Marmalade Pantry

Hello! (:

The school hols has officially arrived and I'm really happy about regaining my temporary freedom! (: In addition, I'm starting to feel the festive atmosphere and I love it! =) It feels good to be able to do what I want (most of the time anyway) and not dread having to travel to the far reaches of this tiny planet for school!

To usher the school hols in, Jeffrey and I paid a visit to the popular Marmalade Pantry at Ion last weekend!
As expected, it was quite packed and almost all their seats were taken! Thankfully, we made a reservation and hence we didn't have to wait too long to get seated.

Tiny Christmas tree on the table top for decoration. I was reading their Christmas brochure and it seems like they've quite a number of nice festive promotions! =)

Salt and pepper shakers, a bowl of sugar cubes and a glass of water. I really like the simplicity of their layout. It's fuss-free and classy (:

Fruit juice ($8). As I'm on a "rebalancing" phase, I asked for orange banana juice (which isn't in their drinks menu) and I was pleased that they would be able to make it! It was yummy.

Eggs Any Style ($16). Frankly speaking, most items on their menu look very appetizing so I'd a hard time deciding what to eat. In the end, I opted for this weekend brunch dish because I love "American" breakfast! Everything, including the tomato, was well done (: I especially liked the toast and the eggs!

Crabmeat Linguini ($22). Jeffrey tried their famous crabmeat linguine and true enough, it was scrumptious! He polished the entire plate of linguini! (: I think we'll definitely go back again to try their other signature dishes.

As with our mains, we'd a hard time choosing something from their tantalizing dessert menu! Every item looked delectably delicious and I'd a tough time deciding what to eat. Eventually, we settled for a humongous slice of Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge Cake ($7.80). The cake was moist enough though I felt that it wasn't particularly fudgey except for the thin layers of fudge on top and in the middle. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful dish to end off our meal (:

Prior to this visit, Jeffrey and I actually patronized the Marmalade Pantry outlet at Holland Village before it closed down. We went during tea time and we weren't aware of their serving sizes then so we each ordered a slice of cake. When our cakes came, we were shocked to see that they were much larger than expected! If you aren't really a cake person or if you're not particularly hungry, I'd advise you to not order an entire slice of cake for yourself because you'll definitely have a problem finishing it. Thankfully, Jeffrey and I were pretty hungry on that fortunate day that we visited Marmalade Pantry so we managed to finish our cakes! Amazing feat.

The Marmalade Carrot Cake ($7.80). Their carrot cake is much denser than Cedele's but it is chokeful of flavour and goodness! Carrot cake lovers will probably appreciate this cake! (:

Cheesecake ($7.80). This cheesecake didn't leave a distinct impression so I guess it was pretty average. I remember liking the base though =)

I've been putting off this visit to Marmalade Pantry for quite a while because I find the food pretty pricey but the quality of food served makes up for the teensy hole in the pocket at the end of the meal. Thankfully, Jeffrey and I didn't have to pay much for this meal because we applied and made use of the White Card! (: It's basically a card which offers discounts at a number of good (and often expensive, at least to me) restaurants! =) It's quite a worthwhile investment if you enjoy eating! In fact, the total cost of our meal was $36.35 because we'd a $22.90 discount all thanks to the White Card! (: Check it out if you're interested! (:

Kuishin Bo

Hello everyone! (:

We've a nice & long weekend ahead of us! Wheehee! The weather's been amazingly sunny these three days and I hope it stays this way for a while more because it's troublesome to go out when it's raining. What plans have you made? Jeffrey and I will be having our weekly good food date as usual this coming Saturday =)

Speaking of food, I'd like to recommend a value-for-money buffet to all Japanese food lovers! You should check out Kuishin Bo lunch/ dinner buffet because it's FANTASTIC! (: It's not as expensive as buffets at hotels and their range of food is nothing short of AWESOME! (: There's just SO much to eat and I doubt anyone can try EVERY SINGLE DISH on display.

My family used to dine at Kuishin Bo pretty often before it decided to abolish the ala carte ordering system. My family members (excluding myself) are relatively small eaters so we stopped visiting Kuishin Bo after it adopted the buffet concept.

Needless to say, it's been a while since I ate at Kuishin Bo and I'm impressed with the quantity and quality of food served! Jeffrey and I went for their weekend lunch buffet at Great World City last week. We paid $36/pax (including GST) and we feel that it's worth every cent paid!

The enormous signboard outside the restaurant which indicates the different prices of buffets.

