De La Crème

I adore the incorporation of local culinary influences into western recipes, and it was De La Crème's Asian-inspired macaron flavors that drew me to this pâtisserie. What intrigued me most about De La Crème was that it was set up by a 22-year-old undergraduate, who took time off his studies to pursue formal culinary training. Such admirable passion and entrepreneurship!

From left: Rose, Gula Melaka, Violette, Pandan, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Amer

The fillings in De La Crème's macarons are pleasantly smooth and light. The macaron shells, however, need some refinement and I found some of the flavors to be a tad sweet.

While the pandan macaron's shells were overly airy, it was beautifully suffused with the aroma of screwpine leaves. The gula melaka macaron sounded promising with its palm sugar and coconut infused buttercream and a centre of molten palm syrup, but it could have been less subdued in flavor.

Onto the more ubiquitous combinations: rose is one of my favorite macaron flavors and it was a pity that the version here wasn't fragrant enough. The shells were also a tad airy. Flavor-wise, Chocolate Amer was a winner. However, while the filling of lush bittersweet ganache was worth swooning over, the macaron shells were disappointingly soft.

The sea salt caramel macaron's shells were the best of the six- crisp on the outside with a moist and tender interior, with crunchy Black Palm Island salt crystals for textural contrast. It could have done with much more salt though. In fact, the sea salt caramel filling tasted just like unadulterated caramel buttercream.

Price: $2.40/piece, $12.90 for half a dozen, $25.90 for a dozen

De La Crème
42 Siglap Drive
Tel: +65 6246 2476
Opening hours: 2pm-10pm (Tues-Fri), 2pm-11pm (Sat), 12nn-11pm (Sun), closed on Mondays

The Garden of Eden @ Neil Road

It was quite a challenge finding The Garden of Eden. Although it was situated inside a shop house along Neil Road, but there is almost no visible signs indicating where the restaurant. After walking along Neil Road for a while, we then managed to locate it. It's nearly at the very end of the road.



When we enter, a chirpy service staff welcomed us to our seats. Chef here is Tim Ross-Watson, who has worked before at the now defunct Wine Garage. Read that he has also worked in Gordon Ramsay's restaurant in London.



Was told that the food here is presented and cooked in a very creative way. So we started off with the Waldorf Salad (S$26) - Apple, celery, stilton nitro dressing, walnuts and mixed salad leaves. The salad was topped with freeze-dried cheese. Not only did the smoke enhanced the presentation, but the cheese was freeze-dried so it won't taste so strongly.



Next up was the Foie Gras (S$29) - Foie Gras mousse, chicken crackers, sherry gel and herb salad. It was interesting to have chicken crackers to accompany the creamy foie gras.



One of the best dish for the night was the Gammon and Eggs (S$28) - Homemade gammon, mustard pickled pineapple and truffle egg mayo. We really dig into the truffle egg mayo.



For the mains, we selected 2 items. First was the King Fish (S$39) - Quinoa, sweet corn, leek flowers and chervil. Special mention for the fish, which was fresh and sweet.



Pork lovers will be happy with this Pork Plate (S$40) - Pork belly, pork jowl, pork cheek, and "bubble n squeak". It's pork done in a variety of ways. The best item here is the pork belly, which was really tender when we sliced it open.



Before desserts, we had Coffee (S$5)



Asked them for their dessert recommendations, and suggested the Lemon Meringue Pie (S$15). It's like a deconstructed lemon pie.



But what's touted as their signature dish, is this Jelly and Ice-Cream (S$15). The entire dessert is made right in front on your table. With all the pouring and dry ice, you would think you are watching a science experiment.



In actual fact, the "substance" used are all edible - 66% Valrhona chocolate mousse which is freeze-dried in liquid nitrogen, together with raspberry gel, coconut cream, chocolate sponges and tiny bits of red sweets. I like how the chocolate mousse "melts" when you put it in your mouth. An usual experience.


The Garden of Eden
148 Neil Road

Alfero Artisan Gelato II

Maybe it's because I love nut-based ice creams in general. But Alfero's hazelnut gelato is seriously good stuff. Velvety smooth and intensely flavored with the goodness of premium Piedmontese nuts, this was certainly the best hazelnut gelato that I've come across locally so far!

My new dilemma: Should I opt for the hazelnut or pistachio gelato the next time I visit Alfero?

 

On the other hand, I felt that the Tahitian vanilla (above) could have done with a stronger hint of the fragrant spice. But as with all of Alfero's gelati that I've sampled thus far, its texture was sublime. Ice cream lovers, do check out this place if you haven't already done so!

