The Little Princess @ Sebastian's for Breakfast

My little princess of a 'niece' is so adorable I could die. Look at that greedy face, I obviously can't deny my penchant and love for dogs, they are so cute! And when they are related, I love them to bits. We had the pleasure of her highness on a lazy Saturday morning when we had Breakfast with B and L at Greenwood.

The usual laid-back suburban neighbourhood apparently comes alive with the bustling of too many an expat families bringing the kids and pets along with their bicycles to get their weekly groceries, coffee, and freshly baked bread.
Sebastian's' was already well into it's breakfast crowd as we settled into the deck chairs on the patio. Simba was also impatiently eye-balling B for her breakfast stick.

The waitress came out to take our orders and asked if we were for the regular or jumbo coffee. As you guessed, G (C calls him kopi ah-peh for good reason) ordered the jumbo. I only take sips to awake the system within, so I got the regular cup. When our coffee arrives, it's more like a giant bowl of coffee then a cup!

I was obsessed with my pancake craze again. And like the time we went to Epicuruous, they only had french toast, no dreamy fluffy pipping hot pancakes. So I ordered the french toast to side my Egg Perigourdine with soldiers.

As much as I love my lazy brunches on Saturday mornings, it was horrific to see two gigantic plates coming for me! The french toast looked golden brown lovely, with the freshly cut strawberries and icing sugar but way too overwhelming for a side order. Crispy and fragrant on the outside, cinnamon-spiced and moist on the inside, with a generous trickle of maple syrup, it was a more then satisfactory cure for my gnawing crave.

The eggs were also served an a giant platter. Richly baked with foie gras and drizzled in truffle oil, I felt guilty even ordering the potent combination at 10am in the morning. But apart from the feeling of richness, oiliness and heaviness, the eggs weren't that great. Perhaps I prefer them well-done and any variation of runny eggs just don't sit well for me. The chicken sausage and wild mushroom ragout was yummy though.

Another reason why the eggs probably didn't agree with me, was because I was coveting after B's eggs Florentine that looked sooo good! He pitied the other greedy dog next to him and gave me a pinch of the egg whites, and they were quite well done I must say.

But creativity probably ends there for the menu I suppose. It didn't take long for our four breakfast plates to settle on the table before we realised, we had pretty much ordered the same thing. We all had baked beans, a sausage, bacon and mushroom ragout. The only changes were our egg orders. So I guess variety and novelty isn't their thing.

I guess that's the thing about European / Western breakfasts, there is minimum variety. Its either bread or danishes or pancakes; eggs of all types and the usual suspects of sausages, baked beans and ham. Unlike Chinese breakfast options, (beehoon today, chweeh kueh tomorrow, kaya toast the next, etc) I guess one European cafe from another can only be differentiated by the size of their coffee cups and the premiums they place on their eggs and french toasts. Not very exciting.

Sebastien’s Bistrot

12, Greenwood Avenue Singapore 289204

Tel: 6465-1980

Time to Pluck an Assortment of Moons to Eat

I realized that as I aged, I don't really fancy mooncakes anymore. But when they are in every colour, shape, size and flavour bombarding your every space, sight and smell, it's really hard to avoid this interesting Chinese tradition.
The mooncake has always amazed me. It's nothing like that Western fluffy cakes we are used to. Its just a lump of lotus paste , or variations with recent funky creations, wrapped around a baked pastry skin, or an elastic snowy smooth and soft skin - with the occasional egg yolk or truffle surprise within to tease the senses further.
But the regular, or novelty mooncake, has probably out lived several a traditions and fads - bubble tea, gelato, doughnuts...

