Lady M Confections

All the way from the Upper East Side of New York, the cake boutique Lady M Confections has arrived in Singapore. With its white walls, white furnitures and minimal decorations, the new glossy restaurant felt casual and elegant at the same time. 

Without a second glimpse of their other pastries, I instantly ordered the Mille Crêpes, their signature cake. Exactly 20 (not 1000 despite its name) thin crêpes were stacked on top of each other, with just the right amount of light pastry cream spread between layers. Every bite was soft and delicate, infused with the fragrance of vanilla and egg. The top was gently cameralised to give its golden gloss. 

Gâteau aux Marrons was another lovely creation. A generous amount of airy whipped cream was sandwiched between two layers of sponge cake made of almond flour, which was topped with beautiful pipings of chestnut-infused cream and sprinkled with some crunchy chopped walnuts. The combination of the creamy texture and the nutty flavour was irresistible. The only fault was the slightly overcooked edge of the almond flour cake.

When we arrived on a Friday evening about 1.5 hour before its closing time, there were not many cake choices left. The Mille Crêpes and cheesecakes seemed to be the most popular. Unlike its American counterpart, there was no savoury dishes on the menu. I can see myself coming back again, perhaps at an earlier time of the day for their many others famous desserts.

Lady M
#02-103, Marina Square Shopping Mall
6 Raffles Boulevard

Jamie's Italian in Singapore & The Addams Family Musical

Having lunch at Jamie's Italian at Covent Garden was one of the highlights of my trip to London. After years of watching his cooking shows and repeated attempts of replicating his recipes, going to one of Jamie Oliver's restaurants was a dream come true. That meal was such a wonderful experience so I was thrilled to know that he decided to open his first outlet in Asia in a country I'm living in!

After watching the musical, the four of us headed to Vivo City for an Italian treat at the newly opened Jamie's Italian.
The interior and the vibe of the restaurant is consistent with other branches. Wooden sturdy tables, metal outdoorsy chair, lots of natural lighting during the day and candles for the night and cans and cookbooks stacked up to the ceiling created a casual and comfortable dining environment. 

It would be wrong not to start the meal with the Italian bread selection. Warm crusty bread with fragrant extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Enough said. 

Jamie's walnut salad was a crunchy combination of salad greens, baby beets and chopped walnuts. The bitterness from the leaves was well balanced by the sweet balsamic dressing.

Honeycomb cannelloni three-ways was filled with aubergine and sun-dried tomato, pumpkin and spinach and ricotta cheese and baked in a tomato-based sauce. The cannelloni was creamy and delicious. Pumpkin was my favourite!

Prawn linguine was my favourite pasta dish of tonight. The prawns were juicy and the thin pasta, cooked to al dente, was perfect for the delicate sauce of tomato, fennel and chilli. 

This was the tagliatelle bolognese. The flat pasta had a slightly rough texture and had absorbed the intense sweetness from the mince and aromatic tomato sauce. The generous serving of Parmesan cheese gave the sauce extra richness. 

Vongole tagliolini was slightly bland when compared to other pasta. The clams were a bit small and dry and the sauce was a bit spicy. 

The smooth and creamy tiramisu was an unbeatable dessert. The orange flavour lightened the heaviness of the mascarpone cheese and the bitter espresso. I enjoyed every bite of this. 

Brioche con gelato, quitely literally, consisted of lemon and strawberry ice-creams sandwiched between two brioche buns. Despite the lovable presentation, this was just an average dessert. The ice-creams were melting quite quickly and the brioche became soggy after absorbing the melted ice-cream. The best part of the dish was the lemon ice-cream, which was refreshingly sour and icy.

Although the menu was not as extensive, the standard of the food here at the Singaporean branch was comparable to the one I tried in London. Their pasta, made freshly on site, is definitely something I would come back for. I had expected better customer service after reading several reviews complimenting their waiting staff. The server for our table was absent for most of the night and we had trouble locating a waiter for ordering and the bill. I look forward to my next meal here (which I am sure won't be long), hopefully with more variety on the menu.

