Afternoon Milk Tea Sundae without Macaroons :(

Drats. The former Peaberry and Pretzel, now known as Buttercake and Cream changed their menu. Now, their Afternoon Milk Tea Sundae doesn't come with the crumbly multicoloured macaroons. Was really looking forward to it (including the macaroons) after having 6 hrs worth of mcqs - including a 30min break in between. Plus, the school also catered a not too bad lunch - which included siew mais, samosas, sandwiches, chicken wings, and even chocolate cupcakes. A much welcomed change from the usual catered food they provide, which is by default, fried beehoon and fishballs.
Without the macaroons, the Afternoon Milk Tea Sundae ($7) is rather ordinary now that the macaroons are gone. Though they do try to doll it up with a bit of hundreds and thousands, it still isn't the same. The tea digestive biscuits look and taste rather plain even with the ice cream. A new addition to their menu - some hot desserts, of which we tried the Apple and Rhubarb Crumble ($9). The crumble was a bit too chunky for my liking - prefer it more crumbly and in smaller bits and granules. Though taste wise it's buttery, sweet, and best of all, served nice and toasty out of the oven. There were chunks of apple (granny smith, I think) and rhubarb under the crumble, which were caramelized and pulpy. The vanilla ice cream is pretty good, though it's not as creamy as Taste Matters'. Good sized portion of ice cream though.

Won't mind coming back here, probably to try their other warm desserts. Food pricing here's quite reasonable, was checking out the soup ($2.50? or $3.50?) and the side dishes like potato salad, fries, mashed potato ($2.50 each), but I was feeling too sad after the disappointing milk tea sundae.

Butercake and Cream
Blk 106 Clementi St 12 (Sunset Way)
#01-38F
Tel: 6777 3477

Jules Verne

After 2 sad weeks of ban mian from the canteen (sadness indeed, and that's only when time permits), I'm so happy to have eaten a good dinner at a nice restaurant!

Everyone associates Jules Verne as the author, but in Sunset way, Jules Verne is the start of your culinary journay across Europe. It's helmed by a German Chef (yikes didn't find out his name) and serves European food. I can't pronounce nearly 70% of the dishes in the menu.

Initially wanted to try the Bouillabaisse ala Marseille, which has saffron in it, but they didn't have it that day. So we ended up ordering the Home made fish stew ($16?) which was my favourite soup that night. It's from the daily special menu. The soup looks really creamy, but is not that heavy. There's lots of carrots, celery and other vegetables, and pieces of fish as well as scallops, prawns and mussels. It's a good sized portion and can be a meal by itself.
Hungarian Beef Goulash Soup ($12)
I didn't eat it but I think everyone that did said that it was pretty nice. There's potato dumplings inside too. So it's really very filling.

Soljanka 'Bucaresti' - European hot and sour soup ($12)

I found the soups here too salty, and this was no exception. This reminded me vaguely of minestrone soup, and the soup wasn't that spicy but mildly peppery. The stewed garlics were pretty interesting though. We also had the 5 course Balkan Set (specialities from Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Ex-Yugoslavia) for $39++

1. Starter was Grilled capsicum with herbs and garlic, marinated in olive oil and served with bread ($10 ala carte, portion is bigger I suppose?). I didn't really like this dish, cos everything was so mushy and oily, but I did like the way the capsicums tasted.

2. Soljanka 'Bucaresti' - European hot and sour soup ($12 for ala carte)

3. Stew of Beans, onion, bacon and chillies served in mini bread bowl ($12 alacarte)
The beans were great cos they tasted really nice and fresh. Totally different from the usual canned baked beans.

I didn't get a photo of the main course, which is 4. Cevapcici, a traditional spicy herbal dish made from minced beef and lamb, served with french fries, salad and mustard. It looks a bit like Shish kebab to me tho I didn't try it.

