Bakerzin - Stick to the Desserts

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This is kind of like the long overdue post because I had visited this cafe way before Izy Dining & Bar, Nakhon Kitchen and even Chateraise. But the motivation to translate the experience into words is not that strong. How things have changed. Bakerzin is the cafe that introduced me to the world of premium desserts. The first time I tried the Jivara cake, the pure chocolatey richness of the cake blew me away. And from there, I went on the quest to try out as many delectable desserts as possible. But as tough competitors join the local culinary scene, raising up the bar, I no longer patronize Bakerzin anymore, especially after the awful service I had encountered at Paragon. A sure fire way to get me to boycott eateries is very bad service, including those of hawker stalls.

Bakerzin still holds a special place in my heart though. My guy and I did go there often for dates. And he still believes that Jivara is the best chocolate cake he ever has. So when I passed by the cafe in Vivocity, I decided to take the plunge and try out their offerings.

The Pineapple Rice with Chicken is quite a disaster in my opinion. Being very particular about quality of rice, I find the rice here to be lacking in aroma of rice, and the surface is dull, having no shine. Saved for the yellow colour and few cubes of pineapple, there is nothing about the taste and smell that deem it as pineapple rice. The chicken is not fresh. I can taste it, even with that lacklustre sauce, since I am sensitive to this. It is quite a torture to finish it actually.

The new creation, Lychee Rose Cake, redeems things a lot though. Rose and Lychee is a match made in heaven. Both have very distinctive fragrance, but in this cake, they complement each other to take sweetness to greater heights. The sweetness I am referring to here is in terms of the smell. Taste wise, it is just right in sweetness, not cloyingly. The shortbread base does well to add variation in taste and texture through a bit of butter flavour and crunchiness to the two types of mousses.

Service is not bad, but not great either. They get all the basics done: responding promptly to requests, etc. But there is this lingering air of coldness about them. Does not help that when I first entered the cafe, the two staff just looked at me, doing nothing, like they thought I was taking a tour of the cafe?

So conclusion is this place can still be considered for a get-together to enjoy desserts and cakes. Just don't have high expectations if one is ordering the pineapple rice. And based on the standard of this dish, I am not expecting the other savoury dishes to be good.

My Thoughts: Well ...

This place is no longer in operation

Nakhon Kitchen - Surprisingly Good

At last, another Thai restaurant featured on my site! As I had said before: I only bother to write about restaurants that are at least decent, and not a lot of Thai restaurants can make it up here. The problem is not with the cuisine itself since I absolutely love Mai Thai and this new kid on my blog. It is more of lacking the time to specially go down to the ones out of the way—have to admit that when I have the time, I usually use it to suss out the European restaurants instead. And it does not help that lots of neighbourhood Thai eateries just do not impress me. Anyway, it is always good to add another eatery into my list of restaurants I will regularly visit.

The Tom Yum soup is uncannily similar to Mai Thai's one, which I billed as the best tom yum soup. Very clear and clean, saturated with strong flavours of tomatoes, lemongrass, seafood, lime, kaffir lime leaves and coriander leaves, this soup truly simulates the senses.

The spring rolls feature very crispy skin, but the fillings are not exactly noteworthy. The highlights are the vegetables do not have a weird taste that most cabbages have, and the rolls do not have that smell of stale oil. Red curry has the rich creamy taste of coconut, which I love, though I wish they can be more generous with the amount of meat used. Well, at least, fresh meat is used. Deep fried chicken with garlic hits all the right notes with sprinkles of spices on top and its fresh, succulent meat with no tendons. This is one of those few times I actually like deep fried meat.

I think Nakhon Kitchen serves Northern Thai cuisine since it is so similar to Mai Thai's. I had tried Thai food of Southern region, and taste wise, they are quite different from the ones of above two mentioned restaurants. Since the two are on par in terms of food, I will go to Mai Thai for ambience and Nakhon Kitchen for the well-being of our wallets.

