Maple & Market - Wonderful Cakes, Great Coffee

Maple & Market

I have a soft spot for places that are right smack in the middle of nowhere. Or perhaps, to be more accurate, the only café in a decidedly quiet neighbourhood is just that much more charming than a row of cafés. I guess it feels more like a secret, even if it isn't exactly one.

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Drury Lane Café, Duxton - Relaxed, Unpretentious Café

Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be space for another café at Duxton, I discovered Drury Lane. Great coffee, relaxed atmosphere, good prices - honestly, I'm not sure what more I could have asked for.

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[Guest Post] 5 Incredible Vegas Restaurants

Next to casinos, nightclubs and shows, Las Vegas is probably best known for fine dining options. Really, though, it's always seemed like the restaurants are a bit like everything else - focused mostly on appearance and experience. This is fine and dandy for a casino floor or a Cirque du Soleil show, but for fine dining the food needs to be just as amazing! At one of Vegas's newer resorts, you'll find the exception rather than the rule - the food is as delicious as they are beautiful.

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Overdoughs, Singapore - Sculpture Square's Gem #2

Snickers Tart, $6

Thank heavens the skies are clearing! At least it no longer feels so foolish to lounge away lazy afternoons at al fresco restaurants like Artichoke (i.e. gem #1). If the main restaurant and lovely, not to mention edible, garden have not drawn you to this oasis in the middle of the city, their bakery should do the trick.

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320 Below Nitro Cream Café, Singapore - Fresh Ice-Cream

I get a little skeptical about molecular gastronomy sometimes (when unnecessarily complicated methods are used to produce largely the same thing), so naturally the first thing that came to my mind at 320 Below was - why bother using liquid nitrogen to make ice-cream? I mean, I don't really mind that little bit of stabilizers and preservatives... But of course, I was proven wrong, as always.

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The Communal - Trendy Southern Fare [closed]

The Communal

Isn't it funny how everyone's talking about the gentrification of Jalan Besar (and not too long ago, Tiong Bahru) but no one's really talked about North Canal road? I mean, you have Sur (new South American kid on the block), Mad Men Attic Bar, and the Communal practically inches away from each other. And they're all amazing, by the way. It's almost a little too good to be true. See, working in the CBD has its perks, it's not all about the communal squeezing in the trains twice a day, pun not quite intended.

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In the Kitchen: Simplest Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Mousse

Only takes five minutes too, can you believe it? But let me digress a little - lately, someone tricked me into believing that chocolate's my favourite. I don't even know how it happened. Someone simply passed me a huge slice of chocolate cake, saying, "Here! Have a bigger slice! Chocolate's your favourite." And it wasn't even true. But it stuck.

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Food Diary #4

One Mushroom Penne, Le Cuisson, $8 | Two Foie Gras Salad, Le Cuisson, $10 | Three Pistachio and Milk Ice-Cream, Haato, $5.50

I had to drop by Le Cuisson since affordable French cuisine and Foie Gras really resonate with me. Finding the place wasn't difficult at all - the stall is conveniently located in the coffeeshop just behind Iluma. Ambience aside, and keeping the affordability in mind, I am definitely impressed! If bringing good French food to the masses is what the chefs had in mind, I think they have achieved what they set out to do. While the Mushroom Penne might not be the most French dish on the menu, it was competently done and the roasted mushrooms tasted great. The pasta might be a tad bland for some of you though. My friend, V, had the 150 Day Grain Fed Angus Steak ($14), which was a little on the thin side, but nevertheless good for the price. My favourite dish of the day was clearly the foie gras on tossed salad, seared to a glorious golden-brown. It's about half the size of the usual portions at a third of the price - I am all grins. Perhaps I should treat myself to this salad again sometime next week?

I finally tried Haato for the first time too. The branch at Central is just the perfect place to chill out after dinner (the alfresco seats face the Singapore river!). I have a soft spot for Milk ice-cream so it's hard for me to judge objectively, but I thought the one at Haato was pretty decent. The Pistachio flavour didn't taste as smooth as I'd like, though - I took a bite of my friend's Green Tea ice-cream and immediately wished I'd ordered that instead! Have you tried the ice-cream at Haato? Which are your favourite flavours?