Dessert was 5. Baklava (see below for the picture)

My main, which was the Pollo Forno di Venecia ($22)

Pan fried skin and boneless chicken breast layered with ham peach and melted chesse. The pilaf rice was deliciously fluffy, though I would have preferred the herb rice. I found my dish too salty, but my salt treshold is rather low.

My favourite dish for the night was the Pike - Perch fillet 'Balatoni' ($29)

The deliciously flaky fish fillet is baked with cheese, and topped with capsicum-tomato salsa. The herbal pilaf rice is incredibly aromatic, fluffy and goes extremely well with the fish.

I don't know what dish this is, but I think it's one of their daily specials, which is a grilled seafood platter. It's a generous portion of mussels, prawns, shrimps, fish and scallops, with two bread buns. The seafood has a nice smokey taste.

Kassier Smoked Pork Loin ($19++) with mashed potatoes and sauerkraut
I didn't like this dish cos the pork was really very hard. The best part of this was the mashed potatoes, which were extremely fluffy, buttery and creamy.

I forgot to take a picture of the Berliner Currywurst ($15++) but it's a pork sausage topped with sweetish curry sauce (which reminds me of Jap curry/reminds other ppl of the macdonald's curry sauce) serve with a mountain of thick cut fries. I think the next time I come here, I'll have the currywurst with fries changed to mashed potatoes. I think it'll be even nicer if they sprinkled curry poweder on top.

Onto desserts (even though we were really full!)

Wiener 'Kaiserschmarr'n' with Plum Compote ($18)

This is the favourite dish of the last Austrian emperor, and requires a preparation time of 20-30minutes. The dessert is really huge - I think 3-4 people should share it! Do not attempt this alone. It doesn't look that huge in my photo cos there's no comparison. Should have placed a fork there before snapping the shot.

The pancake is pretty starchy, quite stiff and goes well with the slightly sweetish plum compote (though I thought the fruit looked more like a cherry). I liked the baked golden raisins too.

The Mohr im Hemd ($10) is rather small, and is described as a juicy homemade chocolate-nut cake tossed with chocolate sauce and garnished with cream. I was quite dissappointed to find that the cream was just like normal bottled whipped cream. The cake was rather dry and crumbly.

Baklava (from the 5 course set) ($12 ala carte)

This is a Turkish/Balkan dessert which has layers of filo pastry stuffed with nuts and served with honey. Extremely nutty, and drizzled with real bee honey, this dessert is a delicious way to end an extremely satisfying meal.

The next time I'm back, I'll try the baked apple slices on Cinnamon Honey ($9) which looks really nice and golden brown in the picture.

I'm definitely coming back to try their famous Flammkuchen. Flammkuchen is an Alsatian dish, which looks like a pizza. According to our waiter, the leek and smoked salmon as well as the onion and bacon is their best sellers. Can't wait to try it! Hope it'll be soon... It's $15 for a small and $23 for a large Flammkuchen.

Service is quick, friendly and efficient, and the chef came to check on us a few times. Iced water is served here, and my glass was always filled (even though I was thirsty and drank quite alot of water). It's al fresco dining only, but it's pretty breezy in the evenings, and dining on the patio is really relaxing after a hectic 2 weeks (for me at least).

Foods v salty - do inform your server if you want your food less salty.

According to the reviews on hungrygowhere, there's also affordable lunch sets at $14.50, which are supposedly very good.

Jules Verne

Blk 106 Clementi St 12 (Sunset Way)

#01-38D

Tel: +65 6777 2275

Peaberry & Pretzel

This Peaberry and Pretzel post would not have happened if Audrey hadn't kept chanting "Peaberry and Pretzel" for the past few days.

Afternoon Milk Tea Sundae ($7+GST, no service charge)
Probably the best teatime snack to have in this climate. Instead of tea and scones, it's Earl Grey ice cream with macaroons and crushed tea biscuits.

