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

Columbus Coffee Co - Newly opened cafe at Upper Thomson

Columbus Coffee Co is the third establishment opened by the owners of Atlas Coffeehouse and Lunar Brewer Coffee. They are the latest to join the bustling cafe scene at Upper Thomson. The cafe is located opposite Sin Ming Plaza Condo and has a very spacious interior.

Given that the cafe is only a month old, the food blogosphere is buzzing with activity and there's been numerous reviews of the wide selection that Columbus Coffee Co offer. It got me quite excited to try out this place given all the positive hype. My dining companion opted to try their fresh bakes and ordered the almond croissant ($5). She paired her pastry with a piccolo latte ($4.50). As I just got back from London, the benchmark for fresh bakes is still set pretty high. In London, the almond croissant even had almond cream oozing out of the bread but that'll be a story for another day. We both found the croissant to be over toasted and a little on the dry side. According to my dining companion, when a bread is over toasted, moisture collects onto the bread surface quickly thus making the bread less crispy and more towards the soggy side when you take too long to finish the food.

You can't go too wrong with lattes or I'll really judge them. I found the latte to be nicely done. I made a mental note that this is probably an ideal place to read with a cuppa coffee if I'm ever around the Thomson area again. (haven't been to Thomson area in ages because I dread the parking there)

I always have a soft spot for hotcakes and I really like the one at Atlas Coffeehouse. The Butterscotch Banana Pancake ($18.50) looks exactly the same so I simply had to have it. Sad to say, my impression of the dish is totally different this time. To be fair, the pancakes are really soft and fluffy (just like the description on their menu) to the point you feel like you are having an awesome sponge cake. The maple syrup still goes really well with the ice cream, bananas and the honey coated cornflakes. The trouble was my ideal version is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. This one skipped the crispiness. The dish tastes cakey after a while and despite the ice cream, I struggled finishing half.

The sun was scorching outside so I had the Milky Way ($7) which is pretty much white cold brew. Again the coffee passed with flying colours and it's probably the saving grace for my overall experience.

I noted that the food took a while to be served probably due to the high traffic flow. The food on our table, the next table and the next next table were all plated in delicious fashion. It really left my companion and I scratching our heads if we ordered the wrong dishes. We weren't impressed by the food at Columbus Coffee Co and really should I return it'll be for the coffee and no food.

Columbus Coffee Co
220 Upper Thomson Road, S574352

Birds of a Feather - Sichuan Fusion Cuisine

It's Happy Birthday to me! So this week, I've put aside blogging because I was busy eating and meeting up with different people. As it is right now, I have 4 cakes in my fridge and 3 of them are chocolate cakes. I can imagine my waistline expanding! Very happy with my celebrations this year... I hope the rest of the year will remain awesome.

Vain Pot is currently overseas so I had the opportunity to entertain myself this year. I brought a friend to enjoy Sichuan food! Birds of a Feather is a Sichuan fusion restaurant that brings the East and West together in a manner that doesn't seem too deliberate. Most fusion cuisines don't really agree with me because I felt most try too hard. Over here, the cooking appears natural and you don't feel the chef forcing Chinese ingredients on Western style cooking and vice versa. This post is made up of 2 visits with a visit done earlier last year.

We settled for some mains and small plates. Everything was shared. Basically, being on Birthday mood, I didn't really research much on the food. I simply asked the staff to recommend. So we had Crispy Gyoza with Truffle Soy Vinaigrette ($16), Find the Chicken in the Chillies ($16) and Fortune Skewer in Sichuan Pepper Broth ($19).

I found the Gyoza to be well fried and the tastiness of the meat met expectations. However, I just realised it's supposed to have truffle which I failed to taste any. While the dish was executed well, I failed to see why the staff would recommend us to try.

Find the Chicken in the Chillies is the big winner of the night. The chicken chunks were fried and seasoned well. I found the chicken to be well infused with the Sichuan chilli and the chef got the flavour right. It feels authentic and legit as a Sichuan dish and it's so addictive I found myself digging through the chillies in hope of more chicken when we finished every piece.