Jamie's Italian
1 Harbour Front Walk, Vivo City
#01-165-167

The Addams Family Musical from Broadway was on tour and we bought tickets to watch it on their last day in Singapore. Without much expectations, it turned out to be one of the most entertaining stage performance I have seen.
The songs were catchy and energetic and filled with comical lyrics. There were a lot of dance routines and all the choreography was amazing. Jennifer Fogarty who played Wednesday had an incredibly powerful voice and the sweetest face. Keleen Snowgren and Jesse Sharp shared great dynamics as Morticia and Gomez. Jeremy Todd Shinder who played Pugsley probably had the weakest voice among the cast and struggled with some high notes. 
In this production Wednesday introduced to the Addams her "normal" boyfriend and his parents, who came to visit the family from Ohio. It is definitely an experience that most of us can relate to and the father-and-daughter scene had even made me shed a few tears. 
From the cast to the costume I have thoroughly enjoyed this musical. I have yet been able to stop playing the soundtrack on my phone.

Salt Grill & Sky Bar by Luke Mangan

When I was still living in Australian I have heard of Luke Mangan and have seen his face on TV numerous times. But Salt Grill in Singapore was the first of his restaurants which I visited. 

Getting to the restaurant itself was quite an experience. We were greeted by the receptionist on 4th floor of ION Orchard, from where a lift exclusively reserved for the restaurant guests took us all the way to 56th floor in less than a minute. After arriving the attentive waiting staff showed us to a table by the window with an unobstructed view of the city.

To start off the dinner, we were offered some complementary bread served with olive oil and some Dukkah, both produced by Luke Mangan and available for purchase. Being the first thing that you taste a restaurant's bread is an indicator of the standard of their food and I was not disappointed. It had a crispy crust and aroma of wheat. Adding both texture and flavour, the coarsely crushed Dukkah spice was a perfect dipping.

Our starter, pan seared scallops, cauliflower purée with dried Serrano ham was delicately presented. The scallops were sweet and succulent and the ham was crispy and salty. This was my favourite dish of the night!

A small cup of cold tomato soup was served as the next course. The vegetable-based soup was a bit thick, sour and bitter. It certainly was not delicious but worked to cleanse the palate. 
My main dish was barramuni with capers, tomato and green beans. The skin of the fish was nicely crisped up and the buttery sauce gave the dish some much-needed acidity. The fish was nice but did not impress me as much as the appetiser. 

At first glance, the ribeye with truffled butter and green beans might not seem much. But the steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare and cameralised on both sides. It was juicy, tender and flavourful even without the butter. It was possibly the best steak I have tried in Singapore. 

The name of our dessert was almost poetic: crème brûlée, a taste of apple. The crème brûlée, filled with vanilla seeds, was surrounded by tiny jewels of green apples and topped with apple sorbet and a thin slice of dried apple. The crème brûlée was soft and creamy and the sorbet was contrastingly sour and icy. It was a refreshing and delicious combination. 

Salt Grill & Sky Bar definitely scores full mark in terms on ambience and service. For me, modern Australian cuisine is all about fresh, good quality (Austrlalian) produce. Here at Salt the traditional cooking technique and simple seasoning have allowed the fresh ingredients to speak for themselves. It is a perfect place for a special occasion or a romantic dinner. 

Salt Grill & Sky Bar
#55-01 & #56-01, ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn

Chezcake Bistro

I cannot decide whether I like or hate night shifts. I like them for the days off in between shifts which feel like mini breaks but the long and unnatural working hours can really drain you out. Since they come with the job I try to make the most of it.
In a post-night shift afternoon I was at Chezcake Bistro with a friend. The place was minimally decorated and had seating for no more than 20. We were the only dine-in patrons and the two waiting staff were very attentive.

There were about 10 different flavours of cheesecakes on display at the counter but a much wide variety can be pre-ordered in advance as whole cakes. They are all baked, as supposed to the ones set with gelatin, according to the waiter.

