Pamplemousse Weekend Brunch

I've been wanting to blog about Pamplemousse for the longest time but I haven't gotten around to doing it cos I've never been in the mood somehow... just like how I've never gotten down to packing my horrendous room even though it's nearly 1 year since I've started work!! Can't seem to throw away all my old stuff....

And another thing is that I have to be in a 'chatty' mood before I do all my blog posts and have no one to talk before I am compelled to blog... I suppose this is a chatty mood of mine (at around 1030pm on a weekday and being severely sleep sleep deprived makes me slighly more rambly tho). Pardon the lighting - the restaurant had a combination of both daylight and the lightbulb light so I didn't get the lighting settings rignt on my camera until after I munched down my bread. I've recently taken a liking to baguettes, which I previously used to avoid like plague - somehow I'm now able to appreciate the crusty exterior and cottony soft interior... Under the bell shaped glass is the butter (good quality and very fragrant!). In fact I had 2 pieces of bread and had to resist getting the 3rd cos it was so yummy!

I had this Baked Eggs in Cocotte ($22++) which came with foie gras (yum!) and truffle salt (another yum!) which are 2 of my more favourite things in life... The bread somehow didn't do the eggs justice cos they were buttery and sweet at the same time and a bit too sweet for my liking.

The pool of black/brown stuff is actually the lovely oils spewing out from the foie gras. Though it was a tiny piece and cos it was baked it didn't have the nice crispy exterior, it's oils and juices infused their delicious flavour into the eggs...

It's actually very tiny but filling cos it's cream based and I was rather full by the end of it (and the breads that I ate)...

Just a random thought - I've gone to Cocotte (the restaurant at Wanderlust hotel) and it was great (though I'd rather go back to Artichoke...) but I haven't shrank and edited the photos...

Soft Boiled Egg ($15++) which came with pureed porcini mushrooms, oyster mushrooms (pureed too), parmesan foam and truffle oil
Probably one of the most expensive soft boiled eggs I've eaten (usually get those in the morning 'breakfast set' along with hot milo and 2 pieces of kaya toast for $2) but this soft boiled egg comes with truffle oil and being the biased person I am, I will like nearly everything with truffle oil. Another thing to note is that they use proper chives (which are expensive locally) and not spring onion.

For dessert, we had the Crepes ($11++) which came with Nutella (another thing that can easily win me over anytime!) home made milo ice cream (my favourite drink the morning), and chantilly cream (fancy name for vanilla cream). I liked the milo powder thing at the side (which also had a fancy name that I cannot remember). I think I would have gladly swapped the chantily cream for another scoop of milo ice cream - the scoop was rather skinny and not enough to eat with 2 pieces of crepes...

Pamplemousse is a really nice place to chill and have a slow Sunday Brunch... I'm dying to try their lunch but my previous attempts have been thwarted as work ended late (their last order for lunch is at 2pm on weekdays).

Pamplemousse

Blk 7 Dempsey Road, #01-04
Tel: +65 6475 0080

House - Skinny Pizza and Sweet Potato Fries

The last time I visited house, I had the rudest "welcome" (waiter wasn't sure if happy hour was still on - it was, until they took so dreadfully long to come with the drinks menu, the next waiter who came said 'too bad, it's already 9' and that happy hour was over D:<

A little hiccup (again!) about the service - we had 5 people for dinner, and the waiter insisted that it will look 'weird' if we added an extra chair to a table of four. ?!?!?!?!?!? Seriously! One more chair won't kill the layout of the WHOLE restaurant - especially since they only have tables with 2s and 4s, and a few benches. *End of gripe*
The lovely orange sweet potato fries ($7++), which came with a salty and sweet batter, topped with aromatic white sesame seeds. The fries were a bit too oily (perhaps they didn't let it drain?) but the sweet potato was tender without being mushy. We also had the white truffle oil fries ($9++), but it didn't look as monstrous as the heaping and impressive portion from PS cafe (though I have yet to try the latter's).