The fortune skewers is also well cooked. The peppery broth stood out because it soothes the throat wetting our appetite before the mains arrived. While the dish is another tasty one due to its spiciness, I found the ingredients used for the skewers to be very ordinary. I don't feel it warrants the price it charges.

As for mains, there's the Hot and Sour Chazuke ($25), 'Xiang Su' Duck ($33) and Spicy Oriental Bolongnaise ($22). I found the Hot and Sour Chazuke to be delicious except it comes with rice. The hot spicy pickled mustard green broth really gives an added oomph for meal satisfaction.

'Xiang Su' Duck carried a twin style of seared braised breast meat and duck leg confit with roasted potato puree. I found the ducks to be well prepared. Duck confit had a well fried skin with tender meat that goes excellently with the potato puree. Braised meat was tender too!

The Spicy Oriental Bolognaise is a dish that stays deeply in my memory. Once the spicy angle hair pasta gets mixed with the onsen egg, the effect creates a creamy tangy taste which I like a lot.

Dessert was eaten during my first visit. Coffee latte ($7) and Caramel Chocolate Coffee Cubes Latte ($8). Latte taste like latte so $7 feels really pricey. On the other hand, I like it that the Chocolate Coffee Cubes are instagrammable and generally something different from the usual.

Would I return? Well, it's a yes since I came here twice. I really enjoy the spicy Sichuan food with a twist here. The ambiance is also awesome. This is probably the first fusion food joint I'm raving about because the chef managed to make east and west gel so well together. I'd strongly recommend this place for anyone who likes spicy Chinese food.

Birds of a Feather
15 Amoy Street #01-01 S069935

.Elia

This is a throwback post for Deepavali, It was quite a long awaited rest from running around due to work. I took the time to do some shopping for winter clothing. In any case, anyone who wishes to buy winter clothing in Singapore can visit Uniqlo or Universal Traveller. They have the most stylish winter wears from my observation. Universal Traveller is having a sale at Changi City Point now for interested parties. I'm looking forward to my first trip to London and hopefully catch Manchester United live in the stadium!

.Elia is one of the new kid on the block along the long stretch of cafes in Keong Saik Street. The restaurant is considered huge with two stories. .Elia serves homemade pastas and sandwiches and have earned some strong approval from the food blogging community so far. To be honest, to hear raving reviews about food in new cafes these days is few and far between. So given the rarity of finding such a place, I was raring to give it a try on my first break.

Usually, I won't bother to blog about the beverages because I tend to stick to boring flat white. What's there to write about flat white right? In this instance, this is one of the best flat whites I've had. The .Elia flat white ($5) comes in 3 different sizes - 3Oz, 5Oz and 7Oz. The one I picked was the standard 5Oz. I've tried multiple flat whites in cafes everywhere, some lacked the sweetness which meant I needed to add sugar, some used coffee beans I deemed too bitter, blah blah, just not perfect. This version on the other hand got the mix just right. I didn't have to add sugar because it was sweet enough. The coffee beans was aromatic, and didn't have an overwhelming bitter taste. I enjoyed the creaminess of the milk which meant that the balance of coffee, sugar and milk was just right before it was served. It really made me look forward to give their other coffees a go now.

One thing I need to gripe about is how cafes have weekday and weekend menus. Seriously for working adults, we only ever get to try the weekend menus but most of the much raved about food is on the weekday menu! Does the cafe really think people will visit them to eat their food on a weekend if they work nearby or specially take leave or taxi/drive over on a weekday if their workplace is faraway? There's no logic in appealing to different crowds on weekends and weekdays.

Due to their weekend menu, I settled for the Spice Girls ($16.90), This pasta is made up of fried chicken with curry sauce. The curry has a very authentic Indian flavour, just like how a good curry chicken would taste. It's definitely an interesting way to blend it with pasta. I felt that while the sauce, pasta and chicken was well executed, the combination didn't work for me. It reminded me of curry noodles in Hong Kong cafe with thick mee pok. Not a good match in my opinion.

