Nooooo..... I just received an email from Tom's Palette (Yes! I am on the mailing list) saying that there will be a price increase from now on due to the GST bringing all the costs up. (Refer to this blogpost for the review on Tom's Palette) While they've been trying to absorb the prices of eggs and etc, they have come to the point where it's become difficult for them to do so.
So the new pricing is:
Small cup $2.60 (appr. 1 scoop)
Medium cup $3.50 (appr. 1.5 scoop)
Large cup $4.50 (appr. 2.5 scoop)
Takeaway Tub $12.00 (appro. 10 scoop)
Nevertheless I still love Tom's Palette! (They're always so generous even when it's just one scoop.) I only wished that I could have the time to buy ice cream from them. I heard that last month's new flavour "Salted Caramel Cheesecake" was a hit. Darn. Everytime they have a new flavour, I wanted to try it so badly but I really can't spare the time. :( I wish they had delivery. Boohoo!
Well the new flavour of the month is Granny’s Favourite!! which is a
“malted-Coco” flavour laced with delicious chunks of cookie dough (and some added secret ingredients according to them :) ). AND!!!! They said that the new flavour has been selling out everyday. NOOOOOO!!!
I hope the ice cream's still there 3 weeks later when my exams end.
Sigh. I'm busy fighting for women's rights. It's a worthy sacrifice. :)
P.S. I am currently in the midst of my examinations right now so I won't be blogging for a while! :)
Monday, November 12, 2007
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Haato
I had been wanting to eat at this particular Japanese restaurant for some time. Having heard that the ice cream that they served there was nice, I wanted to try it for myself to see how it compared to other Japanese ice-cream, Tom's Palette and even Awfully Chocolate. Imagine my surprise when one day my university friends decided to hang out at Hatto during our three-hour break between classes. I'm currently studying at NUS (National University of Singapore, for the clueless) and Haato is located at Ridgewood Condominium at Ridgewood Close. As my friend H drove, YD, B, AN and I chucked ourselves into her car and headed for the restaurant to chill out and study at the same time.
Haato at Ridgewood Condominium
I heard that there are other branches around like at Wheelock and even at Yio Chu Kang but I am not too sure of their exact addresses as I can't seem to find their website online. Anyway I am so happy to have H, because upon reaching there, I realised that it was really very difficult to find the place. Also, it's located inside a condominum, which makes it rather weird going all the way there just to have ice cream. But it was a lazy Friday afternoon, so there weren't many people inside. The vibe of the place was a rather relaxed one.
The ice cream counter
I was so excited! They had so many unique flavours and I wanted to try them all but I was too "shy".
The flavours
The staff were really friendly though and encouraged us to try the different flavours to find the one flavour that we would be satisfied with.
The sofas and couches available
I know this is a rather dark shot but I didn't dare take more pictures because it is really embarrassing to take so many pictures in public!!
Lychee Martini and Milk Tea
I love the flavours for its uniqueness but I must say that these two didn't make a good combination. LOL. I like the Lychee Martini for its light texture. Furthermore the sweetness was just nice and it was very refreshing on the whole. The milk tea ice cream on the other was creamier, thicker in texture and much sweeter. I like the milk tea alot but the two flavours are so different that it just doesn't do your tongue justice to eat the Lychee after the milk tea when your tongue's been 'conditioned' by the sweeter flavour. You become numb and can't taste the actual texture of the lychee ice cream then.
Rum and Raisins
I know this picture looks gross but it's really because we were too slow in snapping a shot. :)
AN treated us for the ice cream, but if you guys want to know the price, Haato gelato is priced at $3 (UDS$2) (Single Scoop) or $4 (USD$2.56) (Double Scoop). For a take away pack it's $13.50 (USD$8.65) for 650ml or $20 (USD$12.82) for 1000ml. They have flavours like black sesame too. Thumbs up for the unique flavours!
Waffles and Chocolate Ice cream and a game of Chinese Chess
You know what was my favourite at Haato? Yup! You guess right!
It was the Waffles!! The freshly baked aroma of the waffles, coupled by its firm yet soft texture and its crispy nature really captured my tastebuds! I love how the butter and syrup was drizzled all over the waffles. H told me that she could eat two of these waffles at one go. I must agree with her that the Waffles are so addictive! The hot crispy waffles with the cold rich yummy ice cream, really made for an enjoyable feast. YD and B decided not to study during the three hours and engaged in a game of chinese chess combat!! I think the waffles here are much better than Gelaro's waffles and other places. It's by far the best waffles I have ever eaten!
The softshell crab
B has been on a diet recently so he gets hungry at weird timings. Despite all of us being stuffed to the max, B was hungry and we decided to order the softshell crab. Unfortunately there weren't too many pieces. I can't remember how much we paid, but H told me that the portion has shrinked over the years. The softshell crab tasted the same as usual, nothing different or special about it here, apart from the fact that the sauce accompanying the dish is extra spicy.
Another shot of the softshell crab
Ambiance: The ambiance makes you want to chill there on a lazy Friday afternoon. You tend to make yourself so comfortable that when you have to leave, you do so with great sadness in your hearts. After us another family dropped by. We actually didn't want to leave early, but as all of them were eyeing our table, we decided to leave early instead of chit chatting. Not really somewhere where I would bring my date for a date. 3.5/5
Service: The service wasn't too bad. The only thing was that they seemed a little understaffed that day, perhaps due to the fact that the 5 of us came in suddenly! Despite their slow services and the long time involved taking our orders, the staff were very friendly and the people seemed happy. 3.5/5
Food: On the whole the food was good. The ice cream was light in texture and unique in its flavours and I really loved the waffles and to me, it's really value-for-money. I can't recall the price of the waffles or the softshell crab but I reckon it to be within the range of S$4-S$7 for each item. The softshell crab was mediocre. Nothing to remember it by and nothing to cause me to want to forget it. It's really a pity that the size of the food has been shrinking of late. Personally I feel that businesses should always be ethical and never shrink food sizes to cut down on prices. They should be open and frank with customers.