No photo taken because being low profile, I do not fancy taking photos with a bunch of people standing beside me—they are actually queuing for a table while I am happily tucking in my food. Note that I am happy with the food, but the environment is noisy. I suspect the loud music is to ensure patrons do not hang around to just chit chat after finishing the meals. But frankly speaking, I rather come here than to go to some sub-par restaurants with air-conditioning.

My Thoughts: Nice!

Nearest car park: Open air HDB car park behind Blk 212
Nearest MRT: Kovan

212 Hougang St 21
#01-341
Singapore
Contact No: 62868785

Izy Dining & Bar - Japanese Cuisine with Lots of Twists

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Note: This post was written when Izy Dining & Bar was Izy Dining & Bar serving Japanese cuisine, not its present incarnation:Izy Fook, which serves mod-sin cuisine instead.

Longing to try food that brings something new and unique to the table and excites our palates, just like falling in love for the first time, and given that my guy now way prefers Asian cuisine over European ones, I suggest heading to Izy Dining and Bar instead of other establishments in my wish list. And good thing that it is a trip well-made and well-worth it.

The location, open kitchen, the bar table and dim lights is reminiscent of my favourite places, such as Lolla and maybe Esquina, the hottest spots in town where people gather when the sun disappears from the skyline. Izy's interior does have that industrial vibe, but at the same time, the Japanese influences are strong and the glass lamps hanging from the ceiling add that touch of class to the whole place.

Notwithstanding the chic environment, the star of this watering hole is still the food. And when paired with quality sake, such as Mizubasho, it makes for a hearty yet fine treat. Nokke roll pulls no punches back in impressing us with huge dollops of fresh, creamy, briny uni, well-prepared negitoro, flavourful real crab meat and salmon roe. This is not like any roll I had seen before. The Kappa roll at the base complements the decadent ingredients at the top very well due to its neutral and clean taste that balance the sinful richness of the gems of the sea. And I appreciate how the Japanese chef makes the effort to soak his hands in ice water and plunges the tip of his knife into the cold water before meticulously preparing our Nokke roll while ensuring the freshness of the seafood will not be affected by the warmth.

Japanese food staples, like miso soup and salad, are also pretty good. The crisp vegetables are generously drizzled with Japanese salad sauce. And the soup, packed with lots of chopped vegetables, is very light and clear, which is my preference for miso soup.

The batter used in the Chicken Karaage is one of its kind and a league above others. The pale batter is crispy, with oh-so-slight texture of soufflé incorporated, thin and moist yet absolutely not oily. I love it not only for the unique texture, but also for its light colour—a testament to the fact that fresh oil is used. It is impossible to get that colour with used oil. The meat wrapped in the batter is also fresh, succulent and tender. The sauce poured onto the Karaage has a unique taste—a mix of tangy flavours and unami of dried bonito. While I like the uniqueness of the sauce, I do feel it is a bit too salty for me. My guy loves it thorough and thorough though, since he has higher tolerance for saltiness.

We are pleasantly surprised by how good the plain-looking potato salad is. It just has a dash of finely grinded pepper sprinkled on top, nothing else. But the combination of mashed potatoes with butter and pepper works so well. The pepper adds that subtle kick to the wholesome earthy flavour of potato.

The batter coating the fresh, flavourful prawns and vegetables in the Tempura set is crisper. And when dipped into the tempura sauce, softening it a slight bit, it tastes perfect. Even without the sauce, the tempura still tastes great due to the inherent sweetness of the ingredients, and one may prefer the crunchiness of the batter.

The service is good, being prompt in responding to requests and always eager to interact with patrons. Though one may need to call their number a few times to get through, just take note.

I am totally digging this place because of how the chefs put a new spin on traditional Japanese food. And quality and the essence of Japanese cuisine are not compromised in the process. Not to mention that lunch sets are absolutely value for money, from $18 onwards. Yes, the Tempura set is $18 only. Without a doubt, I will be back for more.

My Thoughts: Impressive!

This restaurant had been revamped to serve local fare.