The best part of this sundae is the ice cream itself. The Earl Grey is one of the best Milk tea ice creams I've tasted - it's extremely aromatic, with the slight spiciness of Earl Grey Tea. Every single bite is a burst of Earl Grey tea. It's like drinking those bottled Japanese milk tea (but creamier). For about $7.50 nett, this sundae is a steal. I think it's pretty hard to find dessert places, with nice ice cream sundaes for $7.50 nett. Looks like I'll be coming here for more afternoon tea time desserts!
Chocolate Cake from Peaberry and Pretzel (it's about $6, can't remember cos it's not mine)
I like the small choco-balls at the side of the cake. It's a rich chocolate mousse cake. Very chocolaty and delicious.
The list of Sundaes at Peaberry and Pretzel - I'm eyeing the Black forest one next. The others use vanilla or chocolate for ice cream, so I think the Earl Grey Tea ice cream looks like the most interesting flavour.

Their decor is very girly and cutesy. I suppose it'll be perfect for a girl's night out (or that kind of thing). Good since guys (generally) don't really appreciate good desserts:P

Their takeaway boxes are also PINK, and they even have a clothes line of doll's clothes hanging on the wall (to add to the cuteness factor?)

Hehehe no prizes for guessing what Audrey Pok has to say about Peaberry and Pretzel (oh no she's going to be angry with me now that I've uploaded an un-glam photo of her!! :O but it's not facebook so she can't untag herself!)

Peaberry & Pretzel

Blk 106 Clementi St 12 (Sunset Way)

#01-38F

Tel: 6777 3477

Botak Jones Clementi

After such a horrendously long time I've finally tried Botak Jones @ Clementi. My brother was talking about it so many times but then it used to be so crowded and gross and I hate queing up for my food. We were talking about Botak Jones (the lunch place at M4A when everyone burst out laughing... only chpgroup2 ppl will know this :P) This is my favouritest Caesar Salad ever! Personally, I think that the secret to a good caesar salad is good caesar salad dressing, and of course reasonably fresh romaine lettuce. According to their menu they use real anchovies for the sauce. I once saw this cooking program (probably on discovery travel and living) where they made caesar salad dressing - it's something like you use a wooden ladel and keep stirring the garlic and anchovies till they're all mashed up into a paste and then you add other stuff like egg and oil. How tiring. This caesar salad comes with real turky bacon bits, not those sorry little dehydrated light brown stuff that comes from a bottle. There's also croutons and generous amounts of parmesan cheese. They're really generous with the dressing too. The dressing goes quite well with the fries...
It costs only $5 no gst or taxes cos it's in a coffeeshop - very reasonable and yummy! Next time I shall dapao this home :D

This is Fish's Fish and Chips. Before I talk about her Fish and Chips (which, of course, I sampled for this blog :P), I shall talk about Fish, the expert in Clementi. Fish has been to Botak Jones @ Clementi before, and the night before we planned our expedition to Botak Jones, she said "aiyah won't get lost lah it's CLEMENTI" But then, it was also Fish - so obviously... fortunately not lost for like 45 min, 98 petrol is really expensive now...

The fish and chips ($6.50) are the breaded kind (not the kind tt i like - I like the smooth light batter kind) and comes with nicely seasoned fries and coleslaw. I've learnt something in their menu - Pacific dory = more ex dory and Cream Dory = Cheaper dory. They use the pacific kind though my tastebuds aren't discerning enough to taste any difference :/ The tartare sauce they use is quite different - there isn't bits of pickles inside but there's these black dots (is that pepper??) and it tastes even better than the usual tartare sauce cos it's not so sour.

This is my Cajun Chicken Burger ($6.50) comes with a buttered toasted sesame bun and a juicy chicken breast coated in Spicy and quite salty cajun sauce. It's quite tangy and I was so super full after eating my Caesar Salad and stealing Fish's fries and fish.