My friend R says he found the ice cream to be of average standard and did not find anything spectacular about it. He found it to be rather bland compared to the other ice creams he enjoyed. I would beg to differ though. It's often unfair if you compare ice creams to each other because every type is very different from the other. Gelatos should never be compared to ice creams and ice creams should never be compared to sorbets etc... Nothing should ever be compared to something that's in a different class/group. Hence this Gelato's texture is really light and smooth, unlike the usual heavy, creamy ice cream texture. That's why you can't compare ice creams like Yammi Yoghurt to Ben & Jerry's. I always wondered why Yammi Yoghurt never seemed to catch on with the other Singaporeans when I love it so much, and I realise that it could be because Singaporeans do not know how to appreciate the different type of ice creams for their different strengths. Perhaps Singaporeans judge using the same measuring stick for entirely different entities and this is obviously wrong. One should never compare across the board because it is never a one size fits all thing! Ok enough with the lecture. I would give the food and ice cream a 3.75/5 overall (4/5 for the ice cream and 3.5/5 for the other food) .
Haato
Contact no: 64649607
Address: Ridgewood Condominium #G1
5 Ridgewood Close Singapore (276696)
Opening hours: 11am-11pm (daily)
P.S. I realised that the initials for this blog is HIMT (Heaven in my tummy), rather masculine huh? I should rename my blog to something with HERT. hahahhaa.... get the joke? Hmmm "Heaven ever run there"? I am so lame...
Haato at Ridgewood Condominium
I heard that there are other branches around like at Wheelock and even at Yio Chu Kang but I am not too sure of their exact addresses as I can't seem to find their website online. Anyway I am so happy to have H, because upon reaching there, I realised that it was really very difficult to find the place. Also, it's located inside a condominum, which makes it rather weird going all the way there just to have ice cream. But it was a lazy Friday afternoon, so there weren't many people inside. The vibe of the place was a rather relaxed one.
The ice cream counter
I was so excited! They had so many unique flavours and I wanted to try them all but I was too "shy".
The flavours
The staff were really friendly though and encouraged us to try the different flavours to find the one flavour that we would be satisfied with.
The sofas and couches available
I know this is a rather dark shot but I didn't dare take more pictures because it is really embarrassing to take so many pictures in public!!
Lychee Martini and Milk Tea
I love the flavours for its uniqueness but I must say that these two didn't make a good combination. LOL. I like the Lychee Martini for its light texture. Furthermore the sweetness was just nice and it was very refreshing on the whole. The milk tea ice cream on the other was creamier, thicker in texture and much sweeter. I like the milk tea alot but the two flavours are so different that it just doesn't do your tongue justice to eat the Lychee after the milk tea when your tongue's been 'conditioned' by the sweeter flavour. You become numb and can't taste the actual texture of the lychee ice cream then.
Rum and Raisins
I know this picture looks gross but it's really because we were too slow in snapping a shot. :)
AN treated us for the ice cream, but if you guys want to know the price, Haato gelato is priced at $3 (UDS$2) (Single Scoop) or $4 (USD$2.56) (Double Scoop). For a take away pack it's $13.50 (USD$8.65) for 650ml or $20 (USD$12.82) for 1000ml. They have flavours like black sesame too. Thumbs up for the unique flavours!
Waffles and Chocolate Ice cream and a game of Chinese Chess
You know what was my favourite at Haato? Yup! You guess right!
It was the Waffles!! The freshly baked aroma of the waffles, coupled by its firm yet soft texture and its crispy nature really captured my tastebuds! I love how the butter and syrup was drizzled all over the waffles. H told me that she could eat two of these waffles at one go. I must agree with her that the Waffles are so addictive! The hot crispy waffles with the cold rich yummy ice cream, really made for an enjoyable feast. YD and B decided not to study during the three hours and engaged in a game of chinese chess combat!! I think the waffles here are much better than Gelaro's waffles and other places. It's by far the best waffles I have ever eaten!
The softshell crab
B has been on a diet recently so he gets hungry at weird timings. Despite all of us being stuffed to the max, B was hungry and we decided to order the softshell crab. Unfortunately there weren't too many pieces. I can't remember how much we paid, but H told me that the portion has shrinked over the years. The softshell crab tasted the same as usual, nothing different or special about it here, apart from the fact that the sauce accompanying the dish is extra spicy.
Another shot of the softshell crab
Ambiance: The ambiance makes you want to chill there on a lazy Friday afternoon. You tend to make yourself so comfortable that when you have to leave, you do so with great sadness in your hearts. After us another family dropped by. We actually didn't want to leave early, but as all of them were eyeing our table, we decided to leave early instead of chit chatting. Not really somewhere where I would bring my date for a date. 3.5/5
Service: The service wasn't too bad. The only thing was that they seemed a little understaffed that day, perhaps due to the fact that the 5 of us came in suddenly! Despite their slow services and the long time involved taking our orders, the staff were very friendly and the people seemed happy. 3.5/5
Food: On the whole the food was good. The ice cream was light in texture and unique in its flavours and I really loved the waffles and to me, it's really value-for-money. I can't recall the price of the waffles or the softshell crab but I reckon it to be within the range of S$4-S$7 for each item. The softshell crab was mediocre. Nothing to remember it by and nothing to cause me to want to forget it. It's really a pity that the size of the food has been shrinking of late. Personally I feel that businesses should always be ethical and never shrink food sizes to cut down on prices. They should be open and frank with customers.
