Au Chocolat

Hello! (: 

It's been terribly long since I last updated =( Life has taken over and I am finding it increasingly difficult to find time to update this space but I will do my best! (: 

I have been to Au Chocolate twice in the past month and frankly speaking, I'm glad that I decided to pop by this place because they serve fantastic food and drinks! (:

If you haven't already heard, Au Chocolat's Hot Fudge ($10) is THE best hot chocolate drink I've tasted in Singapore! (: It's creamy, thick and extremely heartwarming! You'll probably find this too gelat if you aren't a huge chocolate fan like me but I absolutely adore it! I ordered this drink both times I went there and it didn't disappoint! If there were another Au Chocolat outlet near my place, I'd definitely pop by more often!

Their mains are pretty decent too! We had the Au Chocolat Eggs Benedict ($18), which was just nice for someone with an average appetite. The chocolate sauce was interesting but nothing too queer for the tastebuds so this dish was actually quite alright (: 

This is how The Great Carnivore Breakfast Set ($20) looks like. You can have this if you feel like having a big omelette! I'm pretty sure it'll fill you up (:

I was totally unprepared for how sinful their French Toast ($18) was going to be! Personally I dislike whipped cream and I will try my best not to eat too much cream because it makes me feel pukish but I daringly ate ALL the whipped cream shown in this photo (and suffered for it later hurhur) because I was famished! =S In all honesty, I felt that this was a tad too decadent for my liking because not only was there copious amount of cream, the toast was also deep-fried so it felt like a mega artery-clogging dish. Haha Nevertheless, I managed to finish the entire set of French Toast but I would strongly encourage people to share this instead of trying to eat it on your own (unless you are very hungry of course).

To top it all off, we ordered truffle fries ($15), which came in a HUGE paper cone as pictured above. It definitely is sufficient for 3-5 people and if you like the smell of truffle, then this would definitely hit the spot for you! Try it! (:

My sister and I went back again during CNY period and we had the savoury and sweet crepe. I think the savoury crepes are very worth it because they are chokful of ingredients! (: The sweet crepe that I ordered was just average so I think I might need to order another kind of sweet crepe the next time I visit.

Yup that is all for now. Have a great week ahead! (:

Peach Garden

Hello! Happy Chinese New Year! (:

Like in previous years, my family went to Thomson Plaza again for lunch on the first day of the lunar new year this year because it is en route to my grandparents' place. We usually end up at Sushi Tei or Peach Garden for lunch and since Sushi Tei was closed today, we ended up at Peach Garden.

Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait long for a table, unlike in previous years. We also noticed that the restaurant was less packed than usual and my father attributed that to the relatively bad economy. Well we weren't complaining because my sisters were starving by the time we reached Peach Garden and fewer occupied tables means that we can possibly get our food more quickly! (:

I find it interesting that they served us four mandarin oranges, two on each plate. My sisters actually took the mandarin oranges home because they intend to use them for visiting tomorrow. What I did not expect was that the 2 plates of tidbits actually come at a price of $5/ plate! That is daylight robbery for such traditional sweet biscuits that we barely touched! =( I think one of my sisters just took ONE of the many pieces and they charged us $10 for two plates of virtually untouched tidbits. Pffft. I hope that they'll serve the usual peanuts or something in future so that I won't feel so indignant for paying for something that I don't like and won't eat.

Okay this is where the mayhem begins. There's this magic trolley with all the fried dimsums were placed in and we had quite a roll trying to get that particular dimsum lady to our table so that we could get food immediately! The job was given to one of my sisters who was seated nearest the lady with the fried dimsum trolley. So when the trolley came, they happily ordered three dishes unfortunately, I did not catch a single word of what the dimsum lady said and that means that I've no idea what they ordered! Erps. Well I consulted my sister who was part of the ordering duo and she said that all three fried dishes are prawn dishes, in varying forms so I am guessing this photo shows fried prawn balls ($4.80). As with all fried food, it is hard to go wrong and all three dishes were pretty alright (:

Fried Mango Prawns ($4.80). I actually quite like this dish and I remember us ordering this on previous visits as well.

My sister says that this is "some fried prawn roll with meat and seaweed" ($4.50). Haha! And her subsequent descriptions don't seem to help so I'm going to leave it at that!

Oh I managed to order my dimsum staple - salted yolk custard bun ($1.40 each). I think it is crucial to eat this bun when it's warm else it won't taste as good.

Xiao long baos ($1.50 each). These were so-so. We ordered six and my sisters had two each! (: 

Steamed prawn rice roll ($5.10 per plate of 3 rolls). I thought that the chee chong fun skin was a bit on the thick side but I still liked it nevertheless! (: I didn't know that each plate came with 3 rolls and accidentally ordered two plates =S I must remember to check in future.

My favourite vegetable dish: Broccoli and scallops ($57). I had no idea that this dish costs so much =( I had always known that it was expensive but $57 is a bit too much, no? I need to learn to cook this dish in future so that I can have it at home for less than $57! But we thoroughly enjoyed this dish so it was worth it!