Latest update: This restaurant is no longer in operation

Chateraise - Japanese Cakes À Gogo

Residents of numerous neighbourhoods, time to rejoice! Japan's Chateraise had set up outlets at a fast and furious pace around Singapore. It is great that Chateraise decided to go for the heartlands' market so we does not always have to go down to Orchard, Marina Area, Outram, Shenton Way and such for delicately made cakes.

The sheer variety of the cakes and Japanese snacks can be pretty overwhelming, in a good way. It is so tempting to buy them all to try! I finally decided on the Blueberry Rare Cheesecake, Happy Little Bunny, and of course, their best seller: Legendary Cream Cake. Check out this site for updates on other cakes when I get around to try them.

Blueberry Rare Cheesecake - My favourite of Chateraise's offerings. The rare Cheese mousse has that slight saltiness and nutty flavour of cheese that I very appreciate. Coupled with fresh cream, and layered between two types of cake sponge—yes, two types, the middle looks like butter cake sponge to adds that hint of buttery goodness—we have a cake that is unique in taste, creamy yet light and pleasing to the palates.

Legendary Cream Cake - The light moist sponge and fresh whipped cream are the highlights, but the layer of real strawberry jam at the bottom does not stuck a chord in me. It is commendable that real strawberry jam is used but the incorporation of it into the cake does not work for me. The taste is too sharp, eclipsing the nuanced flavours of other components of the cake.

Happy Little Bunny - A sure winner with the kids. This kind looks so cute. And the shop is very generous with the amount of cream used since the dome, saved for the base is made up of strawberry flavoured whipped cream. Though it does not win with me, as it seems like artificial flavouring is used—tell-tale sign: no tart taste, but a dome of real strawberry cream is not going to be a crowd-pleaser anyway.

Lemon Cheese Cake - Double fromage cake with addition of lemon zest is a sweet creation that works! Double formage is always my favourite type of cheese cheese since the pronounced nutty flavour of baked complements the light and airy texture of non-baked cheese cake so well. In this case, the non-baked part is made up of my preferred rare cheese, which is creamy and rich but still light and airy. The lemon adds a refreshing element to the overall taste. I would love the taste of lemon to be stronger. Though the current amount of lemon is more suited to different palates.

Real Grape Tart - This is like the favourite among my favourites because this is such a unique creation and the combination of Kyoho grapes, fresh cream, aloe vera cubes and almond tart base works so well. I love it that the crumbly, flavourful tart base is made from almond flour, which has this sweet aroma. Lots of flavours packed into this confectionery.

Real Melon cake - Sweet blissful delight! With pastry base and cream followed by cake sponge and then melon cream, the texture and myriad of flavours get the thumbs up from me. Best to savour all the layers together.

Strawberry and Darjeeling Chiboust is an interesting creation, but who would have known that strawberry, black tea and light cream works beautifully? Yes, I love the super light chiboust, which is cream whipped with egg white to get that extra lightness. But note that the cream cannot sit out too long at hot weather. This lightness of chiboust allows the delicate aroma of Darjeeling to come through, and the bits of strawberry adds dots of excitement to the overall taste. A very light yet very flavourful cake.

Real White Peach cake - Another beautiful treat like Real Melon cake, except that the star is peach instead.

Berry Rare Cheese Fluffy Roll - A must-try. Probably one of the best swiss roll due to the insane cream to cake ratio. And definitely helps that the cream is made up of real berry jam mixed into rare cheese, which is a match made in heaven since the tart taste of berries complements cheese so well. There are bits of berries added in too.

Strawberry Bombe Cake - Another one of my favourite due to the multitude of flavours incorporated harmoniously into this cake. Fresh vanilla cream decked on top of a strip of cake sponge, and below this is a generous dollop of strawberry cream enveloping a ganache of strawberry compote. To add on to the strawberriness of the cake, there is a paper-thin layer of strawberry jam sandwiched between the strawberry cream and thin cake sponge—I love it that this cake has high cream to cake sponge ratio. And the part that elevates this cake from nice to awesome is the baked cheese cake, which is slightly salty, thus adding a great extra dimension and kick to the taste. This cake can do without the chocolate cake sponge at the bottom though, since the chocolate does not mesh well with the delicate flavour of strawberry.