My friend R says he found the ice cream to be of average standard and did not find anything spectacular about it. He found it to be rather bland compared to the other ice creams he enjoyed. I would beg to differ though. It's often unfair if you compare ice creams to each other because every type is very different from the other. Gelatos should never be compared to ice creams and ice creams should never be compared to sorbets etc... Nothing should ever be compared to something that's in a different class/group. Hence this Gelato's texture is really light and smooth, unlike the usual heavy, creamy ice cream texture. That's why you can't compare ice creams like Yammi Yoghurt to Ben & Jerry's. I always wondered why Yammi Yoghurt never seemed to catch on with the other Singaporeans when I love it so much, and I realise that it could be because Singaporeans do not know how to appreciate the different type of ice creams for their different strengths. Perhaps Singaporeans judge using the same measuring stick for entirely different entities and this is obviously wrong. One should never compare across the board because it is never a one size fits all thing! Ok enough with the lecture. I would give the food and ice cream a 3.75/5 overall (4/5 for the ice cream and 3.5/5 for the other food) .
Haato
Contact no: 64649607
Address: Ridgewood Condominium #G1
5 Ridgewood Close Singapore (276696)
Opening hours: 11am-11pm (daily)
P.S. I realised that the initials for this blog is HIMT (Heaven in my tummy), rather masculine huh? I should rename my blog to something with HERT. hahahhaa.... get the joke? Hmmm "Heaven ever run there"? I am so lame...
Blogged with Flock
Nectarie
Finally!! A long-awaited post! I'm sorry people.! I know that the last entry on this food blog was like in May... some 6 months ago! One friend asked if I stopped eating after that buffet at The Line! He must have thought I died of over-eating for being that greedy. Hahaha well truth is... I've been eating even more! It's just that after May, I got my internship at one of the Statutory boards in Singapore and I was pretty busy holding forts at work, tuition, functions etc etc... And after my three-month internship, university started. I'm now in my honours year and well, going about eating so much... it's really hard to keep a record!
Clark Quay at night
(Picture courtesy of my Canadian friend Jonathan)
I have so much entries to catch up! But I'm really happy I have this blog. Though the updates are far and few, I feel that whenever I look back at these memories, I feel so happy knowing I felt happy eating those at that point of time! hahaha... Man, now I know why the mind is such a powerful tool. Imagining food can be as happy as eating them! hahhaa...
Some of you eagle-eyed people out there would notice that I've changed a few stuff here. Actually I think I'd have continue letting this blog stagnate at the buffet blog, but yesterday someone left a note for me with regards to my pictures on Blue Magnolia's cakes. Hahaha people actually read this blog?
I decided to start with something small after such a long haitus! The Nectarie!! :)
If you are a night-person like me, chances of you hanging out at the Clark Quay belt probably are quite high. For me, it's one of those few places at night that's still so lively and 'open' (as in not 'open' in the liberal sense...). As can be seen, I enclosed a picture of Clark Quay above. I love hanging out at Clark Quay because of the 'buzz' there. Some people hate it for its crowd and over-commericalisation or whatever they call it. But being at Clark Quay and around there makes me feel alive. Anyway, back to the food... For the past many months, I've noticed this wonderful dessert bar that serves beautiful desserts. The best thing was that it was still open in the late hours alongside the bars. It's open till 2am on Friday and Saturday nights! The name of this place? Nectarie (le Dessert Patisserie).
The interior of the dessert bar
I love the chic warm design of the place!
Yummy pictures of pastries adorn the counter...
The beautiful cakes that make me salivate
Another look at the cakes
I didn't get to try much of the cakes on display though. My Canadian friend Jon was in town and we were touring about the area, but we were both too full to stuff another cake down our throat. So we shared a slice while catching up.
The Chocolate Truffle Cake
And finally the cake!! The Nectarie serves savouries, meals and drinks but I only tried this Truffle Cake. I will have to go back again for another taste of their beautiful cakes. My cake looked so pretty! :) I paid SGD$7 (USD$4.79) for this cake(Based on the rates of USD$1=SGD$1.46). I'm so happy the Singapore dollar is rising against the USD!! Hahaha now I can do online shopping and go back to America for some more tours!!
The chocolate truffle cake was very delectable! The chocolate was of a mousse-like texture which was very satisfying- thick, creamy, smooth and the sweetness was balanced by a tinge of bitterness. The sponge was moist, light and complimented the mousse texture very well. Overall, it was a very satisfying Chocolate Truffle Cake- unlike many deceiving truffle cakes that turn out to be dry, hard and cloyingly sweet. 4/5
More cakes!!