Price: $4.50 for a small cup (1 flavor), $6.50 for a medium cup (2 flavors), $8.50 for a large cup (3 flavors)

Alfero Artisan Gelato

6 Raffles Boulevard

#02-226A/B Marina Square

Opening Hours: 10am-10pm daily

品珍私房菜 Yummy Recipes @ Crescent @ Kallang

Was reading the Chinese tabloids recently and one article caught my attention. The owner of Yummy Claypot from Joo Chiat has invested a 6 figure sums to open a high-end Chinese restaurant in MacPherson. I was quite curious who would want to open a high end restaurant in an industrial estate, so I made my way down to take a look.



It's not easy finding this place. The restaurant is located in a new office building called Crescent @ Kallang. The funny thing is that its location Kallang Pudding Road is nowhere near Kallang, but within MacPherson Road. You can park your car along the small road outside of the restaurant. A row of red lanterns will guide you to the main door (above).



Upon entering the restaurant, we know where all the 6 figure sums went to. According to news reports, the owner went to different parts of China to source for antiques and beautiful decorations for his new investment.



There are 2 sections to this restaurant. On your right is a family round table section.



On your left is the small table sections, perfect for groups of 2 to 4.



The staffs here are really one of the most attentive and most courteous guys for a Chinese restaurant. Although most are mainland China staffs, but their service level is top notched. We were served the Braised Peanuts (S$2) while looking through the menu.



After ordering, the waitress wheeled out a huge black pot. When I say huge, I really mean HUGE! Guess what's inside?



The answer is Double Boiled Pig Stomach Soup (S$38 for one huge pot). This huge pot of soup can easily serve 10 big bowls of soup. But if you can gather 4 to 5 soup lovers, it will be gone in no time. This pig stomach soup, one of their signature and a Hokkien specialty, has a really intense taste and aroma. We can tell that the soup has been boiled for hours and hours in the big pot. A must try.



A whole chicken was stuffed inside the entire pig stomach to make this soup. The chicken meat was still tender when I tried it.



Also had this Sambal Long Beans with Seafood. Beans were crunchy and the sambal had a nice kick.



Tofu lovers will love this Special Tofu Treasure Box with Seafood. Forgot the price, but everyone enjoyed this too.



Yummy Recipes also has another house specialty - Braised Duck with potato and yam (S$16). The braised duck was really smooth and tender, and if I didn't remember wrongly, was also boneless too. Try the meat together with a piece of yam or potato. Another must order.



There is this unique vegetable dish called Double Prosperity Kailan (S$10). It's basically Kailan cooked 2 ways. On the left is the normal garlic stir fry style, but on the right is a special deep fried kai lan. Tasted almost like crispy seaweed.



The last dish we had was the Sri Lanka Crab Baked Rice (S$58). Crab was fresh and sweet, but I find that there is too much minced garlic inside the baked rice. Perhaps a little less garlic would be better. But still, the rice was very flavourful.


品珍私房菜 Yummy Recipes
Crescent @ Kallang
47 Kallang Pudding Road
#01-08

Keisuke Tokyo

After having a tiring but enjoyable evening walk along the waterfront promenade in Marina Bay, we figured that only a bowl of comforting ramen could pacify our growling stomachs. Moments later, we found ourselves at Keisuke Ramen at Parco Marina Bay.

Having learned that the founder Keisuke Takeda was crowned TV Tokyo's Ramen King of 2011, as well as my previous experiences with its sister store in Tanjong Pagar, expectations were positively high.



The tonkotsu stock here was as good as the one I had at Tonkotsu King, except that the the kick-ass big fat chashuu slabs were now replaced with two bite-sized slices.



You had tried the four mainstream ramen stocks at the other establishments, and also probably the chicken broth from Marutama, but how about crab-based broth? Previously limited to serving 50-60 bowls per day during initial launch, the limit was subsequently lifted due to popular demand.

On the Crab Stock Ramen with Egg ($15.8) I had, the broth was thick and intense in flavours. Given the soup's unusually starchy texture, I had a strong feeling that there were lots of ingredients went into it. It reminded me of the hearty 老火湯 mum cooked by simmering its ingredients in a pressure cooker for at least half a day!