One of my gripes about the buffets that we've been to is that they only include water, coffee and tea but exclude the repertoire of 'common' drinks such as soft drinks and fruit juices. Kuishin Bo didn't give me the opportunity to whine about the lack of 'common' drinks because we could have free flow supply of soft drinks, fruit juices, tea (there were many kinds of tea bags for you to choose) as well as coffee/ latte/ milo (from the machine). We were bowled over by the amount of drinks on offer and I was thankful that I didn't have to go through the usual financial dilemma regarding whether or not to order a cup of overpriced sprite.

Two cups of orange juice.

The hot milo tasted so good that each of us had a cup each!

Clam Chowder. The soup was light and non-viscous and I liked it very much. There were three other kinds of soup to choose from so soup lovers will adore the soup station.

Jeffrey usually starts his meal with some salad (usually plain lettuce) and sides such as potato salad and fried rice.

Side dishes: Sweet potato, potato salad, crabmeat mixture, cold noodles with vegetables (tasted like the Japanese version of cold hokkien mee).

I couldn't resist having some sashimi so I treated myself to some salmon sashimi as well as some potato salad, a california maki and a triple crabmeat sushi (yum!).

More triple crabmeat sushi, california makis, crabmeat sushi, 'simple' sushis and one prawn tempura.

Prawn handroll, crayfish (everyone was eating it as if it is some kind of delicacy but Jeffrey said it was so-so only), gluttinous rice and more sushis.

Tempura prawn handroll.

Seafood hotpot. We don't usually go for such soupy stuff but somehow it seemed to be calling out to us that day so we decided to order one to share. The soup base was surprisingly sweet and the condiments were pretty delicious as well.

Stir fried vegetables with chilli, gluttinous rice, seafood in cream sauce and japanese curry.

Takoyaki/ Octopus balls. They weren't very warm so they weren't as tasty as I expected them to be.

Grilled dory and salmon with terriyaki sauce. The fish fillets were really well done and if I'd enough stomach space, I'd definitely go for another round of fish!

More fried rice, prawn tempura, a solo sushi and Japanese version of chicken satay (which wasn't fantastic).

It's finally time for desserts! Kuishin Bo's dessert spread exceeded my expectations. Not only did it include Japanese desserts like mochis and konyaku jellies, it had 'western' desserts including 'gourmet' chocolates! Simply too good to be true (: (: (:

Chocolate eclair, chocolate banana mousse cake, three types of gourmet chocolates.

Brownie, oreo cheesecake, another kind of chocolate, black sesame mochi, apple crumble tartlet!

Vanilla icecream which had a milkier texture than expected. Nice (:

Chocolate mousse, mango mousse, green tea cheesecake, marble cheesecake.

Due to limited stomach capacity, we didn't manage to try all their desserts but I assure you that there're still some more food and desserts that we didn't manage to try! If you are craving for a hearty Japanese meal, please go to Kuishin Bo! You'll not regret it! =)

Bistro Petit Salut

Hello! (:

Since my previous post was on French food, I've decided to do a short post on our visit to Bistro Petit Salut during the first half of the year. Like Au Petit Salut, Bistro Petit Salut is another French restaurant that serves quality food at reasonable prices. Compared to Au Petit Salut, Bistro gives a more homely feeling and I think it's a better place for families or close friends to catch up and have a pleasant meal together (:

We went for the $25++/pax lunch set and it consists of a three course meal with complimentary coffee and tea. Some of the items on Bistro's menu can be found in Au Petit Salut's menu as well. They've modified their menu since our last visit so some of the items that we ordered can't be found on their current menu. Nevertheless, I believe they're worth featuring (:

Complimentary bread. I don't really recall how this tasted so I guess it was pretty normal.

For starters, both of us ordered a caesar salad each. I love caesar salads because it has such a rich taste.

Angel-hair pasta with vegetables and mushrooms. I remember being awed by this dish because I didn't expect it to carry with it such a flavourful taste. It is, without a doubt, one of the few fantastic vegetarian pasta dishes that I've tasted so far.

Jeffrey had steak with fries, which was something like the Onglet that he had at Au Petit Salut except that his steak was drizzled in some kinda green sauce (as seen above). He prefers his Onglet dish at Au Petit Salut so I guess this dish isn't the best one to offer if you're not feeling adventurous on that day.

For desserts, Jeffrey chose to have blueberry cheesecake with green apple sorbet. I thought that his dessert had a lovely combination but because he doesn't like blueberry and he dislikes sour things, this dish wasn't to his liking.