House's famous skinny pizzas - which are like chapatis with delicious toppings. My ultimate fave is still the Tuna Tataki ($24++) - meaty chunks of tuna marinated in a sweet and salty sauce, with sliced avocados, sweetened tomatoes, parmesan and heaped with arugula.

The Egg, Spinach, Cheese and Onion skinny pizza, which had thinly sliced raw onions, crumbled cheese (feta I think?).

The Squid Ink Skinny Pizza ($18++)- topped with the usual chewy edible sea critters - on a squid ink skinny pizza base. They're pretty generous on the toppings, with lots of squid, baby octopus and shrimp.

My Mango Marshmellow Melt ($9?), which came with a teeny weeney bit of pavalova and heaploads of whipped cream. The pavalova was deliciously crumbly, but the dessert could do with a much bigger portion of it. The cubed mango was syrupy sweet and slightly milky. I thought that it would have tasted much better with mango sorbet instead of the huge scoop of whipped cream. Though the marshmellows looked really nice and toasted, they weren't as perfectly done as Handburgers. They were only toasted on the topmost layer, and lacked that gooey stickiness of a real roasted marshmellow.

The Strawberry Shortcake ($9?), which is their no. 1 best seller - I was expecting lots more cream, but the only cream in sight was that in the shotglass. The cake was pretty heavy - and had the texture of scones. I did like the layers of strawberry jam (my favorite type of jam!) smeared in between the layers of cake.

Carrot Cake, which can't beat Cedele's, but nonetheless, was moist and packed with carrots, nuts and raisins. The icing was a bit wet, but the portion's pretty good, though not enough to justify the price.

We spent $26 each, for 5 people which is quite a bit, considering that we shared 3 mains, 2 different kinds of fries and 4 desserts.

House

8D Dempsey Road

#01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)

Tel: +65 6475 7787

The White Rabbit

Went to the White Rabbit to celebrate my sister's bday, and since she's into photography, most of the photos in this post comes from her.The meal started off with warm onion bread, which was a bit dry on the outside, but the savoury bun tasted pretty good.Dressed crab ($22++)
Freshly handpicked crab tossed with mayonnaise, tomato jelly and avocados
We had this to share, and the waitress kindly gave us plates and cutlery so we could share the appetiser. The crab was lacklusture, and didn't have the sweet taste of freshly handpicked crab. The transparent film was the tomato jelly, which had the taste of tomato, but was gelatinous in nature. I liked the creamy avocado paste, whcih went well with the skinless tomato (fresh, sweet and juciy).
Lobster Sweetcorn Chowder ($16++)
A light summer corn chowder made with lobster served iwth slipper lobster and drizzled with tarragon oil
I liked how the bittersweet tarragon tasted with the creamy lobster broth, and the corn lent it crunchy, juicy sweetness to the heartwarming soup.Beef and Barley Consomme ($14++)
Light clear soup made with fresh beef, vegetables and barley served with a delicate beef roulade
Didn’t try this dish, but according to the people that ate it, it was really salty. Lol I have just noticed that the waiter's aim with the teapot is slightly off in the photo! White Rabbit Mac and Cheese ($28++)
Served with spring vegetables and indulgent truffle sauce
A souped up version of the classic Mac and Cheese. I was really excited about trying it, but it falls short of its reputation. The amount of truffle sauce was really pathetic, and I could barely detect the truffle smell. For this meatless dish (it's just carbs, cheese, cream) and a drizzle of truffle oil, garnished with 2 thin slivers of black truffle, I think you’re better off baking mac and cheese at home.
The summer vegetables were very interesting, and included a piece of purple cauliflower, beetroot, some asparagus and a mini-carrot.

Pan Roasted Salmon ($29++)
Served with confit of fennel and citrus ginger beurre blanc
The portion of fish is quite small, but it was freah, juicy and delicious. Live Manie Lobster Thermidor ($58++)
Gratinated lobster topped with Momay sauce, served with a choice of salad or fries
The lobster was fresh, no doubt, but the sauce didn’t blow me away. And if you’re the kind that wont’ get full on a small-medium sized lobster, please order the fries. The dish isn’t very filling at all.