Double Fantasy - Stuffing lots of fresh cream and custard into the puff pastry shell simply works wonders, period. And it is only $1.90!

Strawberry Ice-cream Cheesecake - This is like the ultimate ice-cream cake due to layering in taste profile resulted from pairing cream cheese with its mild nutty flavour and strawberry cream with its sweet aroma and slight tang. The macarons on top gives a nice variation to the texture.

Purple Potato and Sweet Potato Cake - Just imagine on the nice crumbly biscuit base, there are chopped crunchy sweet potato bits hidden in a dome of light sweet potato mousse with strands of purple potato cream and Naruto sweet potato cream decked on top. Sounds good? I sure think so, and it definitely tastes good. This is earthy flavours galore! Another one of my favourite cakes.

Cream Soufflé Cheese Cake - It looks plainer than its counterparts, but in terms of taste, it is a winner. Saved for the somewhat dry cake base, the huge slab of soufflé cheesecake in the centre has the cake consistency yet it is also has that unbelievably melt-in-mouth texture. Paired with the light-as-air cream for that extra creaminess to complement the mildly salty cream cheese, this cake induces a blissful feeling when indulging in it.

Sumo Orange Tart is filled with floral citrus goodness of sumo orang, the light creaminess and nuanced tang of rare cheese and the flaky puff pastry. A delight to enjoy.

Mochi Mont Blanc - I never like mochi, but the novelty of using Japanese Chestnut cream as filling compels me to try this. While this does not convert me into a mochi lover, I will say this is the best mochi I ever have. The glutinous rice dough is incredibly thin, to the point that it tears up the moment I scratch the surface with a fork. And I think this is one of the reasons that makes it so much more delectable than any other mochi. Just a bit of the dough for that extra chewy texture and let the filling runs the show. The distinctively earthy flavour of fresh Japanese Chestnut cream is always a joy to savour. This is definitely worth a try, and it is not like one can get Japanese Chestnut Mochi everywhere.

Kuri Manju - As a fan of Japanese Chestnut, I must try this Japanese Chestnut bun, naturally. The skin is reminiscent of the one of baked mooncakes. The filling is consisted of mashed white kidney beans and the huge Japanese chestnut hidden in the centre. Considerably less oily than our mooncake, it is nice and healthy alternative to consider if in the mood to eat mooncake. But I would not say this is a must-try since it is really not bad, but not outstanding in anyway.

Fluffy Cream Roll - Being someone who prefers high cream-to-cake ratio, this cake, regretfully, does not meet my expectations. The fresh cream is of course nice, but there is not enough of it to add moisture to the slightly dry sponge—I am starting to think that maybe only butter cake sponge and cheesecake are not dry in my opinion. But this is great to give as gift since most people, not as particular about cream-to-cake ration as me, will like them and it is only $1.90 a piece.

As for the service, they tried to emulate Japanese kind of service. They are sort of there, but my box was sealed in the wrong way. I realized this when I got home and saw that the box top was supposed to be folded in such a way that a handle is formed. Intentional or not, I don't know. Anyway, this is a minor thing.

The shop looks very pretty due to the light brown wooden panels and shelves, and display of scores of cakes and snacks. The ambience does make it so tempting to get lots of the cakes.

More updates and photos coming soon after I visit the shop again!

My Thoughts: Nice!

Check out Chateraise's website for locations:

Carousel - Really Great for Family Gatherings

I had heard about Carousel all the time, with everyone raving about the place, so I do expect a huge crowd when I go there for Mother's Day celebration. And with this, my mind immediately brings out the stereotypical image of popular buffet places: chaotic, functional interior without consideration of aesthetics ... you get the idea. Well, the place is really crowded, with many people waiting at the lobby before opening hours, but I am pleasantly surprised to find the restaurant spotting a modern chic look with the ice cream counter located near the entrance to entice the patrons with pretty colours of the macarons. Most important of all, the place is very clean—a tall order for crowded places.