Being the chocolate lover that I am, I chose to have warm chocolate lava cake with vanilla icecream. It was so well done that I literally wiped my plate clean! Thumbs up! (:

Bistro Petit Salut is THE place to go if you want to try out authentic French fare without forking out too much money (: Do try it if you're feeling frenchy! (:

Au Petit Salut @Harding Road

Hello!

The weather's been lovely all weekend and it definitely makes me feel more cheery! (: Jeffrey and I celebrated our friend's birthday last week at Au Petit Salut and so I'm going to blog about our experience there today. We've been to Au Petit Salut before and both of us enjoyed the food tremendously so we were looking forward to celebrating our friend's birthday there! (:

Each table has a little cup of flowers/ leaves for decoration.

So far, we've only tried their lunch menu because their dinner menu's pretty pricey! We'll probably get around to trying their dinner menu sometime in the near future or whenever we're feeling particularly rich. =)

We ordered two frizzes because they were having a 1-for-1 promotion.

Jeffrey and I chose to share a Pina Colada ($9) which was thick, creamy and rich. We liked it a lot!

Our friend chose to have the Orange Frizz ($9) which was light and refreshing (:

Complimentary bread which was warm and soft & a cold slab of butter. I love having cold butter on warm soft bread, somehow the difference in temperature is extremely palateable to me.

Each of us had the $30++/ pax set lunch which consists of an appetizer, a main, dessert and complimentary coffee/ tea. Since Au Petit Salut has kindly made their menu available online, I can refer to it for the names of dishes!

Our friend chose to have this starter which I can't seem to locate on the menu but it's essentially salad with some kind of meat.
Tuna tartare with fresh basil and olive oil, rocket salad and croutons. It was pretty alright though I would prefer not to have rocket salad because I don't think I like rocket leaves that much.
Vegetable soup of the day! (: I liked this soup because it wasn't too creamy or too thick, definitely a good starter to have if you want to have something light.

Pan seared onglet beef served with confit shallots and french fries. Jeffrey had this the first time we visited Au Petit Salut and he decided that he likes it a lot so he ordered it again this time! I hope he'll try something different the next time we visit, otherwise it'll probably end up as his default Au Petit Salut main dish.

Crispy filo pastry filled with ragout of braised duck, mushroom puree and salad. Our friend said that the duck was nothing short of awesome! The layer covering the duck meat was thin and crispy and it was a good complement to the warm and juicy duck meat. =)

Wild mushroom risotto with baby spinach and Parmesan cheese. I loved my risotto! I ate every morsel of it! Heh. Both of them tasted it and commented that it was very well cooked =) People who cannot stand cheese or creamy stuff may find this a bit too overpowering so unless you're prepared for a high dosage of cheese and milk, don't order this because you'll probably not be able to finish it.

Creme brulee infused with Madagascar vanilla beans. I had this during my previous visit and it was mouth-wateringly good! I've not eaten many creme brulees in my life but this was definitely one of the nicer ones that I've tasted thus far!

Home made chocolate icecream, chocolate milk and chocolate sauce. Jeffrey chose to have this chocolatey dessert and he quite liked it =)

Choux buns filled with vanilla icecream in warm chocolate sauce and sliced almonds. I couldn't resist ordering this because I remember it being sinfully good! It has a mix of chocolate AND icecream, which are two of my favourite sweet things! This would by my default dessert choice if I can't decide on what to order.

Here are some photos that Jeffrey and I took on our previous visit:

I think they served us wholemeal bread the other time.

Tuna tartare with fresh basil and olive oil, rocket salad and croutons. I know this looks very different from the photo above so I'm wondering whether they've changed the way they prepare this dish. Hmmm.

Oh I remember being enchanted by this fish dish! It was SOOO good! Unfortunately it's not on the menu anymore so I can't have it. The little yellow ball-like things went so well with the fish fillet. I was actually looking forward to eating this dish again but thankfully my mushroom risotto didn't disappoint.

Jeffrey had the Onglet as mentioned before.

The default dessert choice: choux buns filled with vanilla icecream, chocolate sauce and sliced almonds.

Creme brulee.
Complimentary coffee/ tea! I love the rectangular blocks of sugar! =) They look so pretty and they never fail to entice me to drink some tea.

If you're keen on trying French food and you do not want to burn a hole in your pocket, Au Petit Salut is the place to go (: Their quality of food is guaranteed and their service is excellent. Please make a reservation before you go though because it tends to get crowded on weekends.

Alright that's all for now! (: Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!