You definitely can't be like Scrooge if you want to dine here. Being a chapel, the place resonated with the clinking of cutlery and the lively chatter from the many diners. It was quite noisy, and although we were sitting in a small table, we could hardly hear each other speak. I quite liked the privacy the the round tables along the sides offered, rather than sitting in the middle in full view of everyone. White Rabbit's value for money is really poor, but it is a really nice place to chill and relax - I imagine weekend brunches/tea here would be supberb - I'm eyeing the deconstructed black forest cake for dessert!

The White Rabbit

39C Harding Road

Tel: +65 6473 9965

Cafe Hacienda - Sucks the Second Time Round!

So I was really happy that I found a nice cafe with affordable and decent food at Dempsey.
I visited it again after 3 weeks, and it was horrible!! Was craving for the eggs Benedict for the longest time, and when I finally had a free weekend, I was sadly disappointed.

The eggs Benedict had a pathetic little drizzle of hollandaise sauce, which barely covered even the poached egg. The worst thing about this was the black forest ham. The blackforest ham that came with the eggs Benedict during my last visit changed completely. But it's totally different (taste, texture and look) from the blackforest ham that came with the eggs Benedict the last time. While the blackforest ham I had last time was thinly shaved, with a delicate flavour, the black forest ham they use now is thick, fried, extremely greasy and salty. It just tastes like the cheapskate overly salted inferior quality hams. The blackforest ham that came with the eggs Benedict during my previous looked exactly the same as the blackforest ham I buy from NTUC - smooth textured with a rind of black skin (and pretty pricey too).
When I asked the manager (found out that he was the manager cos the table next door was being fussy about their orange juice) if this was blackforest ham, he insisted that it was. Ok, Im no ham expert, but their new blackforest ham sucks to the max.

I also had to ask for more hollandaise sauce - that little smidgen of sauce on the egg was waaay too stingy for my liking. (The extra hollandaise sauce he gave me was cold and coagulated). What is eggs benedict without the defining hollandaise sauce?

Another gripe I have is that the poached eggs were overcooked, and instead of having a wonderfully runny yolk, the yolk was 3/4 cooked, and 1/4 runny.

Two thumbs down for this dish!
The buttermilk waffles ($12++) which my friend had was much better, though I'm glad I didn't order it as I don't like citrus in my food. I stole a mouthful anyway - the waffles are fluffy with a zesty citrus taste. Topped with a huge scoop of Kapiti bourbon vanilla ice cream, served with caramelized bananas and fresh strawberries, and warm maple syrup, the waffles can't go wrong.

We also had the peanut butter and jelly milkshake ($11++), which they so kindly split into 2 portions. I think it's not humanly possible to finish the whole milkshake by yourself. I enjoyed the sweetish grape jelly bits in the milkshake.

The service here has deteriorated over such a short time, and the place has gotten much more crowded and noisy too! NOT a nice place to sit and chill. Plus, we were served by a grumpy looking manager (the same one who told me that it was definitely blackforest ham). They topped up our ice water a grand total of 2x during the entire course of our leisurely meal, even though they were empty.

Cafe Hacienda

My blog's sorely lacking in updates, but it's cos I'm really busy with school. The closer I come to graduating, the more I don't feel like working! Anyway, I better not say this so much or not I'll jinx myself into doing a re!!!!:OCafe Hacienda is a really nice chill-out place to spend a lazy weekend afternoon. It was nice and empty (only 2 other tables filled) when we visited it on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I'm pretty amazed to say that I've found somewhere which has reasonably priced food in Dempsey (which was synonymous in my food directory as exorbitantly priced food with average taste).Their eggs Benedict is $13++ for 2 poached eggs, a deliciously creamy and cheese filled hollandaise sauce with black forest ham (the cooked version) over a soft English muffin. Tastes great - really beats my Choupinette brunch (freaking $22++ for the same thing, which doesn't even taste half as good). My dessert, the Sticky Date Pudding ($10++) is comparable to Marmalade Pantry's, just that it's marginally less sticky (for the price, the free parking and the convenience, I'll come here anytime over Marmalade Pantry at Ion! Actually, I'm pretty sure that the ambiance here will be much nicer than Ion's, since there's throngs and throngs of people at Ion.
). It's rather buttery, and though it's not as sticky, it's as sweet and will definitely give you the same post-prandial glucose rush. It's doused in a thick butterscotch sauce, and served with a scoop of Vanilla bean ice cream. The pecans add a nice crunchy touch to the dessert.