On the other hand, Vain Pot chose the Italian Job ($16.90) which was a combination of brown butter and egg yolk cooked with generous chunks of Italian Bacon. This combination is very delicious and gives me the eagerness to devour the food. A perfect choice if you love pastas.

.Elia has shown a lot of potential in terms of food execution. I would love to try their weekday menu some time but it's really a bad idea to offer different menus for weekends and weekdays in my opinion. I noted that the waiting time is really long. I finished my flat white before our food arrived. Vain Pot finished her pasta before mine arrived. I wonder how they coped with a weekday lunch crowd with their current efficiency. So good food with slow service, you can give them a chance if you aren't in a rush!

.Elia
10 Jiak Chuan Road, S089264
(remember your parking coupons if you drive here)

Brawn & Brains

It's Saturyay again! Okay, I spent my Saturday working. Yayy because I managed to be home in time to watch Liverpool face off with Manchester United. Man Utd kept their streak of zero losses so yayy to that as well. This week is pretty much a throwback post where I pampered my stomach with brunch after a really long time. For a period of time when I went missing from this blog, I had a hard time finding food that convinced me they are worth visiting. So I dallied for really long with no real craving. Despite the hiatus, I grew fatter. Can't explain why...

I visited Brawn & Brains while on my way to purchase my Surface Pro Core M3 Model. Yes, I'm typing this out with my Surface Pro at the moment. Located in a very much run-down former Singapore Badminton Hall, Brawn & Brains is known for fresh bakes, coffee and awesome brunch selections. When we visited over that weekend, it was packed till the staff had to tell us the waiting time for food was 45mins.

For those who are familiar with my style, I typically do my research on food before making my way down. Coincidentally, the stuff I wanted to eat was exactly the same as Vain Pot so we shared. The food that enthralled us were Bacon with Open Face Toast ($15.90) and Oven Baked Molten Eggs ($16.80).

The Bacon with Open Face Toast came with loads of generous grilled bacon strips on sourdough bread with slow cooked egg on the side, along with cherry tomatoes and greens. I felt this was one of those dishes which starts off really well but becomes overly 'jelat' and difficult to finish. If I were to break it down in parts, the bacon strips were grilled well, perhaps leaning towards the salty side. The slow cooked egg was perfect, the yolk runny if you break it. The toast was great too. Portions are big so maybe it's me but I couldn't finish my meal.

The Oven Baked Molten Eggs with a side of smoked salmon, avocado and melted cheese (full name), was a more balanced dish. I found the eggs very delicious, the melted cheese on it definitely gave it the added oomph! Avocado and smoked salmon taste exactly as it should but it lightens up the richly baked eggs and it makes the meal a lot easier to finish.

 

Another highlight of the place was said to be good coffee so we definitely had to order. Vain Pot ordered the iced version of caffe latte while mine was hot. Iced latte cost 50 cents more. In any case, her feedback was the ice version tasted a bit too diluted. I had no complains with my coffee so perhaps you might want to stick with the hot drinks when you visit. Coffee tasted like what it should but nothing out of this world.

Would I return for another go at the food? I probably won't make a special trip down but I would pop in for breakfast if I'm nearby. I was pretty attracted to the fresh bakes I saw during my research and they were sold out by the time I arrived. That says something about the quality of the buns there, so I would like to try. I found the brunch menu to be above average and the food wins on the eggs. If you love eggs a lot, you probably would wish to try here at least once!

Brawn & Brains
100 Guillemard Road, #01-02 Guillemard Village, 399718

The Dark Gallery

I'm growing sideways. Been meeting up with too many people, I seriously need to cut back on my eating. This week, I celebrated Saturyay by dining at Koh Bar & Grill, followed by some retail therapy. Earlier this week, I just adopted two very adorable soft toy penguins from Mini Sou, called Fatty and Chubby. They have brought me lots of joy since!