Parfait of Dark & White Chocolate
(picture courtesy of Jon :) ) I would love to try these delightful looking domes one day!! :)
Mango Mousse
Picture from Jon again. See... I love his pictures... a DSLR really makes a difference! But I love my new Fujifilm F50! :) I think Fujifilm cams really rock! Anyway back to the review... I love Mango but Mango cakes aren't really my cup of tea. :) I love the presentation of the cakes and the wonderful decorations! :)
Ambiance: The place is a rather small place, thus if large groups wish to have a gathering there, it would definitely pose some problem. There are tables outside though and since the night air is always cooler, groups might find it better to be seated outside. Apart from the size, I love the ambiance there- with the warm dimmed lights and the cosiness that stems from it being a small bar, I had a great time catching up with my friend and having a break from the touring. Most of the chairs inside the bar are high chairs though, so for girls like me who's wearing a dress, I had some difficulty getting up the chair while preserving my modesty at the same time! 3.5/5
Service: The girls at the place were rather friendly. Something to note though is that they don't serve ice water! So you have to pay absurd amounts for a bottle of ice water or a drink of smoothie. I still find this a sore point, when restaurants refuse to serve free ice water, I get upset at them because I feel that customers shouldn't have to be compelled to buy a drink just for them to chalk up more revenue. The surprising thing though is that they don't charge service charge in the final bill. I wonder if it was because I only bought a slice of cake and if the same rule applies for meals there. 3/5
Food: On the whole, I liked what I ate and I will go back if I am in the vicinity while hanging out. I will be too biased if I based the restaurant's ranking on one cake, so I shall give the overall grading a miss. But for the cake, it was definitely a 4/5!!
Nectarie
Contact. no: 63056727
Address: Blk 3C River Valley Road #01-05
Clark Quay Singapore (179022)
Opening hours
Sunday- Thursday: 12pm-11pm
Friday- Saturday: 12pm-2am
Clark Quay at night
(Picture courtesy of my Canadian friend Jonathan)
I have so much entries to catch up! But I'm really happy I have this blog. Though the updates are far and few, I feel that whenever I look back at these memories, I feel so happy knowing I felt happy eating those at that point of time! hahaha... Man, now I know why the mind is such a powerful tool. Imagining food can be as happy as eating them! hahhaa...
Some of you eagle-eyed people out there would notice that I've changed a few stuff here. Actually I think I'd have continue letting this blog stagnate at the buffet blog, but yesterday someone left a note for me with regards to my pictures on Blue Magnolia's cakes. Hahaha people actually read this blog?
I decided to start with something small after such a long haitus! The Nectarie!! :)
If you are a night-person like me, chances of you hanging out at the Clark Quay belt probably are quite high. For me, it's one of those few places at night that's still so lively and 'open' (as in not 'open' in the liberal sense...). As can be seen, I enclosed a picture of Clark Quay above. I love hanging out at Clark Quay because of the 'buzz' there. Some people hate it for its crowd and over-commericalisation or whatever they call it. But being at Clark Quay and around there makes me feel alive. Anyway, back to the food... For the past many months, I've noticed this wonderful dessert bar that serves beautiful desserts. The best thing was that it was still open in the late hours alongside the bars. It's open till 2am on Friday and Saturday nights! The name of this place? Nectarie (le Dessert Patisserie).
The interior of the dessert bar
I love the chic warm design of the place!
Yummy pictures of pastries adorn the counter...
The beautiful cakes that make me salivate
Another look at the cakes
I didn't get to try much of the cakes on display though. My Canadian friend Jon was in town and we were touring about the area, but we were both too full to stuff another cake down our throat. So we shared a slice while catching up.
The Chocolate Truffle Cake
And finally the cake!! The Nectarie serves savouries, meals and drinks but I only tried this Truffle Cake. I will have to go back again for another taste of their beautiful cakes. My cake looked so pretty! :) I paid SGD$7 (USD$4.79) for this cake(Based on the rates of USD$1=SGD$1.46). I'm so happy the Singapore dollar is rising against the USD!! Hahaha now I can do online shopping and go back to America for some more tours!!
The chocolate truffle cake was very delectable! The chocolate was of a mousse-like texture which was very satisfying- thick, creamy, smooth and the sweetness was balanced by a tinge of bitterness. The sponge was moist, light and complimented the mousse texture very well. Overall, it was a very satisfying Chocolate Truffle Cake- unlike many deceiving truffle cakes that turn out to be dry, hard and cloyingly sweet. 4/5
More cakes!!
Parfait of Dark & White Chocolate
(picture courtesy of Jon :) ) I would love to try these delightful looking domes one day!! :)
Mango Mousse
Picture from Jon again. See... I love his pictures... a DSLR really makes a difference! But I love my new Fujifilm F50! :) I think Fujifilm cams really rock! Anyway back to the review... I love Mango but Mango cakes aren't really my cup of tea. :) I love the presentation of the cakes and the wonderful decorations! :)
Ambiance: The place is a rather small place, thus if large groups wish to have a gathering there, it would definitely pose some problem. There are tables outside though and since the night air is always cooler, groups might find it better to be seated outside. Apart from the size, I love the ambiance there- with the warm dimmed lights and the cosiness that stems from it being a small bar, I had a great time catching up with my friend and having a break from the touring. Most of the chairs inside the bar are high chairs though, so for girls like me who's wearing a dress, I had some difficulty getting up the chair while preserving my modesty at the same time! 3.5/5
Service: The girls at the place were rather friendly. Something to note though is that they don't serve ice water! So you have to pay absurd amounts for a bottle of ice water or a drink of smoothie. I still find this a sore point, when restaurants refuse to serve free ice water, I get upset at them because I feel that customers shouldn't have to be compelled to buy a drink just for them to chalk up more revenue. The surprising thing though is that they don't charge service charge in the final bill. I wonder if it was because I only bought a slice of cake and if the same rule applies for meals there. 3/5
Food: On the whole, I liked what I ate and I will go back if I am in the vicinity while hanging out. I will be too biased if I based the restaurant's ranking on one cake, so I shall give the overall grading a miss. But for the cake, it was definitely a 4/5!!