Raffles the Plaza MoonCakes - Champagne Truffle, Baileys with chocolate truffle, Rum and Raisn and Lychee, Almond and chocolate
So what makes the mooncake so desirable then? That every year, people flock to Takashimaya or Chinatown, to brave the maddening crowds and frightening queues, just to snag boxes up boxes of mooncakes? Even credit cards, hotel chains and ice cream giants have jumped onto this bang-wagon, offering discount packages, chef specials and intriguing flavour mooncakes to win the hearts of the most customers every year. I propose 3 possible reasons:
#1 Like CNY, tis the Cheenah season to be enjoyed only once a year.
Like everything else, the theory of marginal utilities applies. When fads hit, they hit with a vengeance and give people no room to breathe in between. So after the 10th doughnut, you kind of hit your maximum overload. Demand falls, nausea sets in and the queues deplete. Chains close and franchises become part of history.
But wisely set only 1 month for these little mooncakes to be available, and suddenly, its a roaring trade idea. Offer novelty and 'Bam' you are secured your truckload of money.
#2 We are Chinese, we still fall back on tea to feel good.
Every Singaporean overeats, we enjoy the occasional binge from time to time. And more often then not, our wardrobes are stuffed with clothes we could only button completely a month ago. So we deceive ourselves into drinking tea. We are a diuretic-beverage consuming nation, we manifest on tea, coffee but when we are digesting, we lean towards tea, to comfort ourselves that we are soothing the stomach.
But like every habitual Singaporean, we got to have something with the tea. We love our mooncakes with tea. Chinese, fruit, floral, herbal, green...whatever form and types they come in, with nutritional value or without, we love our teas and inevitably look for the suitable snack to enjoy it with.
Don't believe me, count the number of mooncake booths and set ups that don't have at least a tea promotion counter included - they are probably the ice-cream mooncakes.
#3 We are Asian, we thrive on being labeled filial.
We like to be called filial. That's suppose to be one of our purported values. That's why we can't move our before we turn 35 and are expected to repay our parents for our education.
So any occasion that celebrates no reason to buy cakes to pay respects to the elderly, it's a good business. It's like the 'bak-kuah' to CNY, the 'log-cake' or 'present' for Christmas, it's another good and convenient way to display filial piety.
For girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives, good time to score points too. Time to hunt down the best mooncakes and fragrant tea and become the top favourite.
So since the reasons beckon, I'll be stuffing myself with all types of mooncakes and some will probably find their way into a post or two here. =)

La Strada - The new Canteen on the Block

After my recent bout of bad food, stressful and horrid projects and deadlines, going somewhere nice on a precious Friday night was one inviting offer from Hubs I couldn't resist. After much deliberation and surfing through a few old reviews untried and tested, my dear considerate husband decided on La Strada, so that would leave me some time after dinner to catch some equally precious shopping time.

The famous Italian restaurant at Shaw Centre has changed hands, looks and chefs so any times, to be perfectly honest, I didn't know what was their speciality anymore. After a few reviews, it seems, the chef had added a humble wood-fire oven and pizzeria counter to the fine-dinning Italian restaurant and ironically, this has caused more stir.
Don't know if its the strong influence of Bonta, or just plain greediness, we decided to share the quail and foie gras ravioli for our appetisers for want of not feeling nauseous just on the first course. Unfortunate for us and La Strada, they weren't kidding when the singular was used on the ravioli in the menu. It was terribly embarrassing to have a single ravioli sitting prettily on it's bed of mushrooms and juices, shared among two very evidently hungry diners. Apart from the portions, the ravioli was quite yummy. The pasta shell was well cooked and the foie gras, firm and not too mushy.

I savoured only a little bite and left the rest for G. Had to save some stomach space for my recommended beef ribs and G's signature mud crab tagliolini. I would have loved to try their pizza's but hubs hates pizza and I wasn't about to entertain binging on an entire pizza all by myself, even though it was a friday night.
When my beef ribs arrived, I knew almost immediately that it was the perfect choice for me. A little on the small side, the braised beef ribs was so soft and tender. The tangy and creamy tomato sauce complemented by reinforcing a nice fuzzy warm feeling of 'rustic, comfort food'.