I ordered the green tea cheesecake with red bean. This Japanese-inspired cake was unbelievably smooth and the green tea flavour really stood out. Red bean is, of course, always a perfect match for green tea. The base was, however, too soft and quite tasteless and would have benefited from more butter.

This is chocolate cheesecake with bailey, one of their alcoholic variety. After a tongue-numbing experience with the alcoholic ice-creams at Udders, I usually steer away from desserts with alcohol (I'd much prefer them on their own!). But the bailey in this cake was not too overwhelming and left a subtle warm after taste in my mouth. I would have liked it more if it was richer with chocolate flavour. 

I got a mango tango for take-away. Same with the other cakes, the texture was incredibly smooth and tangy mango sauce on the top was quite refreshing. 

I was in the mood for tea and pomegranate and raspberry seemed like a good choice for a hot summer afternoon. With a hint of sweetness it was soothing and fruity. The waiter needed no prompt to refill the pot, which was commendable customer service. 

The strawberry milkshake was very much enjoyed by my friend. It was a bit thinner and less creamy than the usual shakes, which meant they probably did not mix in much ice-cream. Depending on whether you are on a diet, it might be a good or a bad thing.  

It took them a while to prepare appetiser, which was served only after we have finished half of our cakes. The Chezcake Special stuffed yam ball with shredded roast duck was deep fried to a golden crust and steaming hot. It was filled with yam purée, finely diced carrot, mushroom and shredded roast duck and topped with mayonnaise and parsley. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the texture was really nice but I failed to taste even the slightest hint of duck.

Personally I prefer rich, dense and flavourful cheesecakes and the ones at Chezcake Bistro were not quite up to the mark for me. The texture was perfectly smooth but they needed more flavour. Some of their savoury dishes are a fushion of western and southeast Asian, such as laksa or tom yam pasta. They also offer an extensive list of hot and cold drinks, tea and wine. Although the cakes were not the best, it was a nice quiet café to spend a relaxing afternoon.

Chezcake Bistro
328 Joo Chiat Road

Tiong Bahru Bakery

After a dissatisfying dinner at NamNam Noodle Bar, I was in need of some nice and fulfilling desserts. Walking past Tiong Bahru Bakery at the corner of the basement of the Raffles Shopping Centre, I had my attention captured by their wonderful display of sandwiches, bread and pastries. Unable to resist the temptation, we sat down for some desserts.

Lemon Calamansi Tart was recommended by their staff as a best seller. The buttery pasty was filled with lemon custard, topped with a piece of white chocolate and some meringue sticks. The tangy lemon curd was smooth and gooey and had the right balance between sweet and sour. The tart, however, did not have enough crunch and could have done with a bit more time in the oven.

My love affairs with crumble started when I was in boarding school and it is definitely one of my favourite sweet treats. They had both apple and berry crumble and I chose the latter. To make it possible for takeaway, they had put the berry mixture on a layer of pastry, which was so buttery that it had overpowered the rest of the dessert. There was not enough fruits in the berry sauce and the crumble on the top was not crunchy enough. Overall the pastry tasted too heavy and needed more freshness from the berries. It would probably have tasted better if served warm rather than room temperature.

With a menu including coffee, sandwiches and soups, Tiong Bahru Bakery is more of a café than a bakery. Seating is very comfortably spaced with very cute pencil-legged tables that you can see in the picture above. Even though their desserts were not the best I'd still like to return to try the coffee and danishes.

Tiong Bahru Bakery
#B1-11/12, 252 North Bridge Road
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Antoinette Revisit

There are a few things that make a restaurant perfect for a girl's night out: yummy food, cosy chairs, relaxing ambience. My first visit to Antoinette for brunch was enjoyable so it came to my mind again when I arranged a dinner date with a girl friend. Most of their outlets do not accept reservations so we went to the one on Penhas Road to avoid the annoyingly long queue. 