Nectarie
Contact. no: 63056727
Address: Blk 3C River Valley Road #01-05
Clark Quay Singapore (179022)
Opening hours
Sunday- Thursday: 12pm-11pm
Friday- Saturday: 12pm-2am
Blogged with Flock
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Line at Shangri-la
I had never heard of "The Line" before today. But I had always known that Shangri-la had one the best buffets in town. Today was supposed to be a ladies' day out- a time for high tea with my sister and my mum, and we were supposed to go shopping at Takashimaya.
But in the midst of finding "the best buffet", I discovered this restaurant called "The Line" had Shangri-la, which everyone was raving about. A supposed innocent Ladies' affair soon turned into a raucous family brunch for 6! We had wanted a high-tea session, but the Line only had this buffet lunch that started from 12 till 2:30pm. My mum was quite apprehensive initially because she didn't like chinese food that much as it was always oily. But the huge variety that was presented awed us so much we knew we had made the right choice!
I don't think that pictures or words can convey how large the buffet is or how grand the entire restaurant was to us. Ok, so it wasn't really some majestic place, but the variety! It was definitely mind-boggling! Because we had reserved the places late, we were only able to turn up at 1:15pm as the place was jam-packed! Seriously, Shangri-la is in such a far-in location, and it was a weekday. Yet the place was packed with office people, who were there for a lunch break. I mean, the buffet came up to $50 per person ($33.33 USD), if I can eat there everyday, I must be some rich office girl!
The many waiters around to attend to your every need
This probably explained why service was always very prompt, fast and efficient despite the huge crowd. Though we had to remind the waiter to top up our glasses every now and then, our plates were constantly changed.
The white and orange colours of the restaurant
Very chic design. I like the restaurant because it is surrounded by lush green foilage and this makes the lunching experience all the more enjoyable when you are seated next to the window which presents you with your little oasis. Running water, green pretty flowers and great food! I would definitely go back for the food! Though the place isn't exactly where you should propose, because the rumbling madness of the crowd would drown out all sounds of your marriage proposal!
It was a good thing we were seated away from the hustle of the office crowd.
More privacy and space. The only thing was that after a while, the sun got in our eyes.
The sumptous spread
When we saw the variety, we just went mad. Like an uncouth, famished vagrant, I dashed to the buffet spread to fill my stomach's worth.
The huge varieties
It was just mind-boggling because every corner you turned, there was another spread waiting you.
Indian food like curry and tandori, chinese food like dim sum and stir-fried items, japanese food like sushi and sashimi, cold appeitisers, fresh seafood (the freshest prawns, oysters, crabs and scallops!), desserts (crazy load of desserts awaiting me including a one metre high fondue fountain!) and western food such as baked chicken, lasagne, pasta, pizza...
Indeed the varieties were just mind-boggling because we were just raring to try everything all at once! A pity I didn't try the lobster-like thing. I'm not too sure if it was a lobster or a crayfish because I was focusing more on the scallops, oysters and prawns!
And another section...
The whole place is so big, it's all connected by the linear designs about the restaurant.
The joyous office crowds
I mean, I can understand their joy. I ate till I was so happy!
The dessert section.
I went wild here. There were mousse desserts, cakes, pastries, (even macaroons!), and kuehs! Unfortuantely, I didn't get to try every item! :(
A close-up of all the glorious desserts present
Behind the dessert display, there is an ice-cream booth!
It comes with a whole load of variety of sweets! Just to decorate your ice cream concoction! Talk about pampering me! I think kids would absolutely adore this place. It was my dream come true!
The sweets that you could top your dessert with- includes mashmallows!
Ice cream flavours: Mango, cookies and cream, chocolate, coconut, strawberry and vanilla.
They even had a section for crepes!
Seriously, my life couldn't get any better! A chef to personally fry a crepe for me! Just how I like it! You can choose the different fillings to go inside your crepe. And there were lots of toppings as well!
My sister L and my brother Ti waiting for their crepes.
We were all so excited!
And finally we come to the review of the food! I don't edit my photos ever, so the food presented here are all in their glorious, original form! Soooo good!
Dim Sum and a sausage
The first thing we headed for was the dim sum section. I don't know why I put the sausage on the same plate, but everything was sooooo good! Of course the trick is that you shouldn't finish everything (though you would want to) just so you can save space in your stomach for many good things later! The dim sum was so delicately done. The siew mai, har gau was all fresh. While I wished the har gau skin was thinner, it was good enough (definitely better than many dim sum buffets' standard) for me. The sausage was yummy for me too, though my mother wishes it wasn't that salty.
The seafood I went to grab!
It was just so good! From left: This raw octopus in mango sauce concoction (yummy!), crab, prawns, oysters, and scallops. Have you ever seen such a big scallop before? It was soooooo fresh!! SOOOOO good and SOOOOO big! The oysters? I ate 10 of them at least. So fresh! Marche charges $4 for one oyster, so to have so many top-quality oysters laid out before me was pure heaven! I am sure i recuperated my cost of the buffet! The prawns were also very good! Abosolute seafood heaven!
The one thing I hate most about buffets is that they always have small quantities of seafood and even then, the quality of the seafood is of sub-standard. But at the Shangri-la, everything was of top-notch standard! It was just abosolutely a fantastic time!
If there is one place you have to go before dying, I would say that it's The line at Shangri-la!