I love all things chocolate except chocolate itself. Hence the visit to The Dark Gallery. It's a really small cafe located at the center of level 1 in Millenia Walk. The design gave an impression of class so be prepared for heftier prices. The interior is really small thus locating seats is a challenge. If you have flexible hours, perhaps it'll be better to experience the food on weekday afternoons where office executives are all working their asses off. The Dark Gallery is known for their dark chocolate desserts. It comes in all forms from smores to beverages to ice cream. Probably the perfect dessert shop for bitter chocolate lovers.

Greedy me wanted to try everything. So I kinda forced Fat Fat to order a buffet spread and this was right after dinner. Whoops. The frozen smores ($7.50) you see in the photo was kinda our appetizer. It's basically toasted marshmallows with dark chocolate. Both fat fat and I didn't really enjoy the dessert. We felt that the marshmallows didn't blend well with the dark chocolate and both are separate desserts put together to you know mark up the price. There's also not much blend of sweetness from the melted marshmallows to counter the bitterness of the chocolate. Not something I'll order again. I'll give it an A for instagram-worthiness.

Another dessert we decided to incur calories on is the Chocolate Rhapsody ($18). It's sinful, rich in calories but you won't feel a pang of guilt eating. It's worth it. The Chocolate Rhapsody is a combination of 3 chocolate ice creams, dark, milk and white chocolate, decorated with chocolate crumbs, meringue and shards of cacao tulle. The chocolate ice creams stand out in their individual flavour and goes perfectly with the chocolate crumbs and crunchy meringue. The sweetness isn't excessive, in fact, the balance doesn't make your taste buds frown upon any jarring flavours. I also enjoyed the shards of cacao tulle which I can happily eat without the ice cream. Wonderful dessert!

For beverages, we ordered the Signature Chocolate ($7) and the Chocolate Cube Hazelnut Latte ($9). Fat Fat didn't like her signature chocolate as she felt 'jelat' drinking the thick chocolate drink after consuming all the other desserts. I need to disclaim she isn't a chocolate person so that might explain it. To be fair, the signature hot chocolate was very 'gao' (thick). It'll probably be more enjoyable for chocolate lovers.

My Chocolate Cube Hazelnut Latte admittedly is ordered to cater to my camera more than my tummy. I found the beverage a little on the bitter side. Perhaps they should add some sugar syrup on the side. It is a good hazelnut latte if you prefer your coffee with a tinge of bitterness. I might actually order it again. It did give me my caffeine satisfaction even though it's late at night.

There're hit and misses at The Dark Gallery. Those stuff that were hits, I love them to bits and would definitely return to indulge again. The biggest drawback is the seating space because such cafes are no good if you sit, eat and leave. I'll probably like it a lot more if I can bring someone here to chill, enjoy some good desserts, nice conversation and have some enjoyable beverages without the stress of everyone else who wants your seat giving you death stares. I'll highly recommend this place for a relaxing dessert and coffee on your off day, definitely not weekends to enjoy a good break while the rest of the world is preoccupied meeting deadlines.

The Dark Gallery
9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-K5 Millenia Walk, S039596

VXX CO-OPERATIVE

It's been another eat and eat week for me. I spent TGIF buying LeCastella cheese cake and April's Bakery Thai tarts. I like the Thai Tarts a lot better than the cheese cake but I know of friends who like the opposite. There's a market for everything I guess. I spent my weekend indulging in Crabs at the ParkRoyal Hotel Spice Brasserie. They are having a Crab Buffet now till 30th June and it's much better than the Penang St Buffet at Causeway Point. Quite an affordable way to indulge in crabs. You can see photos of the Crab Buffet here.

This week, I'm doing a throwback post. Been wanting to write about VXX Co-operative because I enjoyed my experience there. This visit was actually done on the week where I came back from Rome but Food in Rome stole its limelight. VXX Co-operative is largely known for its coffee and affordable food. One of the key highlights of the place is the selection of roasted coffee they carry and if unsure, you can always get the staff to introduce some to you.