Chocolate tart - which is super heavy and for hard core chocolate lovers only! The chocolate is very rich, and the shortcrust pastry tart is really buttery. I'll recommend that you share this dessert if you're eating it, unless you're a major chocolate lover.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Milkshake ($11++)

Cafe Hacienda serves alcoholic and non-alcoholic milkshakes. Interesting choices are the Bailey's Irish Cream with Hersheys Chocolate sauce as well as Kahlua and Cream ($15++ each). The Peanut butter and Jelly Milkshake comes in a tall heavy glass, and is extremely thick (very difficult to suck it up using the straw). I'm wondering if the caloric load will be comparable (if not more) than Ensure, since it tastes much better than Ensure milk.

Cafe Hacienda is also run by the same people who opened Prive - apparently the Sticky Date Pudding is available at Prive (not too sure if it's the bakery or the restaurant). I can't wait for my posting to end - the first day I'm free I shall vegetate at some nice relaxing place!!

Service was friendly and efficient - they topped up our water glasses regularly, and when the staff noticed that I spilt a bit of the milkshake (while stealing some from my friend), they instantly brought over a few more napkins for me to use:)

Cafe Hacienda also serves 'proper' food (western stuff like pastas, burgers, salads etc), but the all day breakfast looks more tempting. Saw their waiter carrying out the buttermilk waffles with Ice cream (looks like a good sized portion) but it was sold out by the time we ordered it.

I'll definitely be back again - to have the eggs Benedict (didn't order this cos I was going for dinner later and trying to save stomach space), more of the sticky date pudding and the peanut butter jelly shake!

Cafe Hacienda

Blk 13 Dempsey Road

#01-07

Tel: +65 6476 2922

AVOID the Tippling Club

Went for lunch on Good Friday with ice at Tippling Club. It totally spoilt my Good Friday! I am recommending everyone to avoid the 8D area in Dempsey.

First up, we walked into the restaurant which was completely empty. I was pretty suprised since it was a public holiday. Eventually, there were 2 other small groups of diners. When we enquired about having three 2-course set meals for the two of us, instead of two 3-course set meals (since it is cheaper by $11, and we actually get an extra glass of wine), and the waiter rudly said "the chef does not want people to dictate his menu" (in the waiter's own words himself). Okaaaaaaaaay.

In fact, according to him, the portions of food from the 2-course set menu is larger than the 3-course set menu - but the portions of the 3-course set menu is so precise that we will not feel terribly full at the end of the meal since it was 'just enough'. Alright.... but I think I can if I'm full better than the chef can tell me if I'm full, and if I was full, I would just stop eating. So what's the big deal about the portion sizes being too big if we order three 2-course set meals for the two of us? So essentially, is he trying to tell us that 2 course set meals are more worth it? It doesn't make sense cos he's saying that I'll get a bigger portion, extra glass of wine and pay less!

And mind you, we were merely asking, and we were asking it very politely. The waiter was so agitated and curt you would think we were trying to get a meal for free.

When the food came, we were informed that we were NOT allowed to take photos by a bald waiter. And that this bald guy would be fired by the chef if diners went against the chef's rules. Right. So how come there are so many photos online for lunch - see here, here and here from other diners, and yet this bald guy isn't fired yet? After that, when the chef did come, they told us that it was ok to take pictures during lunch, but not dinner. wth.