Bouchées aux Fruits de Mer (Seafood in puff pastry case) ordered by my companion

I almost thought that they made a mistake when my order arrived. Instead of the burger buns that I imagined, Burger Antoinette looked more like a sandwich to me. Never the less the chicken patty was tasty and the pan-fried apple slice was juicy and refreshing. The pommery mustard mayonnaise added a mild heat. But I was not very satisfied by the potato crisps that were served alongside the salad as I had expected the "chips" on the menu to be French fries. Some fluffy chunky chips would have gone much better with the sandwich than the thin, greasy crisps.

 Iced chocolate

Display of chocolates, macaroons and cakes at the counter

Le Royale was a lovely combination of chocolate and hazelnuts. The smooth and rich dark chocolate mousse and the sponge cake at the bottom sandwiched a layer of airy almond meringue. The hazelnut feuilletine in the middle gave it a crispy and nutty contrast in texture. 

Kyoto was a much lighter dessert. The mascarpone mousses outside was infused with green tea. Hidden in the centre was the creamy chestnut crémeux which was a delightful complement to the mousse. 

The Charlotte macaroon had vanilla cream and strawberry coulis as its filling. It was too sweet for me and I could not taste any element of strawberry. But I have never been a big fan of macaroons so I am probably not the best judge.

I could not help but be reminded of Angelina in Paris by the range of desserts and the shop design of Antoinette. Dining at the classically French tearoom was such a decadent culinary experience which I believe would be difficult to exceed. Unfortunately the magical feeling that Antoinette first gave me has much diminished. I also was not impressed by their service, especially when the restaurant was not that full. My water glass only got refilled after many requests and it took them a good five minutes to get us forks for the desserts. While the desserts were delectable, their main courses were quite overpriced. I know I will not be in a hurry to return for the third time.

Antoinette

30 Penhas Road

Au Chocolat & The Art of the Brick

This year my birthday fell on the first day of Chinese New Year. Many of my friends were away in their Malaysian home towns while others were spending the holidays with their relatives. A Timbre party like last year seemed impossible, the day was quietly but pleasantly spent at Marina Bay Sands. 

First stop was brunch at Au Chocolat, a French inspired bistro occupying a large corner above the skating rink. Separated from the dining area was a confiserie selling all kinds of sweet treats, sliced cakes, gelati and merchandise. 

The charmingly decorated dining area

A train circling the shop on a suspended rail!

An excited crowd gathering in front of the café enjoying the lion dance

I ordered cappuccino while W ordered ice latte.

My coffee was not as rich as I'd like and the foam was not thick enough. 

Chicken dumpling in a consommé.

Not sure if the dumplings were Chinese-inspired but the pastry tasted very much like wanton skin! It was nice but not exactly what we would have ordered if it was not part of the set lunch. 

Pork belly with mash potato and garden vegetables.

The skin was crispy and the meat nicely seasoned without being too salty. The mash potato was silky smooth. Of course the boy complained about the small serving!

It took me some time to pick from the numerous desserts and I decided on the stuffed French toast. The cornflakes-coated brioche was extra crunchy and was covered with creamy mascarpone, a generous amount of refreshing berries and chocolate sauce. It was an indulgence for my sweet tooth!

Offering a wide variety of desserts and all-day breakfast, Au Chocolat is an obvious spot for brunch or afternoon tea. It has a whimsical atmosphere and waiters were attentive. Alternatives such as savoury crêpe, burger and meat dishes are also in the menu but obviously not their forte. I would not mind returning to sample their cakes next time!

Au Chocolat

Bay Level L1-03,

The Shopped at Marina Bay Sands

As a birthday treat W also took me to see the exhibition The Art of the Brick. It features sculptures and mosaics portraits made by Nathan Sawaya with nothing more than Lego bricks (and perhaps a bit of his specially-formulated glue) He is one of the thirteen Lego Professors and rightfully so. It was a spectacular exhibition for Lego fans of all ages.