LadyIron Chef (who isn't a lady) organized a food-sampling-friend-meeting session at Ochacha, and since I've always wanted to try Ochacha (but the 2 previous times I walked past and went in to sample the drinks I was too full). So I thought it was a great opportunity to sample most of their menu for $17.50, and also, to meet other bloggers.Price quoted is for normal size portions, this is just a sampler.
Shitake Mushroom Soup and Tomato Soup. I liked the tomato soup because it was very tangy, and full of chewy bits of vegatables, but I found it slightly too salty. The mushroom soup was thick and creamy, with lots and lots of shitake mushroom bits. However, there was a slight bitter after taste (prob due to the mushroom).
From Front to Back: Matcha Rocks, Ochacha Rocks, Azuki Freezie.These are just small shots, but the actual size is much bigger, about the size of Starbucks/Coffeebean drinks.
Matcha Rocks ($4.95) is slightly sweetened cold green tea, and there is really alot of green tea powder inside - there was a thick layer of sediment on the bottom of mine.
My favourite was the Ochacha Rocks ($4.95), which green tea with milk in good proportions such that neither the milk or green tea overpowers the other. People who like milk will enjoy this.
The Azuki Freezie ($6.50) is green tea, milk and azuki beans. I think of the azuki beans as a healthier alternative to the pearls in bubble tea, cos it gives you something to bite on while drinking.
What I liked about the drinks was that they are not too sweet and thus taste very refreshing. I suppose that the more health conscious people who love their green tea and antioxidents will like it too.
The drinks come in 2 sizes, "Thirsty" and "Parched". The lady boss said that she was contemplating calling it "Dehydrated" but thought this wouldn't sit too well with her customers. I suppose if she called the normal sized one "Dehydrated", she could call the big cup "Hypovolemic shock".
This is the complimentary salad which was so kindly provided by the boss as she noted that our tasting menu didn't have a vegetable dish:) The lettuce isn't the cheapskate iceberg lettuce you get for $1.50 a head at supermarkets (thought I'm not botanist and can't identify what type of lettuce it is but it's not Romaine either). It's dressed in a light citrus dressing (is it yuzu? tastes a bit orang-ish to me).
These are the sandwiches we had: Sakura Egg ($4.80), Wasabi Tuna ($5.90) and Salmon Furikake ($5.90).I enjoyed the salmon furikake the most, perhaps because there was a interesting Jap twist to the usual boring smoked salmon sandwich in the form of the furikake powder (seaweed, sesame seeds, fish flakes etc). I wasn't very impressed by the sakura egg since I don't really like eating egg sandwiches, and there was just a sprinkling of sakura powder, which I couldn't really taste very well. I found the wasabi in the wasabi tuna sandwich too strong, and it kept going up my nose. As you can tell, I don't like wasabi (unless it's the freshly grated kind). If you are a wasabi fan, you'll probably like this since the wasabi is reall very strong.
The bread was nicely toasted and it was very fresh and soft on the inside. I think that the salmon furikake is much more worth it than Delifrance's sandwiches for the same cafe style dining and pricing.
Matcha Financier ($2.90) is this quite thin, half cake half biscuit dessert which I think is very small (volume wise) for the price. It's based on a French recipe, and modified by adding the green tea powder. The good point about this is that it's very well made, with the crispiness on the bottom and sides, and the green tea taste is very strong. I'll eat this very willingly and happily if it were free, but not if I had to buy it for $2.90.
Green Tea Panna Cotta ($4.90) was served last, and a good thing too because it's really creamy and heavy. The consistency is more like mousse, and if I weren't so stuffed, I would have liked it better. Diminishing returns indeed.
This is the Matcha Azuki ($4.90), which isgenerously sprinkled with lots of green tea powder. Green tea and azuki beans make a great combination for desserts! I really like the intense colour that the green tea gives the sponge layers.
This is my favourite dessert of the day! It's the Matcha Cotton ($2.90) which is a Japanese style cotton cake but with green tea. It reminds me of the cotton cake at Tampopo, just that it has green tea and copious amounts of decadent fresh cream. The cake itself is very light and fluffy. I think it's quite worth the $2.90 pricing (even if it's mostly air, it appears big and impressions make a big difference ;)I will definitely come back to eat this:D
The dinner ended on a pleasant note with the Ochacha Latte. It's the warm version of the Ochacha Rocks. By this time, I couldn't taste if it was sweet or unsweetened cos we just ate all the desserts, and there were many diminishing returns.There's a variation of the Ochacha Latte called the Ochacha Silk, which comes with soyamilk instead of milk. I think that it's a very good idea since most Asians, especially Chinese are lactose intolerant.
