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)

Paddy Hills

It's eat and eat week! No kidding. Went back to I want my noodles with a friend mid week when I was in town to change my iPhone and the noodles are still mediocre. I also went on a crazy Long John's Silver craze this week and its now my new favourite fast-food, Also had to endure some really horrible RWS 8 course dinner at my company's DnD. Seriously don't ever throw your wedding at RWS, the food is a massive fail! Spent my weekend celebrating my dowager Aunt's 82nd birthday at Regent Hotel's Summer Palace with awesome food and of course had a wonderful Deepavali feasting on a delicious brunch.

This visit to Paddy Hills is a little overdue. I had a craving for Ricotta Hotcakes since the start of the month. Unfortunately, Vain Pot is really overwhelmed with work and we kept putting off the visit. Even this visit was almost scrapped due to our busy schedules. Paddy Hills is part of the growing brunch cafes in the West of Singapore. They are known for their fusion menus and quirky beverages.

As I mentioned, I had a prolonged craving for Ricotta Hotcakes and during my research, I narrowed down to two places which could satisfy my cravings, Atlas Coffeehouse and Paddy Hills. Before the change in menu early this year, one of the famed dishes at Paddy Hills was their Ricotta Hotcakes. After the change, they switched the hotcakes to Blueberry Muffcakes which reviews seem to say that it tastes even better! So Blueberry Muffcakes ($20) it is! The muffcakes taste awesome! I like it that it is aesthetically pleasant and that it is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. You can taste the buttery pancake batter and one of the favourite of Vain Pot was the magic pearls that came with it. She ate them all, I only managed  to eat one! I need to add that the muffcakes are ideally shared because it got a little 'jelat' after finishing one muffcake.

Prior to the muffcakes, I shared a main with Vain Pot. It was a smart decision because their portions are very generous. We picked the 黑 Rice ($22). It is made up of chicken cutlet and fried squid ink rice with mentaiko sauce and sous vide egg. The entire dish was executed perfectly. The chicken cutlet was fried till crispy and the meat was tender inside the crispy exterior. The squid ink fried rice had a rich 'wok hei' taste making it addictive to eat. Vain Pot has soft spot for Sous vide egg and feed her anything with that and she'll finish her food.

While Paddy Hills are more known for their unique beverages like Beer Slushie, we both settled for the more ordinary Iced Mocha ($7.50) and Latte ($5.50). Both tasted like how a typical mocha and latte should taste. Nothing to shout about. See that greedy pig trying to steal my coffee? Caught red handed!

On the whole, we left the place with two happy tummies. My initial apprehension over the fusion menu was unfounded. In fact, we were sufficiently impressed that I can confidently say we will recommend friends or come back to try more of their interesting menu. I'm also very pleased that there's an open air carpark that had very little cars in it.

Paddy Hills
38 South Buona Vista Road

Arteastiq Signature Teasury

This week is another incredibly busy week at work. I haven't even had time to send my family to the airport. Brother and Mom holidaying in Korea now :) I spent my weekend chilling and catching up with my very good friend at Prive Cafe. While the service, ambiance and drinks are great but the food really needs improvement. Carpark cost $8 for 3 hours. Think I'll only be back when I'm rich enough to play on a yacht.

Since Prive was a disappointing visit, I decided to feature somewhere I went with Supercai a couple of weeks back in our weekday indulgence. Arteastiq Signature Teasury ($48 for 2) makes a decent entry level high tea experience. It's Supercai's first ever high tea so I felt we should start off with somewhere more affordable.

The set comes with 2 specialty teas of our choosing but be warned that it's non-refillable. Alcoholic teas are also excluded. I must say that the quality of the teas are surprisingly refreshing and I kinda like their selection better than TWG teas. The cookies on the side are really good too. Much better than a range of other high teas I've tried.

The bird cage carries the savouries and sweets. The selection is honestly not meant for a full-meal, rather it's more suitable for afternoon snack with a place to chit chat. Supercai was complaining she's still hungry after the meal... whoops.

The Savouries selection consisted of Vol Au Vent, Panini Morsi, Smoked Salmon and Viva Duck. It's delicious and easy to eat. Nothing fancy so if you have been going for higher end high teas please manage your expectations. I'll say the selection here is more suitable for value and an inexpensive introduction to English High-tea.

As for the Sweets, there's matcha cheesecake, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate truffles and macarons. To be honest, it's one of the rare high-teas I finished the sweets portion because it isn't too sweet and filling. I quite enjoyed the experience because I don't have to endure the guilt of wasting food. I really don't like to waste food that doesn't taste horrible.

Summing up my experience at Arteastiq, I would bring friends here to catch up and have some small bites. The ambiance is considerably comfortable. It's surprisingly popular on a weekday. I felt the service has a lot of room for improvement but you pay for what you get. I'll recommend this place if you are looking for somewhere accessible to chillax for 2-3 hours with food and drinks without breaking the bank.

Arteastiq
333A Orchard Road, #04-14/15, Mandarin Gallery
If you need an activity, you can paint there too but you will need to check the available slots and book in advance.

Chin Mee Chin Confectionary

This weekend is a very rushed week. I was just telling Vain Pot that I'm so overwhelmed with work I didn't have time to make any balloon sculptures. As a big fan of living an enjoyable and exciting life, I feel particularly proud of myself this week because I still managed to head to somewhere meaningful with Vain Pot for a comfortable 1 hour meal. It's simple and easy to do. I get especially riled whenever people who have more time on their hands don't even bother to come up with something more exciting than window shopping and movies week in and out whenever they initiate a meet up. Buay sian meh?