The awesome variety of food available is what makes this restaurant the top choice for gatherings since there is surely something here that one will like or suitable for consumption by kids. My favourite is definitely the seafood section, which has an impressive spread of fresh crabs, scallops, prawns, lobsters and oysters. The scallops and lobsters are very well-prepared as the flesh is not too chewy. The fact that the shells of the prawns can be easily peeled off with fork and knife is a testimony to the freshness of these crustaceans. The Canadian oysters are not crème de la crème of oysters, but judging them on their own, they are still pretty good. And of course, it helps that they are fresh.

As for the numerous live stations where the chefs are stationed there to prepare the food, I feel it is great to have these. But no comment on the food from here as I have not tried anything due to the crowd gathering in front of these stations. There are also many rows of trays packed with local delights. Frankly speaking, the variety here is almost dazzling. Though I only take the cumin seed basmati rice, smoked duck, duck salad and the fish since I am not into local food spread of international buffet. The rice is incredibly, fluffy, fragrant and flavourful. Besides the seafood, this got to be my favourite. As the fish, it is fresh with no fishy smell, so additional points for this. Smoked duck is a bit too tough in texture, and the smell of poultry is still too evident to my liking. They get it right for the duck in the salad though, due to the smooth texture of the meat.

The types of desserts featured is also impressive. Countless of cakes, soft-serve yoghurts, chocolate fondue, puddings, crème brûlée and ice-creams, it will be good to leave some room for them. I like the ice-cream section a lot because it has many unusual flavours of ice-cream to choose from, such as thai milk tea and chendol. I feel that there is no point in trying the ice-creams if they are of the same flavours as those supermarket ice-creams, right? Anyway, the chendol ice-cream really has the distinct strong taste of coconut milk, palm sugar and green rice flour jelly, which makes this an enjoyable treat. The crème brûlée is pretty good too due to the thick cream utilized to make the pudding part. The cakes are serviceable—nothing outstanding about them.

The service here is impeccable and wonderful. The staffs have smiles on their faces at all times and are always really to help. And given the huge crowd, they truly exceed my expectations to be able to cope with them. And even though the food is snapped up pretty fast, the staffs are extremely prompt in replenishing them, so there is hardly a moment where the plates or beds of ice are empty. And they even gave staffs cleaning up the accidental messes left by some patrons near the buffet counters. This is attention to details. Among the buffet restaurants I had visited, this restaurant got to the one that has the best service, not counting in those with semi-buffet spreads.

For dates, this is not the best place for me as I highly appreciate serenity, and jostling with the crowd is not my thing. Not to mention I prefer tapas form of appetizers and specifically prepared main courses. But for gatherings, I absolutely recommend this restaurant because the sheer variety of well-prepared food can cater to a spectrum of palates, where everyone will step out of the restaurant feeling satisfied.

My Thoughts: Nice!

Nearest car park: Royal Plaza on Scotts' car park
Nearest MRT: Orchard

Royal Plaza on Scotts, Lobby Level
25 Scotts Road
Contact No: 65897799

Brasserie Les Saveurs - Better than Ever

Despite writing about this restaurant before, I decide to post a new separate post on this place since the spread, with exception to the desserts, had gone through an overhaul. This time, they really get all things right.

Gone are the various types of meat and a couple of local dishes being stuffed into heated trays for patrons' takings. Replacing them are mains being cooked and served piping hot upon selection and indication to the service staff that one is ready for the main course. I totally love this change. While now one can only get one main dish unlike last time, it is a dish lovingly and specially cooked for the one who ordered it. And it is obvious more efforts are put into preparing of these dishes. Main dishes should be freshly cooked and served hot, with exception to Japanese sushi, sashimi somen and such, and picking or scooping mildly warm meats or vegetables cooked in various ways, fried rice and those usual suspects just does not work for me. This place had once changed the spread when I commented about the lack of variety in the mains section. This time, they exceed my expectations to provide more than just variety.

Variety is definitely there when it comes to choosing the mains. I opt for the vegetarian dish: Choux Gnocchi. Infused with the woody aroma of truffle, paired with the light, flavourful cream sauce, the chewy but not overly so dumplings taste exceptional. Even my companion, a meat eater, sings praises of this dish.