I felt bad for hubby though, he didn't really seem to enjoy his pasta. Based on appearance, I wouldn't have marked this signature as over-rated and a disappointment. Laced generously with fresh crab meat and herbs, it seems like it packed quite a punch. The smell of the crab was a little too over-powering, the white wine and olive oil was too faint. Overall, the dish failed to marvel. Sad.

So with mixed opinions on the offerings on 'the street', we decided to roll out our verdict only after we had dessert. The sweet treats were extensive in selection and all decadently tempting. Safe from ordering the whole selection, we zoomed in on a dessert platter for two. Served on a long platter, we had the tiramisu (G's choice), Italian doughnuts with warm chocolate sauce (my choice), mixed berry jelly with champagne foam, dark chocolate lava cake, rich vanilla panna cotta and a raspberry cheesecake.
And everything was good..
All the right textures and flavours; richness, and smoothness; sweetness and tartness, perfect endings.

Well 3 out of 4, that's not too bad. Although, I don't expect we will be coming back here. Strangely enough, we never revisit most of our Italian haunts.. Sans Bonta of course. =)

Miss Clarity - Your Cafe has Made me Seen Clearer

There has been soo much hype and hoop-lah revolving around the Miss Clarity Cafe along Purvis street. So when they opened a second one along Thomson Road, I was ecstatic. Finally, I get to try the place without so much as melting off a pound of fat walking 15 minutes to the Purvis street cafe from my office building for lunch.

The bubblegum interior furnishing I must say, appeal to the young and hippy Uni undergrads. Plastered along the walls are cute pictures of stick-skinny happy looking girls (no wonder this place coined its catch-phrase as "Where happy people meet) giving the place a sense of youthful vibrancy. The pink and green colour splashes throughout probably help to intensify the character of the cafe too I suppose.

The food unfortunately, left much awanting. The menu was however, one-kind of extensive!
A little over the top and alot of an identity crisis displayed - specials come from all possible cuisines, Italian, Chinese Western, French, Hainanese, and even Spanish! Taking a stab in the dark, my close girlfriend and I shared an order of cheese fries, lobster linguini and lamb with a Provence crust.

Our leap of faith paid off for the cheese fries. The cheese was absolutely yummy. Nothing of the cheap creamy curds you get at movie theatres with the stale nachos. Oh no... our fries were served with a full glass aside of creamy fresh melted cheddar cheese. So sweet, and creamy, the only gribe I had was the thick-cut soggy fries that came with. Next time I'm bring my own nachos or an empty container.. =p

The mains failed to impress though. The lamb was ordinary and even though the four lamb chops were served with a generous heap of tomato sauce, the lamb felt dry and tasteless.

The pasta didn't fare any better. The pasta was decently done in a tomato base sauce but the biggest faux pas for any restaurant/cafe to commit has got to be the freshness of the food served. The lobster wasn't too fresh and probably put me off any seafood from this place if I do come back for a second visit.

The cafe seems to manage on the snacks and light bites, but I think with the mains, there seems to be a struggle to get even the basics and simple touches right. Perhaps it would be ideal to remove a substantial portion of the menu and focus on getting a few simple favourites right.

For desserts, they have a range of delectable sinful cakes or an equally sinful choice of Ben & Jerrys' ice cream. We went for the chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

My chocoholic friend, who eats chocolate in any form and loves chocolate in many forms, proclaimed that this has got to be the worse chocolate lava cake she has ever eaten.. - and we are just going to leave it at that.

So a great place to hang out, a funky place to feel young and sweet again, a perfect pit stop for snacks and bites. But I think that's about it to this little perky cafe.

MISS CLARITY CAFE

5 Purvis Street, 01-04

Tel: 6339-4803

Open: 11am to 11pm, closed Sundays

205 Upper Thomson Road

Tel: 6256-2008

Open: 11am to 11pm, closed Mondays

Barracks@Dempsey

My virgin experience at the new Dempsey Road dinning hangout was truly mixed. The plan was to try out "Prime Society" but that was shot to dust as they were hosting a rather high profile private party.