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Buffet Spread at The Line, Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore

Freshly Shucked Oysters

M brought me to The Line for my birthday dinner this year. I was all excited! Oysters and sashimi are my absolute favourite. In fact, I started my meal with 7 of these darlings, and had no less than a dozen throughout the night! M had none as usual, just looked on, completely bemused at my enjoyment. I'm still irrationally optimistic that he'll be a convert one day! If it can happen to my best friend, S, and so many other close friends of mine, it can happen to him! These were actually a little too salty for me. Oysters take on the flavour of the water they are harvested in so I guess it probably had something to do with that.

Sashimi and Sushi

The sashimi served at The Line was top notch. The Mekajiki (swordfish) sashimi was fabulous - sweet with a wonderful bite. I'd skip the octopus next time though (a little rubbery), alongside all the sushi - they were simply left there for too long. There was also a selection of appetizers including parma ham, which was great - thinly sliced and wrapped around sweet melons, but I missed taking a photo of it.

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Dessert at Hummerstons, Robertson Quay, Singapore

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Snapshot: Red Tea Jelly with Longan at Changi Village

Red Tea Jelly with Longan, $2

If there's one thing that I subconsciously love about this island city, it is our wide selection of affordable desserts. I swoon over macarons and crème brûlée, but our most humble offerings are plenty heartwarming. I'm probably biased since I grew up with them, but a hot bowl of pulut hitam or almond paste really is all I need sometimes. In an odd way, I feel blessed that our desserts generally go for no more than three dollars, especially since desserts in Hong Kong are frequently priced above char chan teng mains!

Red Tea Jelly with Longan is relatively new to me, actually. Before I met M, I've never heard of it. But it's one dessert that is close to his heart, so it's been on the table every time we visit Changi Village ever since I knew him. To me, it's like a new age version of ice kachang, which is really a good thing since I don't dig all the ingredients in the original, but I'll be hard pressed to find faults with longans, condensed milk, red tea jelly, crushed ice and drizzles of syrup. Nothing mind-blowing, but so satisfying! Especially on a hot day like the ones we've had intermittently this past week. I'm totally craving for it right now.


Mei Lin Yin Pin
#01-40 Blk 2 Changi Village Road,
Changi Village Hawker Centre, Singapore

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Divine Cakes at K Ki, Ann Siang Hill, Singapore

Dainty Cakes on Display

Last week, I finally visited the very quaint K Ki nestled on Ann Siang Hill for a long due catch up with my lovely friend, E. It was one of those rainy late afternoons, which somehow added to the atmosphere, once we were done braving the rain, that is. Hot tea was necessary!

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Food Diary #1

One Beef Sukiyaki, Sushi Tei, $15 | Two Rainbow Roll, Sushi Tei, $12 | Three Waffle with Ice-Cream (Pistachio and Bailey's & Bourbon), Udders, $10 | Four Oyster Omelette

I don't always bring my DSLR with me, so I figured a photo diary would be a good way to capture some of my eats throughout the week. And a good way to spark more of your cravings! I've never actually dared to eat Sukiyaki in Singapore the real Japanese way - dipping the cooked ingredients into beaten raw egg. I had all sorts of fears, and I was positive Singapore was nowhere near Japan in terms of ensuring the freshness of raw eggs. Regardless, I finally tried it this time! It tasted less foreign than I thought - mostly as though I was dipping beef into the runny yolk of a sunshine egg, except of course, there were still traces of the viscous white that did nothing much for me. The verdict? Tasted good, much better than I thought it would, but I still wish it was just yolk! Also, I loved how the Rainbow Roll was sliced in such a way that you had two (albeit rather unequal) sashimi topping every piece of sushi. It's perfect for sharing!

P.S. Do you eat Sukiyaki this way?

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Portugese Egg Tarts v. Pastel de Nata

Portugese Egg Tarts from Margaret's Cafe e Nata, Macau

There is a very good reason why the best Portugese egg tarts are found in Macau and not Portugal. Portuguese egg tarts do not exist in Portugal! Ever since I visited Margaret's Cafe e Nata in Macau, which serves one of, if not the best Portugese egg tarts in the whole of Macau, I've been dreaming of flying off to Portugal to eat these sweet, delicious, wobbly, crispy things at its source. Because everything is better at its source, right? Wrong. Portugese Egg Tarts and Pastel de Nata aren't even the same thing!