Our choice of leisure this week is to pamper ourselves with some simple old school comfort food. Kaya bread on toast and soft-boiled eggs. Vain Pot loves this place a lot while I don't really fancy coming here for a number of non-food related reasons. Chin Mee Chin Confectionary specialises in traditional bread on toast with kaya or butter spread and soft boiled eggs. They also are wildly popular for their cakes and egg tarts. The place is so popular, you'll have to share tables.

The cakes which mostly go for a dollar are soft and fluffy. They are also rich in flavour and easy to eat. I would like to highlight the egg tart which I find very different from egg tarts I find elsewhere. Vain pot especially likes this one. The crust taste more like a cookie crust and the egg in the center taste a lot more like custard than your usual soft yellow creamy eggs. The egg custard and cookie tart gives it a uniquely CMC taste that makes the tart very popular among CMC visitors. Be sure to go early because there's a chance the tart may go out of stock due to strong demand.

The traditional kaya toast with soft boiled eggs is also clearly a winner. The toast is very old school, look at the buns, it's made in house freshly baked using the charcoal grill we see on TV for shows depicting that semi-modern era.

The eggs are big and fat. See the yolk still so big despite breaking. It makes for an extremely filling meal despite its simplicity. The total damage is only $10.80 with drinks included. A simple yet awesome way to kick start a weekend. I don't only eat atas food okay! Haha! My friends tend to feel that my definition of enjoyment is to spend a lot of money which doesn't necessarily have to be the case if you bother to look hard enough.

So will I come back here? I'll be very honest. I'll only come back when I wanna give Vain Pot a treat after a stressful week of work. I don't like the parallel parking here. I think the hygiene factor sucks and the attitude of the old timers extremely bo chap sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself when I ask them questions about my orders or the food. (For example, they screwed up my eggs order and served me 3 eggs instead of 4. I even had to chase for that 1 elusive egg myself even after they acknowledge its their mistake) So I'll only suggest visiting this place if you can look past all the non-food negative points and just want cheap and good comfort food.

Chin Mee Chin Confectionary
204 East Coast Road

Chock Full of Beans

This week has been an extremely busy week for me. No time to play balloons or do other stuff I like. While it's generally a happy week, I was rather annoyed that my weekend didn't follow the plan. Nevertheless, it's still a great week especially after I won my first Pokemon plush toy at the Pasar Malam near my home!

I'm featuring food eaten last month during one of my enjoyable week day outs while the rest of the world is working. Chock Full of Beans is known for their 3D Latte Art and I'm probably really late on this feature because I first got fascinated with this place in 2014. I'd like to add that its location is a Pokemon lair and lots of players gather here. It's another outing with the brother and he had a whale of a time catching pokemons.

For mains, my brother settled for Eggs Atlantic ($13.90) and I picked the Spaghetti with Prawns in Arrabiatta Sauce ($14.90). Both dishes tasted pretty good for the price you pay. Definitely meets expectations for budget meals. 

Of course the main highlight of the visit is the latte art. In line with the Pokemon craze, we got 3D and 2D Pokemon latte art coffee. Be prepared to pay an additional $1 for 3D art. Cute right? The weekday brunch menu comes with a soup or drink for the price of the mains. Another perk of dining out on weekdays! 

On the whole, I'll recommend a visit to Chock Full of Beans if you like taking pictures of food, like value for money food or enjoy catching pokemons. This place definitely meet all 3 needs. I'll certainly want to come back with my other friends simply because the food is really value for money, not to mention the added incentive of wowing them with cute coffee. 

Chock Full of Beans

4 Changi Village Road, #01-2090

(Parking is a hassle on a weekday though)

WORD.

This week is all about balloons. I started a hobby on balloon sculpturing and have been spending a lot of time twisting various patterns, taking my lessons from youtube. Also, I've found less pleasure heading out for food on weekends and gain more satisfaction enjoying good food and meet ups on weekdays when the rest of the world is working. I foresee more food reviews to be coming from weekdays in future!

WORD. was recommended to me by a friend whom I was asking for recommendations on budget food. Honestly, I don't think WORD. falls in the category of budget. My friend must have grown atas after she started working this year. WORD. is founded by the people who did the Rainbow Bagel at the Ramadan Bazaar. The restaurant is halal and the name of the restaurant I surmised is catered to the menu's play on words. This visit was made with the brother.

We kick started the meal with one of their quirky drinks called the Word Concoction ($7). It's a home-made drink which is refreshing, ingeniously presented in a light bulb and in my view expensive. Worth a try and I like it that it's camera friendly.

For mains, I chose the Mother Cluckers ($14), which basically is a whole baked chicken leg with potato puree and grilled vegetables. It's surprisingly good! The chicken was tender, easy to eat. The meat peels off the bones freely and the seasoning made the taste rich and aromatic. I'll eat it again!

My brother picked the Seafood Marinara ($18). Such a safe choice made me a little disappointed because I thought it'll be boring photos and food quality. Again, we were pleasantly surprised by the plate brought before us. The portions were generous, it was aromatic and the taste lingers in the mouth. Awesome!

In short, WORD. is a hidden gem. Its ulu location is making it bad for business. When we arrived, we thought the place was closed because we were the only patrons on a Sunday afternoon. The food really is a winner but obviously not many people know that. The MRT Springleaf station will only be ready in 2020. By then, I doubt WORD. would still be around. Please visit it while you still can. It's worth the hassle :)

WORD.
906 Upper Thomson Road