Duckland - Fusion Cuisine by Tunglok Group

Apparently Duckland is supposed to be a duck specialty concept by the Tunglok Group however there's too few duck dishes on the menu for me to concur. I would call them a fusion concept and with that, it might be a more appropriate dining concept.

This duck confit and waffles ($20) reminds me of the one at Duck & Waffles in London. The duck is way smaller here though. According to my dining companion he felt the food was decent but gave no indication that it's a clear winner. I personally like the presentation given my soft spot for instagrammable food. This is just the beginning.

I settled for Good Ol' Fish & Chips ($18) which is battered with bread crumbs and comes with coleslaw and potato wedges on the side. I felt that the fish was well cooked but the bread crumb batter was a little over-fried so it's a little on the hard side. Other than that, I pretty much enjoyed my meal.

 

I felt the biggest highlight of this place is their instagrammable food. To prove the point, I had this Speculoos Affogato ($8.50) which is my biggest satisfaction for the night. Given how wary I was about overly sweet desserts, the staff assured me this is not very sweet and she certainly didn't oversell me. It's perfect!

The Ultraviolet Berries Lemonade ($4.50) also scored on how pouring in some liquid and stirring would make it change colour. All our phones were out to capture the moment.

I left the highlight of the night to the last. To say the good stuff first, the staff service was awesome. They asked me if I wanted Ketchup for my fish and chips on their own initiative. She checked if her recommendation of the speculoos ice cream was meeting my sweetness requirements. In the service line, this is so rare, I'll be back again just to experience it.

Sadly the story doesn't end here. The management team apparently were having their own side little party in the restaurant. Boy were they unruly. Oh yes, you read those articles about people smashing tables, laughing loudly and banging stuff in the papers (usually it's because there's disagreement), this one was in a friendly setting but every action imaginable you can associate unruly with, I got a live show. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be part of the instagrammable moment, was I supposed to film it with my camera so that it goes viral? In any case, I didn't have the guts to film such a rowdy group. They look capable of smashing my phone or me for that matter so I prefer to chicken out than risk my well being or my phone's. Because of this experience and I was having an important conversation with another person and we had to raise our voices to be heard, I will not be back again despite them having wonderful service staff. They gave me a voucher, not sure if it's to keep my mouth shut. I left it at the table so I can say whatever I like. What a pity.

Duckland
United Square Shopping Mall, 101 Thomson Road, #B1-09/64/65, S307591

Ice Cream Skool - Affordable Instagrammable Desserts

I'm shocked. I just realised I didn't put up any content for the entire month. Sometimes you need this sort of reality check to know how much work has consumed you. Then there's the Chinese New Year break... and I didn't manage to buy much new year clothes this year or new shoes! The pay check better be worth it haha!!

This post is made up of 2 visits. I actually went back two days in a row because they opened late on the first day and we sort of had our lunch before heading back to try our luck for dessert. I went back the next day for the highly raved about Tom Yum Pasta. In a nutshell, Ice Cream Skool is popular for wallet friendly desserts that caught my eye because of their instagrammable nature. It's said to be popular among school going teenagers (obviously I'm too old to fit in) but interestingly enough, the two days I visited, the cafe was empty.

I'd kick off the post with the Tom Yum Pasta ($10.90) that many food bloggers rubber stamped as tastes good. It certainly lives up to its reputation. I like the tangy spiciness that follows every bite of the tom yum infused noodles. It's so addictively good I devoured the food in minutes. For $10, I consider this a steal.

I ordered the milkshake at the staff's recommendation. Basically I asked, "if I want to take picture what drink should I order?" Yes superficial me. I'm really glad she recommended me the milkshake because I found my favourite drink in Tampines through this experience. The blue drink you see in the photo is a double flavoured milkshake ($4.90) comprising of Mr Smurfie ice cream mixed with Cookies and Cream ice cream. Mr Smurfie is basically cotton candy flavour. As someone with a relatively strong sweet tooth, this is an awesome treat! 

And then... there's the double chocolate waffles I had with dark chocolate ice cream and Mr Smurfie. Together with their afternoon tea set it cost us $13.90. Dark chocolate is a premium flavour apparently. I found the waffles to be crispy and nice but lacking in fragrance. It was leaning more to the dry side which reduced the desire to finish the food. Incidentally, I was very engaged in an intense discussion about fengshui with my friend. Yeah, we didn't finish it.

As a whole, I enjoyed my experience. I loved it that the shop was empty so I could enjoy my food in peace. I hope for their sake, business is good on weekends because I'd still want to come back here occasionally! I'd be willing to give their waffles another shot given that I really enjoyed the milkshake and pasta. So if I'm back why not? This is an awesome place to dine if you want to impress someone and not blow a hole in your pocket. There's no gst or service charge. How awesome! Considering the talk of the town right now is Budget 2018 haha! The only drawback is that the location is rather obscure.

Ice Cream Skool
Blk 445 Tampines Street 42 #01-10, S520445

Montana Singapore

It's been one crazy month... I've been preoccupied with a lot of work events including a work trip coming up really soon. I'll be heading to Rome next week so won't be sharing any food here but perhaps on my instagram @bluntandfussyeater.