Vain Pot and I settled for two mains which we mutually agreed on. It's pretty much 'our kind of thing'. Our selection of Crab Omelette ($14) and Porcini Mac and Cheese ($17) really did give me a highly rated opinion of this place. At first glance, the Crab Omelette looks charred and overcooked. Taking a bite inside revealed chunks and chunks of generous Crab meat coated with soft fluffy egg. Pretty good value for money meal if you ask me. Of course, you have to manage your expectations because it's crab and it's $14. We bite into one or two bits of egg shell and the egg was indeed slightly charred. Nevertheless, I felt it was a fairly good omelette and I'm not complaining because I felt it's a much better deal than other more expensive crab omelettes.

The Porcini Mac and Cheese is also a winner. Its ingredients (scallops and caviar) are also nothing short of premium and at $17, its a real steal! The flavours are distinctively obvious in the dish. The scallop was well seared and goes very well with the mac and cheese. I also found the serving of caviar to be generous and added an extra oomph to the dish. This is on top of well executed Mac and Cheese which was just right, decent portions and not exceedingly cheesy till it's difficult to finish. You gotta order this when you come.

As much as I raved about the coffee, Vain Pot isn't much of a coffee person so we only shared a cup. I feel bad because the coffee was introduced to me at length but because of my over-excitement to talk about my Rome travels, it didn't quite register. I'll be back again to try the coffee once more and more importantly, there's a Reverse Affogato which I really want to try when I come back. Guess it goes without saying, I'm looking forward to another visit. The place isn't crowded because of its location and it's indeed not the easiest place to go if you don't drive.

VXX CO-OPERATIVE
20 Foch Road, S209261

Crackerjack

Over the radio on 88.3FM, I heard the DJs discussing what to do over weekends and how the typical choice for most people would be movies and eating out. I belong to the camp where I believe there's a lot more to do in Singapore than simply movies. Please don't get me wrong, I love the occasional indulgence in cinemas but I also feel hanging out at cinemas generally has close to no interaction and little creativity. I spent my weekend at Gardens by the Bay with dinosaurs and cherry blossoms. Yes, a little bit holiday deprived but I enjoyed the calm and serenity the flowers gave me.

I had to settle my 2FA at Tanjong Pagar so that I can use my Singpass to pay my taxes, check my CPF and renew my passport. Hence, the trip to Crackerjack! Crackerjack is a new establishment in Tanjong Pagar boasting a wide selection of brunch, lunch, dinner and bar food depending on what time of the day you visit. I was a little disappointed that the weekend brunch menu was different from the weekday lunch menu because I wanted to try the highly raved about Lentil Mushrooms Scotch Eggs. Nevertheless, the brunch menu still provided an appetizing selection to choose from.

I had my mind on the Funnel Cake ($14) even before I stepped foot  into Crackerjack, largely tempted by the drool worthy photos I see online. The funnel cake is basically fried pancake topped with bananas, candied bacon, caramel sauce and amaretto cream. The pancake on its own tasted like fried fritters (youtiao). Being someone who has a penchant for sweet food, I particularly enjoyed the combination of sweet and savoury through the fried pancake with caramel sauce. I felt that the caramelized bananas, bacon blended well with the amaretto cream and pancake, making this dish a generally safe dessert for anyone who loves sweet stuff. While there's no stand-out factor in this dish, I felt that this dish brings comfort for anyone who needs a break from the everyday cooked food and it's an added plus that it looks so camera friendly.

Vain Pot who is always complaining she's fat, chose the Sweet Potato Hash ($14). Basically its made up of breakfast sausage, kale, sweet potato and baked egg. I felt the dish was aromatic and very rich in flavour and taste. Totally my kind of thing. Vain Pot felt that the dish was so-so because she can cook the exact same dish at home. Haha, I need to vet the outcome of her cooking to agree with her. While the dish looks plain and ordinary, and like how some people might feel that brunch food is overpriced, I feel that there's merit in good execution... that's why I bother to pay a premium to dine out.