Oh by the way, I don't know how the satay sauce got onto my plate of seafood, haha, but yeap, there's satays available- Chicken, beef, lamb etc. And roti prata too!
The sashimi
I think of late, God has been very good to me. I have been lamenting since my return from Canada, how much I miss the fresh salmon there. The sashimi is always so thick and cheap and good in Vancouver and it has been such a tedious task trying to find any possible substitutes. But recently I found the Fish Mart at Parkway Parade, and now I've finally found a buffet after my own heart! A place where the freshest, highest quality of ingredients are used and where there is bountless supply of your favourite foods!
Did I mention that there is a counter where the chefs slice up the sashimis for you on the spot? So this keeps the salmon fresh! It's not just displayed on the seafood rack! Ooooo la la!!
You can request for as much sashimi as you like. The above picture is the consolidation of 4 portions! I was in pure heaven yesterday! And yes, it is a worthy contender for Sushi Garden's title for "Best sashimi". I think this definitely beats going to some up-scale japanese restaurant and paying $80 for a few pieces of sashimi. My only gripe was that I wished it was colder. I love the cold, fresh meat of sashimi!!
The prawns, oysters and scallop
I kept grabbing seconds of them! The oyster will burst in your mouth with freshness! I like to eat it topped with splashes of lemon and a drop of tabasco sauce! So shiok! Did you see how big and fat the scallop is?
A close-up of the oyster
In all its galore of untainted freshness!!! I want to go back now!
The glorious crispiness and fats of the roasted pork!
I think alot of people are not aware that there is a counter serving roast pork, chicken and char siew.
You have to ask the chef to slice it up for you. While the roasted pork can't hold a candle to Lei Garden's famed roasted pork, it was still very very very good! The crispy skin, the sweet juicy tender fats just melt in your mouth! I will definitely go back for more of this!
The char siew and roast pork.
The good thing about the Line is that their portions are always so generous!
Dessert galore!
After lots of "seconds", I rushed to the dessert section. I was racing against time at 2:15pm, as the buffet ended at 2:30 (but you could sit there for as long as you wished) and I had to grab all the desserts, plonk them on my table, before sitting down to eat all of them.
I totally went crazy here.
From left: Tiramisu, green tea macaroons, chocolate cupcake, alcoholic jelly (I made this name up myself because for some of the items I have no idea what they are), mango pudding (that had such a smooth delicate tofu texture), kuehs (including thousand-layer kueh), passionfruit cake, blueberry crumble, and yet another kueh (the pink coconut kueh). And to think that I didn't manage to eat all the desserts! I was totally bloated by the end of all this desserts!
A closeup of the Tiramisu, green-tea macaroon, and chocolate cupcake
The tiramisu was just pure heaven. I think I'm running out of adjectives here, but try it to believe it! The bitter-sweet cocoa powder drizzled atop glorious layers of mascaporne cream cheese amidst generous alcohol-soaked sponge layers. Just one scoop of Tiramisu, and you can taste the alcohol-drenched sponge layers.
The Alcoholic jelly with rasberries
My brother's favourite! He liked how the jelly was alcoholic (really deceiving) and yet went really well with the sweet texture of the raspberries. I've never eaten such a unique dessert like this before!
The Mango tofu dessert
Actually I myself am not too sure what this is because I ate so much desserts till my tongue was numb! But I'm pretty sure that it tasted of mango! It was really smooth and not-too-sweet. I like it alot too!
My brother TO's ice cream concotion.
He drizzled them with jelly-sweets and mashmallows. He chose the mango and cookie-and-cream ice cream falvours here. What can I say? The ice cream used here is of premium quality and totally rocks!
My ice cream concoction of strawverry, mango and vanilla flavours
I love the Vanilla flavour! It was absolutely of premium grade. You can even see the vanilla beans present! Absolutely delectable and gratifying!! I love how the mango ice cream is a delight of sour-sweetness and how the strawberry has remnants of the fruit in its body. Unlike other artificially sweet strawberry ice creams, this one totally won hands-down because of its unique and fresh flavour.
My brother TO's crepes
It was just amazing eating the crepes. You can add fruits to the crepes available at the dessert section.
Verdict: Needless to say, after my lavish gushing and incoherent rants, this has to be the best buffet I have ever eaten! Like I said before, before you die, everyone has to eat at this place at least once! If you are feeling rich, or if you just want great fresh food, or want to give your love one a treat (who's as greedy as me :) ), just turn up at the Line! Priced at $43+++, our bill came up to $300 for 6 people, which was about $50 each. It was a good thing my mum used her HSBC credit card because she had 15% discount for the total bill, thus our bill was reduced to a nice $250 figure. And that worked out to about $40 plus per person.
The Line also have a seafood buffet at $88+++. Haha I think I have to reserve that for when I finally start working (like about next year!)!!
