Lé Petit Paradis @ East Coast

I went cafe-hunting with lé bf yesterday.. Initially, supposed to try some thai café along the east coast road shophouses where alot of cafes are.. But unfortunately, didn't checked their operating hours prior to making our way there, only opened at 5pm.. o.o

So lé bf parked his car at katong plaza, and we crossed over to the row of shophouses opposite to hunt for nice cafés.. Found a decent looking nett price french food café, Lé Petit Paradis, clean, quiet, and cosy with not much customers as we went after lunchtime at around 2+pm..

They had weekend brunch dishes as well as their usual dishes.. Lé bf ordered, duck confit, which turned out pretty nice, crisp skin, juicy and tender meat, with lots of mash potatos, and he loved the rocket salad that accompanied it.. He says that it is comparable to saveur's, just that the portion here is much more.. I loved that they served IBC brand of rootbeer, so I suggested for him to order it, $3 nett..

Wasn't keen on ordering a main as I had a pretty heavy breakfast... Hence i ordered a dessert and hot tea..

They had pretty decent prices for desserts. And the tea was priced reasonably, at $4 nett.. Whereas tiramisu hero charged me like $6 using lipton tea bag when I ordered my usual favourite (earl grey), which in my opinion the price was exhorbitant.. Here, if i'm not wrong, they use gryphon tea bags, which in my opinion is a level higher in quality and taste than lipton's, I ordered osmanthus sencha which in my recollection only gryphon has that exact variant...

For desserts I ordered the Apple Tarte at $7 nett, that came with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Freshly prepared & served, i love how they had the cooked apple filling and then topped it up with green apple slices on top, sweet and sour, the tart wasn't too sweet as well, the warm tart combined with a teaspoon of ice cream was a matchmake in heaven.. The only flaw was the chocolate mousse i guess, i didn't like how it tasted with the tart... Though it was so yummy, i "licked" the plate clean... 

Though there wasn't service charge, the service here was pretty decent, probably also cause I was the 1 out of the 2 occupied tables in the restaurant.. I counted and the restaurant has a capacity of about 40pax, so i guess during peak hours, one may expect to queue.. 

I checked that they were intially housed in a coffeeshop just opposite I12 katong when you cross the road, alibaba bar or something, then last year they decided to venture on their own, and opened their own premises... Would definitely come again to try their other dishes..

Located at: 95 East Coast Road  Mon - Fri: 12:00 pm - 2:30 pm,  6:00 pm - 10:30pm  Sat - Sun: 12:00 pm - 10:30 pm

XOXO,

CheryL

Noodle Place @ Orchard Gateway

Chanced upon this place with mum and bro while we were at town that day, showed mum the new gateway and was thinking of what to eat for lunch.. Then we saw Noodle Place which just opened a few days before we patronized them today.. And they are under the PFS group, which have famous restaurants like Prima Revolving Tower Restaurant under their group, and today had 15% discount, not sure till when..

Saw that they served homemade barley so we ordered it, and they were surprisingly served in bowls, quite thick and fragrant, personally like it, but then $2.50 for one bowl... but we're at orchard, what to expect? 

I ordered Spicy and sour dumplings at $9, not my usual szechuan dumplings that I love, but with chilli padi and vinegar, everything was pretty awesome, will definitely order this again the next time..

Mum ordered congee in Lai Wan style, it was pretty bland, but I guess its a healthier choice? Since low sodium is also good for health XD I liked the silky texture of the porridge, and at $7.80 a bowl, it was pretty reasonable..

When their specialty is noodles, i'm guessing those mee kia type, my cute brother ordered shrimp dumpling hor fun soup at $8.50 -.-|||  (cheaper than my dumplings ?.?) but nonetheless, soup was tasty, dumplings are the same as mine, so it was pretty juicy and succulent, horfun was mediocre...

Service was abit lacking that day, not sure if it was due to the full-house crowd at the restaurant, or the lack of training and coordination of the waitress/waiter team, or the lack of team management, or that they were just opened a few days ago and lacked the service exposure... but the food is worth to try... :)

They are located at;

277 Orchard Road 
#01-17 orchardgateway  
Singapore 238843 
Tel: (65) 6733 3171

Business Hours
10:00am - 10:00pm (Daily)

Lady M Singapore @ Marina Square

Went to Lady M's very first SG outlet on my grad day with a bunch of friends... And i know this was raving a long while ago, and I'm slow, but either way, here's my review on it.. Here's what we ordered to share! Ranging from $7-8 for a slice, which i reckoned was worth every dollar..

This was my pick, Green tea mille crepes, they say its seasonal, so i guess i was lucky? Superb love with every layer of this crepes, better than the japanese one i bought at ion's basement food hall, thought that was way cheaper.. And if you guys wanna know, the way i ate this was like the nyonya kueh lapis, by the layers. Even for a non-matcha lover like my bf, he loved it as well!

Tried their red velvet as well, it had this alcohol taste in it, couldn't decipher what liquor it was though, but the spongey texture was fluffy enough, and the cream wasn't too thick.. Love the alcohol combi idea..