I met up with Bak Bak and Bak Bak 2 this week and brought them to Montana Singapore because Bak Bak wanted western cuisine and desserts. Montana started out as Montana Brew Bar, a semi bar and waffle place. Some of the original dishes included the popular Mac and Cheese Waffle and the red velvet waffle stack. They have since revamped their menu a number of times. This is my second visit, the first was with Ms MooMoo.

We kicked off the meal with Mac and Cheese Fritters with Tomato Relish ($11). Bak Bak as her name suggest wants to try everything on the menu. I found this side to be pretty good! I like it that it was fried till crispy without as residue oil left in the bowl. The mixture of mac and cheese with an added spiciness also appeals to my taste buds. Going with the tomato relish, it makes for a great opening dish. 

For mains, Bak Bak 2 had the Crab Aglio Olio ($20.80). It comes with loads of chunky crab meat tossed inside the Aglio Olio. The pasta was cooked till al dente with the garlic flavour just right. The crab meat is probably one of the most generous servings I've seen in an Aglio Olio dish and probably made the dish very much value for money.

Bak Bak settled for the Signature Mac and Cheese Waffle ($13.80) on my recommendation. I'm disappointed to say that the standard dropped from my very first visit. One of the most intriguing aspects of this dish is the wonderment of where the Mac and Cheese is. It's actually inside the waffle and taste will be apparent when you cut it up. It's also the signature dish of Montana Singapore so for this dish to fail in quality, makes me wonder if Montana Singapore is starting to lose their identity. The waffle is still baked till crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The issue here is the generosity in the Mac and Cheese serving. The taste was totally missing, it felt like an empty waffle. In fact, it felt like eating plain waffles with tomato relish. What's the point of expanding their menu and compromising on the quality of signature dishes? It pisses me off further because I brought my friends there after having a positive experience a year ago.

Rant aside, I decided to try something new and picked the Southern Fried Chicken Waffle ($14). This one is a mixed review with Bak Bak finding the chicken to be tasty and well marinated with the sous-vide southern spice batter. I on the other hand found the dish difficult to finish. While the waffle was crispy and fluffy, I found it a tad dry going with the southern spice marinated chicken. I agree that I found the chicken tasty on the initial bites but had difficulty finishing because it became a 'jelat' experience subsequently. It's probably not a bad dish to share but it's a little overwhelming if it's a dish for 1.

Finally for desserts, it's a struggle between the waffle stack or the new instagram worthy cakes they just added. Bak Bak chose the cake and we settled for the Smokey Nutella ($14.80). It's not a very big cake but it's enough for 3 people to share. I'm almost ashamed to say that I went against my better judgement to choose the waffle stack because I gave in to my weakness for picture worthy desserts. The cake was very ordinary. It's probably a decent cake but nothing out of this world. Enough said.

Will I be back again? Maybe not. I am very much unforgiving when it comes to poor execution of signature food. I mean, com'on, if the very thing that made you known in the first place is presented badly, how do you expect to retain the trust of any customers? People are bound to order the signature dishes and it's almost a sure-fire way to keep customers away in double quick time. To be fair, Montana Singapore has a very interesting concept and I'm not sure if it's the chef's off day for my experience. If you aren't too fussy with food and would like to give their waffles a chance, it's probably a novel experience at the heart of town.

Montana Singapore
1 Selegie Road #02-25 Pomo Singapore 188306

Wimbly Lu

I foresee a very busy week ahead hence the morning post again. Been catching up with friends and exploring new food in between work breaks this past week. Sometimes I feel like I'm adding value to people's lives through food by giving them new experiences. Haha, positive thinking to assuage the guilt of pigging out.

It's very rare I visit the same cafe twice simply because there's too many new cafes to dine at. Usually, a return to somewhere nice happens only when you bring new friends there to try food. In this case, the story started with what nice dessert is there in Nex? I told my friends none and told them the nearest dessert I really really liked is at Wimbly Lu, just a 5 mins drive away.

We settled for Cookie Dough Cheesecake ($6) like all their other cheesecakes is so rich in flavour I recommend you share it. I felt that the cake was a little too hard such that it's difficult to fork through with the complete chocolate icing, cookie dough, cheese and cookie base. I still prefer Mel's Double Chocolate Cheesecake ($6) which I ate the last time.

Another recommended dessert we tried was the Root Beer Float Cake ($6). The vanilla ice cream blended well with the root beer cake which tasted slightly chocolatey. I felt it can be further improved with a stronger root beer taste. I also felt that a semi-melted vanilla ice cream soaking into the cake tasted very much more like the Root Beer Float taste the dessert seek to attain.

And finally, the waffles with ice cream ($11.50 for double scoop) that first brought me here to try Wimbly Lu in 2013. I recalled googling top 5 waffles in Singapore back then and this came up as top 5. I'm pleased to say that the waffles I had recently tasted much better than what I tried back in 2013. As someone with a relatively sweet tooth, the choice of salted caramel ice cream and cookies and cream coupled with maple syrup was a good combination. I also enjoyed the waffles on its own which was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Good waffles can be eaten on their own without the add ons and you can do that with the waffles here.