I only try a bit of the sea bass, and I can say it is a fish well-done—no fishy smell and nicely cooked to achieve a bit of grilled meat flavour while retaining the moisture and pliable texture.

Clockwise from top: butter, bread, potato salad, chuka hotate, smoked salmon with smoked trout underneath, jellyfish, foie gras terrine. Chicken salad in the centre.

The hors d'oeuvres were good last time due to the feature of pretty exotic dishes. Now, they are excellent because of the sheer variety of appetizers, with more seafood used. Staples are smoked salmon, potato salad, garden greens, hams, fresh sliced red tomatoes, maki rolls, salmon terrine, rillettes and salads that have beef, which I did not touch. These dishes do fine to cater to different palates, but what steal the show are the seasonal ones. Crab salad made with real, flavourful crab meat, and put out in generous portions, chuka hotate, jellyfish—yes, it's the kind most enjoy at wedding banquets, fresh, huge whole prawns, chicken salad—the combination of pickled capsicums and roasted sliced chicken simply works and foie gras terrine, which is a real decadent treat—the chocolate sponge may not be match made in heaven with the foie gras, but the duck liver is so insanely flavourful, without the oiliness, that I have no problem finishing two large slabs of them. The appetizers here are more than enough to create a happy belly.

Some of the breads score points from the herbs added into them.  There are namely two kinds of bread I will like: warm, freshly baked artisan breads and those with unique tastes that complement the dough well. And the bread I had tried belongs to the latter. Would have been better if they are served warm, but since this is a buffet, it is hard to nit-pick on this.

The additional Pacific Oysters ordered meet our expectations also, being fresh and clean in taste. And there is a nice touch of wrapping the lemon in muslin cloth so the fingers will not be drenched in lemon juice, and seeds will not be scattered all over the oysters.

Desserts are still as good and impressive. As seen in one of the photos below, my desserts of the day are Citrus shooter, where the mildly tangy citrus custard complements the rich cream very well, berry cake and Strawberry Champagne—champagne jelly and strawberry custard, the great pairing of tastes.

Service is as good as ever, and one of the managers even remembers us. The interior of the restaurant is very grand as I had mentioned before.

Last time, I had written that this restaurant is worth a try. Now, I will say this restaurant is a must try, especially when the lunch experience costs $54++ only.

Update: There are several changes to the menu, including the shrinking of the selection of the free-flow of appetizers. Mains are very different too. Yes, no more gnocchi that I love. It’s replacement is hardly noteworthy for me to even remember what it is. Hope things will go back to how it was soon.

My Thoughts: Nice!

Nearest car park: St Regis Hotel's car park
Nearest MRT: Orchard

The St Regis Hotel
Lobby Level
29 Tanglin Road
Singapore
Contact No: 65066860

Valrhona Chocolates

As I had said before in another post about gourmet chocolates, premium chocolates are totally different from the common ones found in most supermarkets. Premium ones are made from pure, natural ingredients, and the rich taste and smooth yet not waxy texture show it. Valrhona chocolate, famous for use in cakes, is definitely one of my favourite brands of chocolates.

It is not easy to find this brand of chocolates, so imagine my joy when I first spotted them in Emporium Shokuhin. Best of all, there are occasional discounts on specific types of chocolates, so I grabbed the ones on offer.

Andao has the richest chocolatey taste of the lot while Tanariva features the flavour of caramel, adding a hint of excitement to the taste. And amazingly, no caramel is added to Tanariva, the flavour comes from the cocoa itself. Yes, quality chocolates are like wines, they have their own characteristic bouquet and flavour. Ivoire has my nod of approval due to strong flavour of cocoa butter and the addition of raspberries to give that extra kick and crunchiness to the chocolate. Guanaja is elegant and intense in taste. I also like Manjari a lot due to its fruity taste.

For best appreciation of the chocolates, savour it at room temperature, or at least, not straight out from the fridge.

Country of Origin: France
Where to buy: Emporium Shokuhin (This grocer is currently not in operation)