Tried their strawberry shortcake, and this was just mediocre to me, prolly cause i super love the one that four leaves bakery has! So this kinda fared lower than my expectations largely due to the kind of cream they used.. This had a slight alcoholy taste in it too, again we couldn't decipher, and didn't ask, cause the menu doesn't state alcohol contents..

A friend recommended this, so i ordered this to try too.. Their gateau aux marrons was..........

SUPERBLY INSANELY AWESOME! 

I know the description says almond flour cake with whipped cream and chestnut cream, BUT both my friend I love it, cause we love the teochew dessert ORH-NEE! I seriously have no idea how this cake was baked, but it really tasted like yam paste rather than almond or chestnut... Even though the layers of cream was thick, it wasn't jelat! It was so addictive, it just made me wanna lick the whole plate up and not even leave a single drop of cream...

As much as i'm a dessert appreciator, i'm a tea appreciator as well, can't go without a hot cuppa brewed tea leaves to accompany my desserts! So i ordered an pot of earl grey, and my usual habit is no sugar.. I opened the pot, and to my amazement, its the first time i saw a pot of tea without the tea leaves, so i didn't really know what brand they used.. But this was worth it, priced at $4, 40% cheaper than most SG cafes..

Lé bf ordered this, applewood tomato soup that cost $8, quite worth it for the portion and the quality. Wouldn't mind ordering next time..

They are located at:

Marina Square Shopping Mall
6 Raffles Boulevard #02-103
Singapore 039594

Opening Hours:
Daily 11am to 10pm

 +65 6822 2095

I didn't queue for this, but i knew my friend didnt queue long, guess we were lucky? We went on a saturday late afternoon. Would definitely go back to them for my dose of green tea crepes and gateau aux marrons!

Beach Road 剪刀剪咖哩饭

I guess this place needs no intro with the adults, as this place is pretty popular. And out of all their lame food court franchises where they charge us at exorbitant prices, this original store is by far the best in price, portion and taste.. I ever had a friend, who went to the bugis junction food court branch, and order 2 vegetables and 1 meat, without rice, and was charged like $5+ for that o.o

This is located at 229 Jalan Besar road S(208905), pretty near mustafa, so if you guys know how to get to mustafa, its within a  short 10mins walking distance! And its open till 3.30am! Awesome or what, good supper place to be at!

They have lotsa dishes when you come at the right time when they refill all their dishes, and they are all fresh and hot! They have awesome pork chops, both crispy and braised. They have awesome ngoh hiangs as well. And if you dont mind spicy food, you should try their chilli onion mussels, not for faint hearted and weak stomachs! And they always drizzle it with their thick and smooth curry and braised sauce! 

Basically, the 3 plates that my parents ordered had variation, one was egg braised porkchops and cabbage, one was curry chicken wings ngoh hiang and cabbage, one was crispy porkchop, egg and cabbage. But they all looked the same after the thick sauce drizzle!

Oh and one more dish you should order if you managed to see it! Their super crispy prawn fritters! Its 70cents for a piece though, but super worth! 

And if you guys need soup to accompany the rice, they sell their daily soup at $3 for a big bowl. That day i had bitter gourd soup, i hate bittergourd, but the soup was really palatable, not in the least bit bitter at all. I tried their boiled soup a few times, and they never failed me. Not too salty, and yummy! I tried their ABC soup before as well, not bad.. 

So total, we ordered 3 plates of rice with 3 ingredients each, and 1 plate of 3 ingredients with no rice, then a plate of 8 prawn fritters, as well as a bowl of soup, costing us only $21.80 in total! Super value food!

红油抄手 @ Bedok 85

Hi Everyone, its been awhile, today I'll be sharing a szechuan delicacy that I love eating since I first tried it at Bedok 85. I do not know how it originally tastes like, or how awesome it should taste, but the Bedok 85 one definitely pass my standard for richness in taste! And also, from what I recalled, it tasted better than my "virgin" experience with 红油抄手 at Swee Choon dim sum..

Look at this awesome plate of goodness! Doesn't it look so appetizing to you? 8 juicy & succulent dumplings for $4.00! Its like super fat wanton, that is freshly steamed and drenched in those HK kind of sambal chilli oil and vinegar. 

What I love about this dumplings? EVERYTHING!!! Worth the value, spicyness just right for me, sourness as well... What I love even more is their Chinchalok Chilli sauce, that i always add to every bite of my dumpling, along with more vinegar and ginger shreds.. Do beware it is not for the faint hearted, as it may get pretty spicy. (And if you don't know what Chinchalok is, wiki says "is a Malaccan food made of fermented small shrimps or krill.")

I apologize, was too famished yesterday, didn't get to take the photo of the shopfront, but it is quite easy to find, there's only one xiao long bao stall that operates in the row where the famous chai chee porridge and BBQ chicken wings are located, about 2-3 stores to the left of the chicken wing stores, refer to address below:
Block 85 Bedok North Street 4

#01-17 Fengshan Market & Food Centre,

Singapore 460085

XOXO,
CheryL

Good Bak Kut Teh!