I tried to be a little more arty farty by giving a new take to the coffee photos. Crackerjack is also known for their coffees. The above coffee is called Breakfast of Champions ($6) which is Espresso with cereal milk. It's definitely a good blend and I like it that I don't need to add additional sugar. I enjoyed the thickness of the cereal milk going well with the bitterness of the espresso. Thumbs up.

I pretty much enjoyed my dining experience at Crackerjack. My biggest gripe is the different menus on weekdays and weekends. I feel this limits the experience for most working adults who don't work around the CBD area, you pretty much will never get to try some stuff. Crackerjack serves some affordable and well executed dishes, albeit the ordinary appearance and ingredients used. I also like that the Tanjong Pagar area is generally not crowded on weekends giving our hectic lives more breathing space to properly relax.

Crackerjack
43 Tanjong Pagar Road  

The Coffee Academics

It's a couple of hours left before I board my first ever cruise. I spent my weekend enjoying some ME Time this week and thought it's quite an enjoyable experience. I'll keep this post short because I haven't finished packing and cruise wifi need to pay!

So my choice for ME Time was spent at Coffee Academics. I first came across this place when I was in Hong Kong on Repulse Bay. They are known for good coffee! The problem I had back then was finding something I felt like eating and it was very very difficult. Nothing looked appealing. I decided to give them another chance randomly today.

For my main, I picked their signature Crispy Fish Fillet Tacos ($23) which comes with a locally grown golden snapper that is combined with chipotle mayonnaise and fresh mango salsa. There's also salad and curly fries on the side. I felt the fish went very well with the mango salsa and chipotle mayonnaise. In fact it was rather addictive. Unfortunately the taco shells wasn't very crispy and that took some shine off an otherwise hearty meal. Fries was very very generous. I couldn't finish. Taste wise was ordinary but nothing to complain about.

For dessert, I settled for their signature Affogato Coupe, blend expresso with vanilla gelato ($10). Being known more for their coffee than food, the Affogato was presented well and tasted great too. The quality of gelato given was acceptable and I like how the sweetness of the vanilla goes well with the bitterness of the espresso. Worth trying! I also enjoyed the instagram photo-taking moments. HAHA!

On the whole, I enjoyed my visit to The Coffee Academics. This is a coffee place. It's an awesome chill out place for good coffee and a nice book. I'd be back again when I want some ME Time.

The Coffee Academics
Scotts Square, #02-01/02, 6 Scotts Road

d'Good Cafe

I spent my weekend reliving a game that few of my friends still play - Pokemon. The brother is still very much into this game although I tell him nowadays only Aunty and Uncles play. Since it's my first time playing after changing to my iPhone SE, I got lots of catching up to do. There's lots of Pokestops in town and he is very into it, so why not catch some Pokemons while we are running errands there? Apparently the game is offering some pretty attractive perks for its current players because more and more players are dropping out of the game.

In any case, I decided to visit a cafe I've left in my Easy to Go Food Hunting By Public Transport list today since I'm at the heart of Orchard Road. The original plan was to visit Fuel + but time was a little tight given that we had a long list of errands to run. d'Good Cafe has two outlets, one in Holland V and another at Takashimaya. It's a very English themed cafe at the Takashimaya outlet but the biggest highlight I read about this place is that Mediacorp artist Chou Choo Ming is said to be an investor.

Somehow the classic red telephone booth and letterboxes sparked a strong desire for Ling Cod Fish and Chips ($22). I must say it definitely satisfied my cravings, with the cod tasting fresh and the batter light and not very oily. It goes well with the sour cream and malt vinegar sauce that comes with it. One strange observation I have is that most of these cafes serving cod fish have a similar tough rubbery taste that comes with some parts of the fish. According to one of my chef friends, it's due to the frozen fats that comes with the fish whenever these big fishes are imported from overseas.