Grilled capsicum with squid ink batter, to be eaten with forceps. I really don't see whats the big deal about it. Doesn't taste that good and I don't find it the least bit exciting to eat anything with forceps. Cheap thrill.

The orange thing at the back is miso soy wasabi dip, and was very salty.

Calamari Rings with Basil Emulsion
The calamari rings were painfully anaeroxic - they were so thin that at first, I just thought that they were onion rings (but no onion taste, just an oily batter). The murky green thing in the straw is super salty basil emulsion.

I wonder if they re-use that plastic hosing. Hope they sterilize it properly! Cos it's just like reusing straws.

Fizzy grapes infused with bourbon

I was pretty excited about this one, when I read about it online. But my grapes were pretty "lao hong" (ie NOT fizzy).

Truffle soup? I was sold instantly. In fact, I was already sold to the Tippling club even before I went, cos of the rave reviews online by some enthusiastic bloggers. Damn. Shouldn't have read such rave reviews - the whole dining experience was bleagggggh!The soup comes in a conical flask, and is poured over freeze dried foie gras. Boring as it sounds, I think I like my foie gras as it is, not freeze dried with viral wart treatment. There's also some onions and mushroom paste (which looks exactly like chestnut puree). Of which, you have to stir up to get your normal mushroom soup. The foiegras taste is completely lost. And all that remains is the little bits of black truffles.

The end result was a luke-warm watery and thin soup. I take all my liquids either hot or cold, but not in between. Unless I'm absolutely dying from thirst. Luke-warm soup = yucks.

Smoked Salmon caesar salad
The salmon was ok, portion was small. The salmon looks almost raw - not an issue with me since my favourite salmon dish is sashimi. Unlike commercial smoked salmon, this one isn't overly salted (I don't think it's salted at all) and was extremely tender.

The brown stuff's dehydrated bacon (crispy, extremely salty and hard). Caesar salad dressing was good. Mashed potato was so-so. Actually, it's closer to a 3.5 leaf garnish than salad. Unless you're subsisting on a diet of one lettuce leaf (and diet coke) per day diet.

White wine that was included in the set lunch.

The brown crumbly stuff reminds me vaguely of Ritz Cheese crackers. As much as I like goats cheese, the Goats cheese was soso. The dark red film thing didn't taste of anything - just a bit plastic-ky. I don't know if it's supposed to be beetroot or what. It looks like the Uncle Toby's fruit film, just that it doesn't taste of anything.

The deconstructed chocolate tart 2009 was pretty good. Probably the best part of the meal. Luckily ice decided to order it or we'd be both stuck with with ritz bitz crackers and cheese. It comes with white chocolate ice cream and 'thickened milk' (which just tastes like cream).

This pict is for people who hate tiny portions - it's not that tiny, just that the plate is uber huge.
The last straw from the waiter came in the form of petit fours, when we refused coffee/tea (what for pay so much for a cup of tea - I don't even take my tea with milk or sugar). When the waiter served petit fours, he cockily told us that the petit fours go brilliantly with coffee/tea but since we didn't want to order it, they will just give it to us.

These ang-moh-philic attitude - completely not worth patronizing. Skip it - there are so many other place with more professional service.

Though the bill came in a cute little wooden box, with dried spices, the whole dining experience just left us fuming.

Tippling Club is stuck in the neo-colonial era where your order of precidence is
1. Caucasian
2. Local girl with Caucasian boyfriend
3. Animal
4. Normal Singaporean

So much for "fine dining without the snobbery". For those ppl who are too busy to click the link, the essence of it is here : What are Clift's hopes for The Tippling Bar? 'It's fine dining without the snobbery,' he says. 'We're trying to make fine-dining fun, so the food will also be 'interactive'. Food is about enjoyment, having fun and being pleasantly surprised.'

I was suprised alright, by the incredibly shitty service and unamazing food.

You can read more about our shitty dining experience at ice's blog. She summed it up much better than I did!

The Tippling Club
8D Dempsey Road
Tel: 6475