Ambiance: I loved the ambiance as it had alot of vibe and energy. A great place to have lots of noisy messy chatter with your friends! The clean orange and white lines of the restaurant gave it a really chic look! But for more privacy you can ask to be seated away from the crowd. We sat next to the full-length windows which gave us a great view of the lush greenery outside. A topical oasis I must add. Be sure to note though that this is not your typical romantic restaurant. It's just a fun place for you to go and gobble down food with your group of close friends! 4/5
Service: The service was fast and efficient and the waiters were very polite. There were time though when we had to ask for our cups to be replenished. 3.5/5
Food: What more can I say? The food is so fresh, top-notch quality. The chefs are friendly and accomodating so they will cater to your personal preferences (be it when frying your noodles, or your crepes) and they are willing to slice you extra portions! Generous portions are constantly dished out and everything is just a delight to eat! Many suprises behold you in every corner! Be it the Xiao Long Bao that bursts out with flavour in your mouth, or the sashimi and seafood that surprises you with the freshness, there is surely everything for everyone of all ages and sizes! A must-try!! It's definitely my favourite buffet where quality and quantity is never compromised. 4.5/5
The Line at Shangri-La
Contact no. : (+65) 6213 4275
Address: Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
22 Orange Grove Road
Lower Lobby, Tower Wing
Opening Hours
Breakfast: 6 am - 10:30 am (Weekends and public Holidays to 11 am)
Lunch: 12 noon - 2:30 pm (Weekends and Public Holidays to 3 pm)
Dinner: 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm (Weekends and Public Holidays start at 6 pm)
Supper: 10:30 pm - 6 am
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Just like old times- Katong Laksa & Awfully Chocolate
Sometimes, the best foods are the comfort foods that soothe your soul and which brings back memories of good old times.
I finally met up with J and W after a substantial period. I got close to this quirky couple during my stay in Canada. The 3 of us (from Singapore) would go everywhere together. Perhaps it was out of the need for assurance in a foreign land, or the practicality that resulted from 3 students trying to cut costs by sharing our meals together, but we drew close from the "trials" that we experienced overseas.
Though we are all in the same university, the truth is that we haven't been able to spend as much time together as we did when we were overseas. Thus on Tuesday night, we headed down for some Katong Laksa. While overseas in Canada, we had lamented how much we missed a bowl of Laksa and thanks to good old Prima Mix, we managed to satisfy (by a wee bit!) our craving for a hot bowl of laksa. J kept agonising that he wasn't able to eat his shiok Katong laksa, so the three of us concluded that when we went back to Singapore, the first thing we would do would be to eat Katong Laksa! Well, it did take us some time to finally get together for that yummy bowl of Laksa but we did. And well, it brought back good old memories of the times we had to adjust the various ingredients (through trial and error) for a taste that closely matched our Singaporean laksa. Once, we were cooking for our Ang Moh friends when we realised we forgot to get Coconut milk! hahaa... luckily the curry pack had some dried coconut milk which we used half to add to the dish. The ang mohs were impressed enough with our cooking and we saved the day!
Katong Laksa
Just oogle at the thick coconut gravy, the fresh big prawns, the juicy hums used, and the fragrant laksa leaves.
Upon eating the dish, all of us couldn't help wolfing down the whole dish till every single drop of gravy was wiped up. Simply delicious. Really fattening, but extremely satisfying. I think that everyone has to try this at least once in their lives!! 4/5!!
$4 for this bowl of sinfully satisfying concoction!
Anyway after that delicious meal, we decided to take a walk around just to burn off our calories. Haha but I just couldn't resist dessert. So we headed for Awfully Chocolate just across the road. But with my poor sense of direction, we did take a while to get there! haha I just couldn't make out the buildings at night. I've had a craving for Awfully Chocolate for the longest time but because it's all the way at Katong, I never got around to getting it.
When I finally found the mall, it took me another while before I found the shop! J & W were so afraid that the shop had either shifted to another location, or was already closed. But we found it in the end alright!
So how was the chocolate ice cream? Yes, they only sell one flavour because it's their specialty. I like the bitter-sweet dark chocolate taste of this ice-cream. But according to J, he felt that the ice cream was a tad too buttery. I felt that the ice cream was ok, and that the buttery texture made it smoother, but W felt that the ice cream wasn't that smooth.
The cute little package they put your ice cream in
W wanted to keep it! For $3, you get a scoop of chocolate ice cream in this cute little box.
A rather blur shot of the chocolate ice cream
I think I need photography lessons!
Oh well, anyway after a while, it did taste rather buttery to me. Which led me to conclude... Tom's Palette still serve the best ice cream in Singapore (and perhaps in the World!). I really like the bitter-sweet texture of the chocolate ice cream at Tom's and I think that it's in a class of its own. While Tom's might be different from Ben & Jerry's or Haggen Diaz, I feel that its not too heavy or sweet on its own, which is really a plus point.
Thus I would say that the chocolate ice cream at Awfully Chocolate is a 3.5/5.
W was upset that I made them eat so much! So we decided to walk to Parkway Parade to take one last look. I made a suprising discovery there though! Found this Japanese supermarket selling Japanese groceries! It's also a restaurant by the way. Anyway, the best discovery I saw there was that they sold Sashimi! And at an affordable price too!! $10.30 for so many pieces! Unlike the irritating Japanese restaurant I went to the other day at Far East, which shall be another post.
The sashimi I bought
Look how fresh and thick the slices are! (At least for Singapore's standards...)
I was rather worried that it would not tast good or fresh. But my worries were unfounded upon eating it at home! I brought the sashimi with me (sat a bus ride all the way back to Tampines) and it was still so fresh! Yummy!! I'm so happy! I think I managed to find an alternative to Vancouver's Sushi Garden! :) 3.5/5 for the sashimi!!
I like it that the slices are much bigger than the stingy portions given at restaurants (you guys have to see the wee teeny slices the Far East Japanese restaurant gave me!) and that the pice is affordable (compared to the expensive sashimi at other more well-established Japanese restaurants). I love fresh, thick and cheap sashimi! It's really so rare to find something close to that! Hahaa... awww now I really miss Vancouver. But oh well... we make do with what we have.