The Brother picked Fresh Sea Prawn Aglio Olio ($16) which is garlicky rich in taste, a bit oily but who cares, it taste awesome and just how good aglio olio should be. The taste lingers in the mouth which passes my primary criteria for awesome food. The prawns were generous in serving as well. A new place to get my Aglio Olio fix when I'm in town from now on!

d'Good Cafe is also known for their cold brews and the Brother tried D'Unknown Coffee ($7.50) which is just like what the name says. You don't know what coffee you are getting! Turns out it's rose coffee which is a refreshing change from standard coffees at cafes. I like it that it isn't excessively sweet!

For its accessible location and safe cafe menu, I feel that it is a pretty good hang out place for group gatherings and social meet ups. The food standards are above average even though I'm not 'wowed'.  I probably won't bring someone I wish to impress here but I'll definitely recommend this spot for my group gatherings. It's still a very convenient spot to enjoy a comfortable meal at the heart of town.

d'Good Cafe
391 Orchard Road #B1-56 Takashimaya S.C Ngee Ann City

Whisk & Paddle

This week is a week of learning. I resumed my book reading hobby thanks to some motivation from reconnecting with some inspiring friends. So far I've finished the book Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and have just started on this new book called Bull by Maggie Mahar. I kinda enjoyed my weekend also given the opportunity to catch up with busy Fat Fat whom I hardly get to see.

I kinda let Fat Fat pick the venue because I hardly see her and we both had to rush off to work after our catch up. Honestly, I believe if we are determined to make time for people we can. Busy is an excuse because believe me when I tell you I'm proud to say I know a lot of friends who make meaningful use of their time but still have time for a 2 hr catch up. She picked her regular haunt: Whisk and Paddle. 

Whisk & Paddle is located at Punggol near a cycling area so people hang out there to exercise and the area boast a couple of nice eateries, one of which is Uncle Leong Seafood for example. I first heard about this place when I developed a soft spot for eggs benedict on waffles which I tried with Vain Pot on my first visit to Whisk and Paddle. This is actually my second visit.

I thought I'd include the Eggs Benedict ($13) which first lured me to this place. The hollandaise sauce were in the right thickness and the sauteed mushrooms were great. The waffles which is one of the highlights of this place was baked just right as well. The only problem was the eggs. They served hard boiled poached eggs instead of runny poached eggs. Back then, fussy Vain Pot asked for a change of eggs only to be served another hard boiled poach egg. Getting a poach egg right is a test of culinary skill and that experience kinda dissuaded me from trying the eggs benedict during this visit. 

Fat Fat picked the Whisk Breakfast Pan ($19.8) after I dissuaded her from picking the Eggs Benny. The pan provides a generous serving of eggs of your choice, potatoes, pork sausage, steaky bacon, roasted tomatoes, sauteed mushroom, sourdough bread and french butter. I tried most of the stuff in the pan and they are competently executed. I guess you can't go too wrong with these basic ingredients. I'd like to add that the french butter is my favourite even though the sourdough bread was a little too hard. 

I chose Macaroni and Cheese ($13.80) for my own selection. Mac and Cheese is the standard comfort food that remains a safe choice whenever I can't decide what to eat. To begin with, I like it that it's serve in a pan. Looks so instagram worthy right? The Mac and Cheese at Whisk and Paddle is served with generous slices of ham. It's cheesy and taste really yummy when it's hot. However, this is one of those dish that you can't wait for everyone on the table to be served before you eat. Once cold, it taste very 'jelat' and hard to eat. Not yummy at all. Finish it while its warm.

Usually I'm not adventurous with coffee. However, I find myself thinking about the black sesame latte ($5.50) each time I come here. My black sesame latte was served on a saucer and with biscuit the first time I visited. Why now no saucer and biscuit? Don't you find it very unsightly for the spoon to be served without a saucer? Anyway, complains aside, the black sesame latte tastes great so consider trying it the next time you are there.

While the food at Whisk and Paddle isn't fantastic, I find myself still drawn to this place. I think I like it that the ambiance is chillax and that parking is easy to find. The food has a good variety that I can come back often on days when I'm looking for affordable food.

Whisk & Paddle
10 Tebing Lane
(Please note that brunch is only available on weekends)