Wimbly Lu remains my favourite dessert place in Serangoon. I especially like the red and white vintage beetle parked outside the shop and won't get tired of having dessert there. The fairy lights decorations still give me that whimsical feeling I've travelled out of Singapore and it's definitely a good place to chill.

Wimbly Lu
15-2 Jalan Riang

Best 5 waffles I've had in Singapore (so far) [Edited]

Whenever I have a craving, I'll google for "best ________ in Singapore" and hope to get something. Everytime I do this, I'll wonder how other people search for good food. One issue I had was some results gave me like 16 best waffles or 20 best waffles, and I'll start thinking but I only want to eat good waffles tomorrow. So many how to research and narrow down?! Nowadays, with Instagram and Burpple, it's getting easier to stay abreast on the latest 'in' food in town. In any case, I thought that this week I'll share my own top 5 waffles places having spent the last two years feasting on a lot of waffles. I've had fun and much success discovering a number of nice new places this way, and thought I'd share my own favorites with everyone. These 5 favorites are in no particular order. 

This photo was taken 2 years ago when I first googled best waffles in Singapore 2014. Strangers Reunion came out top of that list of top 5. Strangers Reunion is known for their latte art because their owner has won numerous top barista awards and also for their buttermilk waffles with maple syrup and fresh fruit ($11.90). The waffles batter made the waffles light, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Paired with maple syrup and fruits, it's an awesome combination that doesn't make you 'jelat'. In fact, it is so good, I'm motivated to go back and try the ice cream version now that I'm done with my waffles exploration. 

Strangers Reunion

35 Kampong Bahru Road

(Please note that I haven't been there in two years and can't attest that the standard remains the same. The taste 2 years ago is still my top 5 favorite if they maintained the quality today)

This was also eaten 2 years ago as part of the top 5 waffles list that I googled back in 2014. After the visit to Strangers Reunion which was very promising, I told myself next time must try waffles with ice cream. Prior to this visit, my only experience with ice cream waffles was at Gelare which as a poor clueless student, I thought it was very good waffles. Last year I ate Gelare again to check out the difference between good and bad batter. My findings was that the waffles was dry and it felt like tasteless flour that accompanied cold ice cream and there's no satisfaction after eating. 

Anyway, back to good ice cream waffles, the buttermilk waffles with premium New Zealand Ice cream with butter rum bananas ($15) at Department of Caffeine is a clear winner. The butter rum bananas is by far the best rendition of bananas with waffles I've tried. I've always felt that good waffles are the kind you can eat them on their own and still find them awesome. The buttermilk waffles at DOC sure makes the grade. 

Department of Caffiene (Closed Permanently)

15 Duxton Road 

(Again please note that this was eaten 2 years ago and hopefully their quality remains. If it does, then the taste still retains in my memory as top 5 today)

Hatter Street was introduced to me by a friend (let's call her fat fat) few months ago. In 2015 there seems to be more waffles establishments springing up and the modern day waffles have more variations. This pandan ice cream waffles with gula melaka is very different from the ice cream waffles I ate in 2014 (Yes all of them!). The texture of the waffles reminds me of Belgian waffles and it's very flavorful. The batter gave the exterior a bit of biscuit-like crispy and interior was fluffy. I felt that the mix of pandan ice cream and gula melaka goes perfectly together and I have been back twice since. 

Hatter Street Bakehouse and Cafe

212 Hougang Street 21 #01-333

Another waffle place also introduced to me very recently by Fat fat is Oblong. While flavored waffles actually existed since 2013, the craze only caught on late 2014. Oblong offers a variety of waffles flavours with a variety of ice cream and a variety of sauce and add ons. The picture you see is a red velvet waffles with earl grey ice cream with cream cheese and butterscotch syrup. If you order it as a combo with drinks it cost you $10. I really like the mix and match concept and their flavours really go well together. The waffles is light and fluffy. I felt that the variety of flavours gives a refreshing twist to waffles and I like it that the waffles are meant for individuals which means I can walk in on my own after dinner and not worry it's too much for my tummy. 

Oblong

10 Maju Avenue

Last but not least, I specially went to eat here on Thursday with Ms MooMoo. Montana Brew Bar is the "IN" waffles in town now. I found it on Instagram and Burpple with lots of noise from the Blogosphere. Apparently I'm considered late at trying out this place because the hype started late last year. Montana Brew Bar is famous for their creative waffles. The photo you see is their Mac and Cheese waffles with Jalapeños and Salsa Sauce ($13.80) version 4. Based on my research I discovered that the owners having invited bloggers for tasting and have worked on their food and the ones I'm eating is already the 4th version of the dish. It's really one of the best savory waffles I've had. The aroma of Mac and Cheese was very distinct on the onset and the smell alone can wet your appetite. The waffles are very crispy on the outside and the stuff macaroni and cheese inside the waffles really gives it a unique combination that goes very well together. On top of that the salsa sauce was really very balanced, spicy enough not to mask the Mac and cheese taste and provides the added oomph to make this dish my new favorite. 

Montana Brew Bar

1 Selegie Road, POMO, #02-25