Overall, I will recommend Ochacha for desserts, as well as a great place to sit and chill with a healthier, less sugary drink. AND you have to enjoy green tea - which is the whole idea of going to this place :)
Thanks to LIC for organizing the event:D
And now, for my new michellelim star rating:
Ochacha, rating for DESSERT only:
OChaCha
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-44F Raffles City
Tel: 6333 5886
Chef's Selection - which cost $168++ for 5 people (which means 5 slices of each fish - really really expensive I'll never order it again! I'd rather go to Genting and still have money left over to spend!!) What you see here is the portion for 3 people. There is one slice of each otoro, shima aji, salmon, Surf Clam (hokkigai), swordfish (mekajiki) and flounder (hirame) No doubt the sashimi was very fresh, but then again, I will neve pay this price for the sashimi (can spend the money on nicer fine dining restaurants!)- which you can get a only slightly nearly negligibly less freshness at Iseatan. That's the scrooge in me talking but I suppose for a special occasion, it's fine (since I'm not footing the bill anyway...).
Yummy ice cream ($6 per scoop, comes with azuki [red] bean). We tried the Pumpkin (which had real pumpkin bits inside), perssimon (wanted to try the sweet potato one actually, but it was sold out), Peach and Kyoho grape.
Warm Sake ($12) which I didn't try cos I was driving - but my grandmother seems to stealthily slurp it up.
I consider Clarke Quay (Clarke Quay itself, not like those places around it like 
Ribs ($28++)
Duck Confit ($28++) which the eater said wasn't very good (compared to Gourmet Plus, which I shall blog about in a while)
Lemon Tart ($10++) which apparenlty wasn't fantastic either. But then again, I had a really good impression of the Sticky Date Pudding ($10++) and the Honey Yoghurt Panna Cotta with berries ($10++) the last time I went there. The Soft Centered Pavalova also looks yummy! But I've yet to try it... 
Anyway, 
Anyway, apparently the sunday brunch here's really good... I should come back some time to try it (But I'm usually not even awake for lunch =\)
I had my waffle with White Sesame Ice Cream, and its really nice cos unlike the black sesame ice cream which has a slight bitter aftertaste, this one just smells and tastes really fragrant, but isn't bitter at all.
Mother's Day is round the corner, and what better way to celebrate it than buying a tin of high-class expensive cookies (for your mum) that you'll never ever think of buying usually? (it's like buying Godiva chocolates yum!) and its even better if you get to share it with her!
I tried 3 of the more 'normal' flavours - like blueberry, cranberry and some Mother's Day special (which comes in a special tin) but was not bowled over yet. They were crumbly and very buttery, but tasted quite 'normal' to me - not somethig that I was willing to spend so much on.
Other exotic flavours include
This is Galbiati's 'Baked Salmon' which is also known as salmon en croute (as I found on the internet). It's salmon and spinached wrapped in a pastry, and it's really tasty. The salmon is really solid and thick. It's a huge piece - I suppose it justifies it's $13.90 price tag (it's sold per 100g, i think it's around $8 for every 100g).
After sampling 
Since we were feeling rather decadant, we decided to sample a whole assortment of what Galbiati had to offer. Starting off with the Lobster Bisque ($8++) which is a robust tasting soup - there's also alcohol inside and thus there's a slight bitter taste characteristic of lobster bisque. 
We also had a Mushroom Pizza to start, since the Smoked Salmon Pizza which I like was out. The pizza costs about $6++ (it's cheaper if you take away) and it's full of mushrooms embedded in semi-melted cheese. The crust is thin and crispy, and the tomato base isn't too salty that it overpowers the mushroom taste. 
My favourite dish of the night was the Goat's Cheese Salad ($15++). I thought at first that $15 was pretty steep especially for a salad, but then it did not dissapoint. You get 3 fair sized pieces of thick goats cheese baked and melted to perfection over crusty bread. The salad itself is full of fresh greens, peacans and laced with a generous portion of sun-dried tomatoes 
The semi-sweet meaty texture of the sun-dried tomatoes give the salad body and character, and are completely unlike the tart fresh tomatoes. To top it off, the salad is drizzled with honey, making it a delectable balance between the salty cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.
Galbiati has a daily special dish, which happened to be NZ Mussels ($21++) the day I visited. The mussels were succulent, juicy and tender and simmered in a thick slightly salty tomato based sauce. 
The mussels were so tender that they slipped easily out of the shell - no struggling to get bits of mussel out of the shells at all. 
This was my main course - Salmon Ravioli with Dill Cream Sauce ($18++) which was also the daily special. I was agonizing over either Black Squid Ink Pasta ($18++) but then decided that since the Squid Ink Pasta was on their regular menu, the salmon ravioli might not be available the next time. I was pleasantly suprised to find that there was also salmon pieces on top of the salmon ravioli. The dill sauce was clean tasting and went well with the salmon.
