While not as renowned as its famous competitor Dove Desserts, I wouldn't say this dessert is bad at all. Indeed, their chendol jelly pales far in comparison from Dove's. The coconut milk and Gula Melaka aren't as fragrant either. But it has its good points as well! The chinchow, which isn't commonly seen in chendol, adds a refreshing dimension to the whole dessert - perfect for a hot day like this. And it's only $1. Satisfied! Going to try their ice kachang in the future - also $1, and looks pretty good portion-wise.
Finally tried! In terms the green chendol jelly....it's truly the best chendol jelly I've ever tasted. The fragrance of the Pandan plus a light sweetness...different from what you get outside, which are tasteless! Worth every cent of the $1.50 price, which isn't actually even expensive, because though a small portion, they were generous with the red beans and chendol.
$19 lunch set: starter (tomato soup) + main (Salmon Soba, in photo) + hot coffee. I've never had a more satisfying lunch set experience at a cafe. I was impressed by how well done the salmon was, as well as the fact that the soba sauce was not just your over-the-counter soba sauce but had a little tang as well as a little sweetness. As well as the fact that edamame was added, much appropriately. As well as the fact that there was a generous serving of salmon roe to complement the soba. The list goes on. Kudos!
$1.60 for a cone of white swirly goodness. Happiness can be affordable, too.
This was the Royal Milk Tea Earl Grey Loaf, and it was quite fragrant; yet the star of the show, Royal Milk Tea, was absent save the slightly insufficient swirls on top. While the bread was satisfactory, I've never felt more stressful trying to decide on which bread to order; the cashiers literally follow you around with a glare (you heard me right, it was indeed an eviscerating glare) as you try to scour through their offerings for the day. Till today I'm still surprised that I didn't dash out of the cafe in fright, and actually bought something (or, in hindsight, maybe /that/ was why I stayed - by virtue of the force of compelling eyeballs). I didn't even dare to touch the samples; I felt like they might have chopped off my hands if I did. For the sake of my lifeblood, maybe a mere commoner like me should just stick to the friendly neighbourhood bakery from now on.
Admittedly, the red tea jellies were pretty good, but the portion was meagre for this self-proclaimed "Red Tea Special Alpha" dessert that was $2.50; quite hefty when compared to many other Singaporean desserts, especially considering the size. In addition, the ice was tasteless; there was barely any condensed milk or syrup, and as you can see from the (albeit rather aesthetic) photo the shopkeepers aren't the most generous when it comes to portion. (2 sad looking longans, after all, don't really count as generous to me.) Perhaps it was because it was during a weekday afternoon, but the shopkeepers don't seem very interested to serve either, accosting us with dissatisfied expressions when we took just a slightly delayed glimpse of their rather extensive menu. Would not recommend, but I guess if we had to eat something from this stall again I'll probably go for their specialty (which I subconsciously avoided because they didn't put a price up there for us to refer; how clever)
Dropped by the Duxton outlet on a late Sunday afternoon and the cafe was relatively packed, which further heightened the expectations held for the patisserie. But initial impression of the outlet was a tad cold - the staff didn't show any apparent reaction to our arrival, and their faces implied a disinterest to serve. Regardless, we sought our own seats at the back of the cafe, which was relatively spacious but somehow uncozy - admittedly, a little cold like the staff. But of course we were here for the cakes rather than to be served like family, so onwards with an objective mindset! But alas - the famed Blue Donut, Napoleon and the Matcha Roll that we wanted were nowhere to be seen :( Got a Strawberry Soufflé, Berry Berries, Cacao Royal and Earl Grey Cheese Tart instead. Regrettably, said desserts might have been pleasant-tasting and of good quality, but really nothing to rave about. One thing we enjoyed though, were the subtleties in the cake - the texture was smooth and they tasted fragrant yet light and uncloying, though that might have caused a lack of satiety despite us being a small party of three. Kudos to the generally good cake, though regrettably this might just be our first and last time here.
Ordered the lunch promo chicken oyakoni; egg and chicken doused in what I suppose is sukiyaki sauce. Very soft egg that almost melts in your mouth with tender chicken. Though would have been better if real Japanese rice was used, the portion was good enough so as to cater room for side dishes, what I consider to be the stars of the show. Sweet potato fries (not in photo) were on point - crispy and sweet fries topped with a unique honey lemon sauce topped with cinnamon. Potato wedges with seaweed and omelette cube were boring and quotidian. Udon gyoza with ponzu was actually a rather cool-looking ball that looked perhaps like a sotong ball, but nothing much to shout about. Takoyaki was, well, takoyaki. The braised sweet potato and pork ribs were alright, but sweet potato was too hard and the sauce's taste could have been enhanced for I didn't really gain much impression of it and until now I have no clue what sauce it actually is. Didn't get to try the chawanmushi, because I only saw it when my belly was about to explode lol. Cheese fondue was watery and in short pretty bad. As for the desserts, the matcha cheese cups were more like decorative amounts of matcha powder adorning a dollop of cream cheese on top of crushed Oreo, tho that's admittedly kinda already tasty in itself (but where's the matcha?) But the matcha shiratama dessert, a kind of matcha soup with some shiratama balls, was surprisingly tasty, a bit like an ultra milky matcha latte, and luckily not too sweet and cloying such that I had like 4 bowls of it lol. Overall, a satisfactory dining experience, very good considering the price - paid less than $15 net for this. Thankfully none of the dishes were too salty, sweet or oily! I like how the desserts are kept chilled atop ice and most of the hot dishes are kept warm. Would definitely go back again!
After passing by this restaurant, we decided to give the adjacent Changi V Hawker Centre a miss because of the friendly Thai uncle who was at the restaurant living up to his home country's acclaimed "Land of Smiles" moniker. The Bael tea and Roselle tea were rather refreshing albeit probably unusual on a more conservative palate. The papaya salad was refreshing, with fragrant ingredients including dried shrimp and raw long bean. The pork cutlet was extremely tender, though slightly mysterious because it wasn't quite like the texture of pork you'd expect as we couldn't quite determine which part of the pig the meat originated from. The fish (a strong recommendation from the Thai uncle) was extremely fresh and the sourness of the soup gave it a refreshing tang, though we'd suggest you opt for maybe 4 to 6 chili padis instead of the usual 12, "less spicy" was already too spicy, to be honest. As for dessert, the mango sticky rice had a rice that was fragrant and the mango sweet, though a slightly larger portion might have been appreciated. Kudos to the warm and friendly service, though a little slow at times!
For a rainy day like this, piping hot bubur chacha is worth braving the cats and dogs for. Comfort food at only $1.40. :')
We might have ordered a measly 4 side dishes without main course despite dining as a threesome, but this did not, in fact, make this dinner any less satisfactory. We ordered the Spinach Vermicelli cold dish, braised mushroom tofu vegetable dish, chicken soup (complete with a rather swanky pot) and of course - the mandatory XLB. None of these dishes disappoint. The cold spinach vermicelli was refreshing albeit light on the palate, the tofu mushroom was braised flavorfully, and the chicken soup held good balance of healthfulness and delectableness with its tender but unfatty chicken pieces. Nothing much has to be said of the XLB - as usual, just the right thickness and chewiness of pau skin with an orchestral balance of bite and fat in the meat mince, complete with slurpy XLB meat juice. Yet what impressed me most was the service - we were, admittedly, stingy in ordering this amount for 3 people, but the service crew still held their smiles and courteous demeanor despite the evident dinner time rush. A prevailing credit card discount was given despite the fact that the credit card was left at home. Would return again, definitely for the food, but even more so for the service.