With, that we headed to Barracks, another big feature at Dempsey as it is built upon the previous army camp and hence the adoption of the name. However the nomenclature is the only thing that remained nostalgic about it's heritage, the decor, the food, the school uniform-donning waiters/resses took on a more trendy approach.

There is a choice of out-door or in-door seating. Considering the possibility of visiting frogs, seating inside would be a wiser choice. Even so, back-to-nature still predominates. Within, there are choices to either have simple dining tables with simple plastic chairs, or Victorian-styled plush rigid framed chairs, or dining by candle-light outside with a panoramic view of what nature has to offer. Big parties can opt for the long wooden tables or the 'Green House' - a little glass-house tucked nicely in a corner for private parties.

In the middle of the restaurant sits a little display area where large glass jars containing a variety of tea and cookies providing the finishing homely touches to the dimly lit and romantic ambiance.


The menu is extensive, and hence, so were our orders. We ordered some appetisers, mainly along the familiar lines of the bread medley and 3 assorted chunky dips, and improving from the side menu offerings - potato fries sprinkled with truffle oil, and grilled corn on the cob that came highly recommended. There was an overwhelming selection of exotic and crazy sounding salads. For the cows and grass-eaters, that's good new for you.. *barf* for me.


The food, unfortunately, did not come army-style: rigidly to-time and at exactly 20-zero hour. The wait in-between appetizer and mains warranted a second order of truffle oil fries - which, is superb by the way. Skinny and crisp, like all fries should be, these yummy little finger foods came with such a lovely after-flavour of musky truffle, heavenly.


Fries a frenzy, our dinner finally arrived. Our fresh crab meat Capellini was mixed with a delightful creamy base, not too overpowering, but flavourful enough.
The veal cheeks were tender as expected but a little lacking in taste and disappointingly, lacking in size.


The food, is sadly forgettable and nothing of impact that will draw me back to this place. The ambiance is probably its main drawing power right now as it's score well for first dates. Perhaps if the menu, changes, or the portions got bigger for the fries, I would find myself back in the barracks.. but that's only a promised 'maybe'.

Barracks8D Dempsey Road
Tel: 6475-7787.
http://www.dempseyhouse.com/

Friday Late Night Inspirations - Necessary Evil

I've recently come to know a very interesting person, whom I now call a friend. Such is the quirkiness of one of his statements that I am actually blogging again, and on a Friday late night inspiration for that matter.

What constitutes necessary evil?

There are apparently two forms of desire in any individual. One, takes the intense and personal form of idiosyncratic and secret desires. They encompass desires that watched us grow, desires that shaped our ideals, strong passion and values that shake our very core of being and rock our worlds. These are the ideals we hide from the world.

Then there are the desires that belong to others. Desires that scream like demons, demanding everything we've got. These are what society deems as "good-to-have" and what society expects from every responsible and eager over-achiever.

Necessary evil is then the inevitable consequent need to marry the two desires and reconcile the cognitive dissonance. The need to find a balance between the devil within and the deep blue sea without. The constant struggle to satisfy the internal wants that contents and pleases oneself while reaching out to fulfill the approval and expectations of others.

This, in a nutshell, is what I have come to know so well this year - obligations. The need to do the things we do for the sake of doing it because we should and have to do so. The very familiar external force which compels us to mould our desires into the very shape of what others dictate them to be. This has been the very force I have been trying to fight since the beginning of a few significant episodes in my life.

Well, its always inspiring to gain fresh perspectives to same old familiar stories. And to know that we are not the only ones in the world trying to put a spin on the happenings and goings of life to make it just that little easier to accept and understand.

Enough said, time to switch of the philosophical-waste-time-ponderings and off to bed.