Next time I want to try the Rosemary Lamb Chops! Its $11.50 and everyone knows that this month I am trying to save money!!!! The sadness of being "salaried". Ahhh I want CNY to faster come so I can earn money! And my next salary will come at start of Feb! Woohoo! Lots of cheaper food places coming up in my next few posts :D

Block 325 Clementi Ave 5 (Kopitiam)

#01- 129 Singapore 120325

Phone / Fax: 677-41-225

Everyday 11:30 noon til 10:00 pm

Minoru - Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre

My usual default reply (and a lazy one where I don't need to think at all) for mid-range Japanese cusine would be Sushi Tei -and sometimes, if we're nearby, Waraku. But I've just found a new Japanese restaurant near school (which is NUS). It looks really dingy from the outside (the whole building is super old and has small tiles) but inside is bright and clean, good aircon and service too.The starter was some broiled fish head in this sweet sauce. The sauce was sweet and salty, i think they put in mirin, and of course, it paved the way for more exciting food to come!This is the horseshoe makeral (aji) sashimi ($20). It's the first time i'm seeing it presented this way, so I thought it was quite cool. Apparently aji is in in season now, so this was recommended. The fish reminds me of a less fatty version of hamachi, probably cos it's a white fish (I think they taste quite similar like kampachi tastes about this way too). This is the Toro Sushi. Toro is actually tuna, but it's not the normal dark red tuna that you find in the supermarket. There are three grades of fatty tuna - Toro, Chutoro and Otoro, with otoro being the highest grade (the most fatty melt in your mouth, your years worth supply of omega 3 fatty acid).

There are 8 pieces and it costs $20. The fish is fresh and minced, with a sprinkle of spring onions and a little bit of wasabi. This was my favourite dish of the night, next to the kimuchi.
Salt Grilled Sanma - the fish was very fresh and the saltiness was just right to bring out the flavour - no sauces cos it's so tasty as it is. $18
Kimuchi nabe ($20) - A variant of the hotpot (nabe), we tried the Kimuchi nabe which is actually a Japanese/Korean dish with kimchi. The taste was really unique and i've never tried anything like this before. At first, it tastes like a tomato based soup, and then after that, there is this slight spiciness from the kimchi, and sweetness from the sake (which gives the nice taste) as well as the japanese scallop (hotate) and the fragrance of sesame oil, and the garlicky taste right at the end.
It came with seafood so there was fish, squid, prawns and lots of cabbage, celery and leek.
This wasn't on the menu, and it was recommended by the lady boss.


For the uninspired/want to stick to safe choices people, there are the usual sets available (tempura, eel, beef teppanyaki, oyako don etc etc). This is the sashimi set (I think it's either $18 or $20). The sashimi is delicious and fresh, and it's cut thicker than the ususal floppy little piece you get in most default japanese restaurants. You'll get 3 pieces (generous ones too) of salmon, yellowtail/hamachi and 2 pieces of swordfish. If you want to change your rice to soba/udon, you'll have to add $3. When we first entered the restaurant, it was pretty empty - only one other table other than us, but right after we ordered, the whole restaurant suddenly filled up and there was only one table which wasn't occupide. This was at about 8pm.

214/216 Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre,
West Coast Way
Singapore 127104
Tel : 6346 6667

Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake

I like kueh tu tu but it's really hard to find now a days. Probably cos it's really labour intensive. There's one at vivocity food republic, but it's really ex - $2 for 4.
Kueh tu tu must be eaten fresh and hot, so no tapau-ing home - it'll become soggy and hard and yucky.
I've been getting my Kueh Tu Tu fix from Clementi, at the coffeeshop facing Book Store, near the main carpark. It's $2 for 5, and it comes in either coconut or peanut. I always eat coconut (don't really like peanut) and it's filled with gula melaka. If I recall correctly, there's also one in Queensway shopping center which has the coconut with orange sugar. It looks really nice, but I think the hygeine standard is rather dubions but I'm sure they've improved now. I haven't been to Queensway for a really long time.I'm not too sure about their opening hours but I don't think they're opened for lunch cos I went there once and it was closed. I usually go during dinner time.