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Snapshot: Cinnamon Ice-Cream in Budapest

Cinnamon Ice-Cream

I had my first Cinnamon Ice-Cream in Budapest. When M and I were travelling in Eastern Europe, we couldn't resist buying ice-cream every time we chanced upon a colourful ice-cream stand along the street. Well, we tried to keep to reasonable limits. The very first time we chanced upon an ice-cream stand in Budapest and saw that they offered Cinnamon among their varied flavours, I almost couldn't believe my eyes - how did they know what I wanted even before I did?? It was a pretty amazing feeling to be presented with exactly what I love even before it has even crossed my mind that I could have it. It's possible that cinnamon ice-cream exists in Singapore, but I've never seen it so this first taste of cinnamon ice-cream was sublime.

It tasted exactly like cinnamon, which means it tasted like warmth and Christmas - a very creamy, slightly milky Christmas. Impossibly delicious. You have to wonder why it isn't as much of a staple flavour like vanilla or chocolate. Just like the specks of vanilla beans you'd spot in a well-made vanilla ice-cream indicates real vanilla, the brown specks in the ice-cream indicates real cinnamon. In the remaining days that followed, I noticed that every ice-cream stand in Budapest offered this gorgeous flavour. Cinnamon ice-cream was commonplace in Budapest! Afraid that this might be the only city as crazy about cinnamon as I am, I had a lot of cinnamon ice-cream before I left. Unfortunately, my fears were spot on. I've been on the look out ever since but have yet to find another ice-cream stand selling cinnamon ice-cream. Not in Germany, not in Singapore. Help, anyone? I still dream about this ice-cream.

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Spinning Around In Gastronomic Paris, France, Part 1

Macarons from Ladurée

With only 3 days in Paris, it was imperative that a dining strategy was in place. Mine was pretty straightforward: a Michelin-starred restaurant, a classic Paris bistro, and macarons from both Ladurée and Pierre Hermé. If I hadn't had a Cancale oyster overload at Saint Malo in Normandy right before Paris, a healthy dosage of oysters from the famed Huitrerie Régis would be in order too. After all, oysters are my favourite.

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Schwarzwald and the Best Black Forest Cake Ever

Impossibly blue skies, luscious grass, quaint houses and never-ending trees. Mostly, the black forest (Schwarzwald) was about fresh air and storybook scenery. We stayed at Freiburg, the main tourist entry point to the Black Forest, which was a small but bustling University town. The farmers' market at the Münsterplatz (town square) that takes place everyday except Sunday induced in me serious envy - if only I had access to farmer markets where I live in Germany! I've always dreamt of making rhubarb pies in rhubarb season, or fitting the season's best white asparagus into the dinner menu, things like that. I'm still dreaming. Anyway, if you need a snack, there are stalls selling grilled german sausages at the market too. They always smell amazing. And if you want to visit the Freiburg Minster (Cathedral of Freiburg), well, you can't miss it once you're at the Münsterplatz. There's shopping to be done along the cobblestone streets, and little canals you'll spot (people used to fight fires with these in medieval days!). We took a train down to Lake Titisee, which was actually frozen. Here, you can visit the multitude of stores selling everything from Black Forest Ham to Cuckoo Clocks to random souvenirs. We followed a sign pointing towards "Cafe Alpenblick" into the Black Forest, and was rewarded with spectacular views. The third last photo was one of those views you actually got to enjoy with a slice of cake and some tea. Absolutely amazing. Cafe Alpenblick was supposed to serve very good cakes, but I thought they were just okay. The views make up for everything though, really.

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The Cheesecake Cafe, Siglap, Singapore

Victorian Themed Cheesecake Cafe

One step into the cafe, and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quaint, victorian-style decor adorning the walls. The decor is much more complete now than when I first stepped into the cafe more than 3 years ago - some places stay the same, others evolve. I was trying my best to capture the beautiful decor when I was stopped short by a wait staff, who pointed to a sign that said "no photography of premise" or something to that effect. She added pretty curtly that "You can take photos of yourself, but not photos of the place." Woah. What's going on? You spent so much time and effort decorating your place, and now you don't want anyone else to know how beautiful and quaint it looks? If anyone wanted to copy the decor, they don't really need photos - humans are born with memories and brains, you know.

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