I have yet to try the other items at the Fish Mart, but hey guys, again, do let me know if there's any other nice stuff there!
And... that was the end of the day which brought back good old memories! W was saying that it had been a long while since the three of us went out like this. It reminded her of how just the three of us would go out together in Canada to get our groceries, or just to eat out. Well, I'm glad for good old memories... and I'm even more glad for food that brings people together, and remind them of the good old times...
_____________________________________________________
Katong Laksa
Address: 216 and 51 East Coast Road (there are 2 branches)
I went to the one along the stretch opposite Katong Mall.
Awfully Chocolate
Contact no: (+65) 63452190
Address: Katong Mall
112 East Coast Road
#01-26
Operating hours: 10:30am-9pm daily
Fish Mart Sakuraya
Contact no. : (+65) 63454714
Address: Parkway Parade Shopping centre
1st floor, B-83D (near Cold Storage)
Closed: 9:30pm (I'm not too sure though what time they open, because I can't find the details on the web)
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Blue Magnolia
I've been teaching this boy tuition for two and a half years already. Just opposite from where he stays is this row of shophouses. While whiling my time away waiting for my buses home, there was this particular store which I took notice of. It was a grooming place for dogs. Being a dog-owner, I love to see white fluffy dogs being groomed. Unfortunately, this store didn't last long. Then came Blue Magnolia. It replaced the grooming shop and looked rather interesting to me. I always had half a mind to try it since it looked rather intriguing. But the white minimalist design of the store always made me hesistate. It kind of scared me off as I didn't dare to step in for fear of disturbing the tranquil quiet in there.
And then I stumbled upon some reviews of Blue Magnolia and suprisingly, it was a rather popular cake shop.
MacPherson Road
It is situated along MacPherson Road, along the many private houses there.
External view of Blue Magnolia shop
It's siutated at the right most of a row of shophouses. Recently they revamped the layout of the shop and it seemed much more welcoming than before. Just be sure to note though, that the shop is mainly for customers to take-away the cakes. It's usually better to pre-order your pastries before going, but for the mini pastries, they did have enough on that day for walk-in customers.
The box- pretty nice design, though my designer sister felt it lacked uniqueness. Designers are perpetually fussy creatures aren't they?
Anyway, I decided to purchase a box of 9 pastries. It consists of a variety of mini tarts and cakes.
Behold my gorgeous pastries!
From Top (left to right): Chocolate Almond Creampuff, Opera cake, Chocolate fudge cake
Middle: Molten Chocolate cake, New York Cheesecake, Blueberry cheesecake
Bottom: Azuki Greentea cake, Rocky Road cake, Opera cake (repeated)
In order of the pastries eaten:
Opera Cake
This cake was rather forgettable unfortunately. The chocolate was ok, but it was the cream in between the layers that turned me off. It tasted of cheap butter cream used in cheap cakes. I personally prefer the fresh cream used in other cake shops like Four leaves and Crystal Jade Bakeries. Cream should always be fresh and light, not oily and buttery. 2/5
Another shot of the Opera cake
Chocolate Almond cream puff
Again, I hate the cream they used in their cakes. In this cream puff they used a sizeable amount of cream and that totally put me off. I would head down for Beard Papa anytime then to choose this. 2/5
I would say that the saving grace of this cakeshop is their chocolate series. The rocky road cake was really delicious and yummy because the heavy fudge texture went really well with the marshmellows. I liked the fudge used here. Perhaps the strength of this cake came about as a result of there not being any butter cream present. 3/5
Azuki Green Tea cake
It had a rather refreshing taste, but unfortunately again, the butter cream within the layers totally spoilt it for me. 2.5/5
Molten Chocolate cake
I liked this the best out of the whole lot of pastries. I read somewhere that the chocolate used by this cakeshop is of top-notch chocolate. Again, 'no cream' equated good news for me. I liked the thick smooth chocolatey texture of this "cake". While to some, it might be just a whole mash of chocolate goo, it was totally delightful and totally sinful for me. 3.5/5
This wasn't too bad either but nothing spectacular. 3/5
It has a nice base that complements its taste.
Blueberry cake
Again, the cream didn't justify the otherwise sour-sweet blueberry filling. 2.5/5
Another shot of the blueberry cake.
Chocolate fudge cake
Somehow this cake tasted just like a typical average brownie. Nothign special again. 2.5/5
Verdict: I spent $14.20 for the box of 9 pastries. While the idea of marketing small pastries in bite-sizes to consumers is a rather ingenious idea (because greedy people like me can try a whole load of varieties without being all bloated), I would say that the pastries were quite disappointing. The chocolate and the cheesecakes were the best. On the whole, the cakes were mediocre and did not made much of an impression on me. Rather forgettable I must add. I definitely wouldn't go all the way out for these cakes. The cakes that had cream in them were really very disappointing for me. Still, I liked the Molten chocolate cake and that would be the only justification for me, in going all the way out for those cakes. Perhaps their tarts and cookies are better, because I read somewhere that they were marketing their chinese new year cookies at a major fair. Let me know then if you ever try it. There were many other mini pastries I didn't try too. Maybe if I ever needed a quick fix for my sweet tooth after teaching...
Vist their website for more information! Click here to place your online orders!
I would recommend calling ahead before making that trip down all the way. ;)
Blue Magnolia
Contact no: (+65) 62844227
439 MachPherson Road
Operating Hours: Tue-Fri (11am-8pm), Sat-Sun (9am-5pm)
Closed on Monday
Email: sales@bluemag.net
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