Sweet & sour fish slices ($36). I loved how these thin slices of fish were so fresh and well-cooked! Definitely one of the better sweet & sour fish dishes I've had so far (: 

Homemade beancurd with crab sauce ($7/ piece). I love tofu and I usually order one tofu dish when we have Chinese food. I am glad we choose this tofu dish because it was something new. The crab sauce wasn't overpowering and it actually went quite well with the veggies! Definitely worth having again.

Seafood fried rice ($33). This dish will come a close second to the horrendously expensive tidbits in terms of satisfaction and quality. The fried rice was pretty bland and it didn't have any special flavour or kick. Oh well. At least we know not to order this in future!

All in all, it was a satisfying meal and I am glad that I finally got to eat one proper Chinese meal this lunar new year! (: I am looking forward to more yummy food in the next few days! (:

Alright that is all. Have a great week ahead and happy lunar new year once again! (:

Robert Timms

Hello everyone! (:

I just had breakfast at Macdonalds at King Albert Park for the first time in ages and I'm still pretty amazed at how Macdonalds always manage to taste so consistently good (: Yum.

Another alternative place that serves breakfast meals with consistently good quality is Robert Timms! (: I really like going to Robert Timms for their all-day breakfast sets because they never fail to pick me up!

We would usually order their cappuccino ($6.30) because that is our default coffee drink! This time we didn't request for the usual animal-stenciled-coffee art so we got this swirly thing that you see above. 

During my last visit, however, I spotted Chai Tea Latte ($5.80) on the menu and I couldn't resist ordering it! (: It was actually one of the sweetest chai tea latte that I've had and non-biting, so it didn't really hit the spot for me but it was still not bad! (: Would consider this my alternative drink whenever I visit Robert Timms.

As usual, I would always go for their French Toast with Fruits ($11.80) and it never fails to satisfy me (: I will attempt to make this one day!

Matty had the Breakfast Down Under ($15.50) that day and it was so-so. I guess it can be a tad more spectacular if the sausage had a more authentic feel to it but we aren't complaining cos it's more than decent for the price paid (:

I really like Robert Timms and it's fast becoming one of my default places to go when I want to have a simple, quick meal (: Not only are the serving sizes and prices reasonable, the standard of the food is generally average or above average and that's sufficient for a simple meal!

Have a great weekend and a fantastic time celebrating Lunar New Year! (:

Earle Swensen's

Hello! (:

If you realised, I've stopped buffet-hopping for a while now partly because I've sort of run out of buffets that I'm dying to try and also because we need to book way in advance for popular buffet places and I'm not sure if I can commit to the reservations that I will be making so I generally stay away from buffets for now.

However, we had to make an exception sometime last month because we were FAMISHED by lunch time and we desperately needed to be fed! I had wanted to lunch at Sizzler's (because they have an incredible salad bar in my opinion) but the branch at Suntec closed down and I was way too lazy to search for another Sizzler's outlet then so the next best lunch place popped into mind: Earle Swensen's! (:

It seemed like a perfect idea to visit Earle Swensen's then because it had a salad bar which means that we could start eating the moment we finished placing our orders! Oh my I do sound like a glutton now but trust me, we were REALLY hungry! haha

Thankfully, luck was on our side that day because the salad bar was stocked with yummy dishes! Unlike the predictable dishes at Sizzler's salad bar, Earle Swensen's changes by the day and sometimes if you are unlucky, you might visit Earle's on the day where the salad dishes aren't appealing to you at all. We helped ourselves to many plates of salad dishes but stopped taking photos after the first few plates because the items became repetitive.. so here are some of the items on offer that day:

For the uninitiated, you are entitled "free-flow salad bar" if you order one of their main dishes but you can also order "salad bar" ala carte if you are feeling just peckish and don't wish to have a main. However, as all pricing schemes go, the "set meal" aka mains + salad bar prices are always more enticing and more 'worth it' than the salad bar ala carte so you tend to go for the set meal.

That day, Matty chose to have the Fish & Chips ($18.90), which is never a wrong option at Earle Swensen's! I think it is one of the safest and most affordable dish one can have (: I adore the fries!

I chose to have the Cajun Salmon ($26.90), which for some strange reason seems to be my 'default' dish at this place because I almost always end up choosing this. Hmmm. Perhaps it's the combination of different textures on the plate that appeals to me or that it is, relatively speaking, more colourful than its fish&chips counterpart? Whatever the reason, I think this dish is great! I would recommend it if you like salmon (:

We must have had too many plates of salad because we were too stuffed for desserts and had to give that a miss! Oh welly. Perhaps next time! Alright that's all for now (: It's late and it's time for bed! Goodnight!

P.S. You can add me on instagram if you want to look at some photos taken using my hp! (: You can find me @janlimmy. Goodnight again! (: