed and had some trouble sleeping that night.

It's hard to secure a reservation at ODP because of all the hype surrounding it. At the end of the day, the food is decent and the crowd is hip. But that's about it. Don't expect to be blown away unless you are the dreamy bohemian type

Morning snack

I awoke at 5am this morning and found myself in an awkward position-it was too early for breakfast and too late to go back to sleep.

Since Hubby was awake and game for a car ride, we decided to drive to Changi Airport to grab a bite.

Terminal 2 boasts the greatest food selections, with a 24 hr Swensens, Ya Kun, Mac Donalds, Polar, Coffee Bean and Burger King. Since Hubby was in the mood for something heavy and hearty, Swensens was the obvious choice.

Didn't take a picture of Hubby's food (chicken baked rice) as it looked quite boring.

I did however manage to snap a most interesting looking cake as we were walking back.

Kit Kat Petite

Update: Just visited Cold Storage and discovered that you can redeem the above cake free if you spend SGD25 on Nestle products (including KitKat, AfterEight and Milky Way)

How very quaint and innovative!

I used to think that all the yummy cakes that could ever be thought of had already been created. How wrong I have been!

Update: A colleague gave me the KitKat mini log for Christmas this year. It looked delicious and Hubby immediately staked a claim over it. Unfortunately, it was all looks and no substance. The outer fudge layer crumbled off to reveal a pathetic looking sponge which was half hollow. What a bummer.

Kki

So I have finally made it to Kki

It was good friend cum ex colleague's birthday and I had taken the afternoon off to spend it with her. The weather was sweltering hot and after a scrumptous dim sum lunch at Wah Lok, we decided to lift our lazy butts and head elsewhere for coffee and cake.

Kki came to mind straightaway as the type of place my friend would like. We hailed a cab there and were pleasantly surprised to find 2 empty tables in the usually crowded hole in the wall cafe. Since there were 4 of us, we swiftly tried to join the tables together, only to be chided by the very cross looking lady owner who also doubles up as the maitre' d.

The cake selection looked a little frumpy that day. Absent were crowd favorites like the Red Riding Hood and Mont Blanc. Instead, bulk of the offerings comprised of a couple of plain looking triangular cakes (cheesecake and chocolate cake) and some rectangular ones (passionfruit and berry flavoured).

Undaunted, we ordered 4 slices to share, as seen in the picture below



The dome shaped one is called Cafe Dumo (chocolate coffee) and the teardrop shaped one is called Antoinette (white chocolate, mango puree). The 2 rectangular ones are Kinabaru (yellow) and a berry-flavored one whose name I have forgotten (red in color). Kinabaru contains coconut mousse, passionfruit creme and a soft chocolate sponge base. The red one contains champagne and has a strong berry aftertaste.

Personally, although the cakes were nice enough, they did not make me go "WOW". Kinabaru was my favorite of the lot, with its striking passionfruit undertones. I wish the chocolate sponge base of the cake could be crunchy though.

Some drinks to accompany our desserts

My friends enjoyed the experience at Kki (including browsing curios at The Little Drom store).

However, for me, something was missing. And I'm still trying to figure out what all the hype is about.

10 best sweets in Singapore

Click here to view 10 best sweets in Singapore
(as collated by Dan Lepard from the Guardian newspaper)

For fun, I have also compiled my own version of 10 best sweets in Singapore:

1. Rainbow kueh lapis from Bengawan Solo

Bengawan Solo's nonya kuehs are undisputedly one of the best in town. My favourite way to eat the rainbow kueh lapis is to strip it off layer by layer. The shop's chiffon cakes are also a best seller and are especially popular among Taiwanese tourists.

2. Goodwood Park durian puffs. These seasonal treats beat Puteri Mas' version upside down in my personal opinion.

3. Lana Chocolate Fudge Cake

Eaten by both the man in the street and Singapore's finest politicans alike, this cake has seen me through many birthdays. Several copycats have sprung out over the years but none have managed to replicate a cake as popular as Lana's.

4. Soy beancurd tart from Le Cafe Confectionary

A creative intepretation of the humble egg tart and tau huay. Quintessentially Singaporean. Of course if you are a purist and just like to eat 'tau huay' (soy beancurd) on its own, you can also check out Singapore's famous tau huay shops by clicking here.

5. Egg Tarts and Chinese pastries from Tong Heng Bakery

The boat shaped egg tarts are simply out of the world. They could give Leung Sang's version a run for their money! When you are there, don't forget to try the shop's extensive array of Chinese pastries too.

6. Cheesecake from Checkers Deli at Hilton Hotel
Arguably the best cheesecake in town.

7. Cheng Tng from Bedok Corner Hawker Centre (Shop Name is called "Ye Lai Xiang")
Look out for Uncle Andrew. He's a wicked teaser but bear with him, for his cheng tng is an incredible pick me up, especially on a hot day.

8. Pulut Hitam with vanilla ice cream in a young coconut

Conceptualized by Peach Garden, this dessert is too delicious to miss even on a full stomach.

9. Barcook Bakery's Raisin Cheese Buns

The young 20-something enterpreneurs behind Barcook put couch potatoes like me to shame. Their flagship outlet at a HDB void deck in Chinatown attracted such a long queue that they have since opened 2 more outlets in Central and Raffles Place. The cheese raisin buns and muesli loafs rare highly popular among the chi chi office crowd as well as the "HDB aunties". Barcook has recently expanded their repertoire of products to include items like wasabi cheese buns and nacho mash potato buns, all of which make for a delightful afternoon tea snack.

10. Localized ice cream from Ice Cream Chefs
Where else in the world can you find Thai "red ruby" ice cream, kaya lotee ice cream and milo-peng ice cream together with the likes of the usual chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream? Only in hot and sunny Singapore of course!

Love at First Bite

During a recent gathering at home, a close family friend presented us with a suspicious looking red plastic bag containing 4 equally suspicious looking rectangular cardboard boxes.

Since this friend is an ardent foodie, we instantly knew we were in for a treat. Contained in each cardboard box were 8 luscious looking original beancurd tarts, screaming to be eaten.

Handle with care. Require refrigeration. Consume within 2-3 days. Best served chilled.

Have you eaten Le Cafe beancurd tarts before? If you haven't, do yourself a favour and get a box as soon as possible. Each tart fits snugly in the cusp of your palm and is filled with the smooth silky goodness of beancurd with just a hint of sweetness. The crust is slightly thick but not overly crumbly (no pork or lard used) , boasting just the right amount of crunch and buttery goodness.

Needless to say, these tarts became the highlight of our gathering and will be the highlight of many gatherings to come. If you like variety, the tarts also come in interesting flavours like ginko nut and white fungus.

Word of warning though:

1) Each tart cannot be purchased individually. Its either a box of 8 or nothing. Clever marketing ploy or economies of scale? With tarts these good-who cares.

2) Order in advance to avoid incurring the wrath of the owners, who purportedly can get quite nasty to walk-in customers during peak hours.

Le Cafe Confectionary
Address: 264 Middle Road, Elias Building
Tel: 6337 2417
Website: www.lecafe.com.sg/beancurd.htm