Keisuke Tokyo
9 Raffles Boulevard,
#P3-02 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk
Daily, 10.30am – 9.30pm
6337 7919





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If you are still planning where to go tonight, why not head down to i Light Marina Bay this evening. Back for a second edition, this year's iLight Festival features more than 30 light installations at various locations along the Marina Bay and along the waterfront promenade.



























Lights are on till April 1.

Desserts @ RWS Malaysian Food Street

Resort World Sentosa's Malaysian Food Street has been said to feature some of the best hawkers in Malaysia. The budget-conscious will be glad to hear that prices here are not as steep as at the Rasapura Masters food court at the other integrated resort, Marina Bay Sands.

I found the chendol ($2.50) to be only alright. While I appreciated the homemade chendol strips and the well-cooked red beans, the syrup could have been more fragrant. That being said, this might just be the way Penang chendol is supposed to be- I read that Penang hawkers prepare the iced dessert with a higher ratio of brown sugar to gula melaka than their Singaporean counterparts.

  Fung Wong Confectionery's egg tart ($1.20) made my visit to Malaysian Food Street worthwhile. Although it tended on the watery side, the custard was wonderfully wobbly. Nestled in a crisp and light flaky pastry, it came as no surprise that these egg tarts were snatched up in a jiffy.

The crispy char siew bao (aka char siew puff) ($1.50) is also worth a try. The char siew filling encased within was pleasantly moist and tender, with a stronger spice kick than local variants.

Malaysian Food Street

8 Sentosa Gateway

Resorts World Sentosa (Located next to entrance of Universal Studios)

Delicious @ Scotts Square

Had a weekday lunch at Delicious over at the newly opened Scotts Square, located between Grand Hyatt hotel and Tangs.



For those who are not familiar with Delicious, it's a popular chain of high-end cafe from Kuala Lumpur. Something like PS Cafe which sells not only western food, but also traditional Malaysian cuisines.



We skipped the appetizers and went straight to mains. First was the Spicy Crabmeat Linguini (S$15) - tossed with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes & Arugula, sprinkled with Pine Nuts. I didn't really enjoy this, as it was not as flavourful as I hoped it would be. Lot's of crab meat though.



When the Rendang Tok Short Ribs (S$12) was brought to our table, we were quite shocked at the huge serving of the rendang beef ribs. This dish was served with White Rice, Jelatah, Salted Egg, Ulam, Emping & Sambal. The rendang tasted yummy, but as there were huge chunks of rib bones, therefore the meat portion wasn't too much after all. Would recommend 1st time visitors to try this. But the rendang does get too boring after a while.



Wow, their Coconut Cake (S$9) is one of the best I had for a long time. Not only was there freshly grated coconut fillings on the cake, but there were also chunks of sweet coconut flesh fillings within the cake. The menu stated that their coconut are Hawaiian coconuts. Not sure if it means the coconut type or they are really flown in from Hawaii.



On the other hand the Sticky Date Pudding (S$8) with Butterscotch Sauce & Vanilla Ice Cream was quite a letdown.



Prefer the original version from Marmalade Pantry. Some hits and misses here, but overall quite a good place for a meal, and I would come back just for the coconut cake.


Delicious
6 Scotts Road,
B1-16/19
Scotts Square

Chocolate stout & Irish cream cupcakes @ Plain Vanilla Bakery

I dislike beer in general. But it's a different story altogether when stout is combined with chocolate. The bitterness of the alcohol is counteracted by the sugar; vice-versa, the bitter tang of the stout helps to tame the sweetness of the chocolate.

In fact, I love Plain Vanilla's chocolate stout cake base more than their regular chocolate version. The malty, roasty notes of Guinness give the chocolate sponge a fuller flavor, and the carbonation of the beer gives the cake a softer crumb. Paired with PVB's swoonworthy cream cheese frosting, this is one cupcake that will guarantee you sweet dreams at night.

If my memory serves me well, PVB's vanilla-Irish cream cake tastes even yummier than their signature vanilla sponge, and that means a lot because the former is seriously delicious! Dreamily fluffy vanilla cake meets Bailey's-infused chocolate fudge (wouldn't have minded having more of this), Irish cream frosting and an alcoholic truffle, mmm.

The chocolate stout and Irish cream cupcakes are available till April 1.

Price: $3.20 per cupcake, $18 for a box of six

Plain Vanilla Bakery
34A Lorong Mambong
Look for a doorway leading to M.A.D. about Hair (which shares a unit with PVB), located near El Patio
Tel: +65 6465 5942
Opening hours: 12pm – 8pm (Tues-Sat), 12pm-6pm (Sat), closed on Mondays