Well, different brands of Bak Kut Teh (BKT) have different magic formula when it comes to creating their signature tasting BKT. Some like the really peppery types, some like the really herbal types, and some like clear white soup type, some like the dark soup type. In this entry, i will be listing down two of my favourite BKT stalls!

I patronized Song Fa's BKT's newest outlet(walkable from EXPO MRT) recently, and found their clear peppery soup quite superb and addictive, I always order kidney & liver soup as its my bro's and my favourite. Though their basic portions of soup were really small and $1-2 pricier then most hawker centre's, the refillable soup part made it worth, & they were not stingy about it! I loved their braised small intestines as well, huge portion, super worth. 2 small soups, 4 side dishes, and some drinks i think cost us about $50.

They are located at;

UE BizHub East (North Tower Office) 

6 Changi Business Park Ave 1, #01-38 S486017 (6694 8098) 

Daily, 10:30am to 9:30pm (Last Order: 9:15pm)

My next favourite BKT! My family's usual choice for BKT, at least once a month. Superbly cheap, reasonable portions, refillable soup and superbly flavourful! A table fit for my family of 4 does not even exceed $30, 2 soups, 5 sides and 3 carbs. I absolutely love everything from this store!

Look at those gorgeously thick innards at only $5! Heavenly! You can try their pig organs soup as well, its amazingly good! Or even their kway chap with the side dishes.

Hua Shun BKT is operated by an old couple located at;

ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah 150006

Its the row where most of the malay stalls are and near where the UOB ATM is located. 

The Bakery Chef @ Bukit Merah

Today, i finally went to try a new café that is near my house. This time its just desserts, since 90% of their menu are desserts. For once a café is actually within walking distance from where i leave, and i don't have to travel!

From my research and stalking them on instagram, on-and-off they will organize a dessert buffet at their café, i think about once every 1-2 months, which costs only $19.90. There's one coming up on 10, 11, 12 june, 2 slots a day, but according to them its all fully booked! That's how popular their desserts are i guess? (Partially, also cause their seating area quite limited, i think indoor max 20ppl and outdoor max 15ppl?)

I don't really know if they have a level 2 seating area cause its a shophouse, but when my group of friends and I asked the waitress, she said that its not opened for seating, in the end we sat outside and joined 2 tables for our group of 7.

Side view

So i skipped lunch for this dessert platter(cause i needed to count my calories wisely) which cost me $20.90 for my choice of 3 cakes, 1 cupcake, 1 glass dessert, and 2 macarons.. & i chose a rainbow cake, praline cake, red velvet cake, carrot cupcake, pistachio and hazelnut macaroon, chocolate mousse thingy(i didn't get to choose this, they just gave me)

Top view

My verdict? 5 stars for presentation and value for $! I like how it was served on the stoneware platter!

Now for the taste test; 

I aimed the macarons first, pop-ed the petite looking thing into my mouth, disappointed siah.. Shell not crisp enough, neither pistachio nor hazelnut aroma was strong enough, it pretty much tasted like an original flavoured macaron.

Next, was the rainbow cake, pastel colors so pretty! Was expecting au chocolat's standard at least. But to my disappointment, just normal vanilla sponge cake, with way too much "jelat" whipped cream on top, i practically scraped away all the cream on top, and lé bf and I left half the cake untouched.

Then, praline cake, only ordered this cause this was one of their top favourites according to the waitress. Tasted like nutella, with golden flakes, and bits and piece of crunchy stuffs, i like the crunchy feel that the cake gave me with every bite, but unfortunately it was too sweet for my liking. Again lé bf and i left half this cake untouched.

My friend told me that she tried the cakes, and find that she liked their red velvet the most. But too my horror, this was way too jelat. The cream cheese on top was 1cm thick, not exaggerating! And the cream cheese sandwiched between two 1cm thick red velvet sponge was 1.5cm thick! Was i eating cake or cheese? I scraped all the cheese away and ate the cake only, but left half untouched as well.

Maybe there was too much cream and cheese going on everywhere, it really made me lost my appetite, when i came to the carrot cake, i just threw the cheese on top away, and ate the cake. I love their carrot cake though, gobbled all of it, moist, not too sweet, with raisins, and cinnamon.

Last but not least, the glass dessert thingy, i ate it all and i liked it, the cream they used was jus right, and chocolate wasn't too sweet.

Lé bf wanted something savoury, and this was 1 of the 2 or 3 options i was given at the counter area. Chicken ham croissant at $4.50. They will ask if u want it heated, bf reckons that this was just an average croissant, nothing interesting..

To sum up my lengthy blog today, i prolly wont eat the cakes that i ordered today again. But i may come back to try their other flavours since its so near my house. I remember i saw a tiramisu cake, strawberry shortcake and some chocolate square dome shaped cake, prolly try that next time and do a review update...