After my first extremely pleasant visit to Black&Ink, I was dying to try their thai milk tea muffin as their salted egg muffin blew me away! Sadly, they ran out of it, the day I visited. It's that POPULAR! I guess I'll have to find time to visit Black&Ink to try it another time.

1. Purple CowThe tender beef is marinated with in-house tex mex sauce has a tinge of spiciness and is so juicy. The buns are made of natural yeast and purple corn, which gives it a unique texture. Nothing quite like it! Also, be careful of the coleslaw, it tends to drip down the burger onto your hands, it can be a messy procedure, but one worth washing your hands for!I am addicted to cassava chips and Black&Ink is pretty generous with them!! I was almost done with the chips, before I even touched the sandwich! 

2. Matcha LatteThis double walled cup is so cute! And it helps you pick up a very hot drink with ease!! The latte art here is pretty and so "instagrammable". It tasted as good as it looked too! I enjoyed every sip of it!

3. Tiramisu and "Under Table" cakesAnother hidden specialty of Black&Ink is their "under table" cakes which changes frequently, which also means they are baked fresh and often! Once each batch runs out, Big Roy bakes another batch, hence the flavours of the cakes change, giving customers a wide variety of cakes to indulge on!Their Tiramisu cake was lovely, I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed their "Under Table" banana cake with chocolately goodness. Both were very moisy and soft. They were also dense with flavours, and slightly too sweet for my liking. Maybe I'm just growing old and preferring flavours that aren't so strong. But they paired well with my matcha latte. Do not let the size of the cakes fool you, it may be petite but huge in satisfaction value! Every bite is filled with Big Roy's huge passion for a happy tummy!

I also had a double scoop gelato with cookie cup which I completely forgot to take a photo of, but their cookie cups never let me down and I am so convinced that cookie cups will be the next big "waffle-craze"!!! 

All in all, another pleasant visit at Black&Ink and Big Roy never fails to surprise me with new creations, be it gelatos in cookie cups, cakes, or drinks!

Located right next to Seattle Pike Chowder with the same management is Giovanni L., brought in directly from Germany and decorated in Singapore. It is hard to turn down a scoop of delicious and fresh gelato!Giovanni L. is owning a repertoire of 102 international ice cream varieties. Most of them are made with our own recipe. Each year 2 to 3 new flavors of ice cream will be created and several of their gelato flavours are international award winners!Here are some of my my favourite flavours, after trying almost all their flavours. They also have very westernized flavours such as Eggnog, and instead of having it just during thanksgiving, they will be serving it all year round!There were several flavours that had alcohol in them, but were no signs to indicate, the staff just had to ask if we could take alcohol. The eggnog gelato was one of them, and it was my favourite, the tinge of alcohol sweetness was just perfect with some chocolatey bit goodness. I just wish they made eggnog milk shakes out of this, then my life would be complete!The Pistachio was very rich and not as creamy as you would expect, it had a slightly rough texture which would indicate the pistachio bits embedded into the gelato.As with any ice cream parlour in Singapore, they melt fast! Especially in areas that have al fresco dining. Having a wide range of gelatos gives me a feeling they are out to fight the already concentrated gelato market.They do not offer typical flavours such as matcha or cookies and cream, but rather very specific flavours like Amorena which is a vanilla gelato with amorena cherries. It will blow your mind! Think of a super awesome raspberry ripple!Their peanut butter gelato is also superb, a simple and yet well made gelato.The bella stracciatella gelato was also one of my favourites, chocolate ice cream studded with white chocolate chunks and toasted hazelnuts!

Having just visited Seattle just 2 weeks ago, standing in the infamous Pike's Place Market and having a bread bowl full of New England Clam Chowder in the 20 degrees celsius summer temperature was one of the most memorable bowls of soup I had ever had.

When I was invited to this food tasting, I was hoping for a similar experience, although being a 17.5 hour flight away from Singapore, we can only hope for so much!Located right in the heart of Marine Parade central, a matured estate that has a vibrant mix of locals and expats is Seattle Pike Chowder, alongside is their gelato offerings from Giovanni L.At one glance, you will notice several different types of chowders and you can havethem with a bread bowl, or in a cup.They also offer sandwiches and a combo for a sandwich and a chowder.

1. New England Clam ChowderTo me a good New England Clam Chowder isn't just the chowder, but also the bread bowl. Their marketing staff, Rachel was well-versed in the details on how they source for ingredients. Since this place is literally marketed with "Seattle" on the signboard, all their chowders come directly from Seattle on a daily basis, to ensure top-notch quality.  Their bread however is made locally. The bread definitely isn't the same bread I had in Seattle. 

It was alot fluffier and not as tough, it may suit the locals more, but it is definitely a change. The bread we were served was slightly burnt all over the edges as well. I think some quality control could be in place here. The chowder, was very rich, with chopped ocean clams, potatoes, celery, onion, thyme, white pepper, sea salt, clam stock, half and half, butter and flour. It is no wonder, your mind goes into oblivion trying to wonder what you are tasting. The clams itself were sizable but the potatoes were miniscule in comparison. The chowder tasted good in my opinion. Maybe I'm just more picky with the bread than the soup. 

But in all honesty, I really couldn't tell the difference between this clam chowder I had and the ones I had in Seattle and San Franciso other than the fact that, I'm missing a packet of saltine crackers.

2. Seafood BisqueNext up, the seafood bisque. Filled with all the happy sea creatures in the pacific ocean and it was noted to be one my favourites!Salmon, cod, crab, bay shrimp, garlic, black pepper, sea salt, tomato-basil-cream broth, shellfish stock, cream, butter and flour is what went into this delicious mix! There were lots of seafood bits to bite into, let alone the sweet fragrance of the broth. 

3. Smoked Salmon ChowderThis chowder very interesting, as a huge fan of smoked salmon I was intrigued by the tastes. Seattle's Pike Chowder managed to capture the essence of the smoked salmon blend it in with cream cheese and TA-DA! You have an amazing bowl of smoked salmon chowder. I highly recommend this to any fellow smoked salmon lover! The taste of the smoked salmon comes in strong, as an aftertaste.

This was a very creamy bowl of soup, not much to bite into, just good, flavourful chowder. A good compliment to any sandwich.

Giovanni L.

After we were done with the chowders, we moved onto a surprise gelato tasting. Rachel mentioned that the gelatos are brought in from Germany and decorated here in Singapore.Here are some of my my favourite flavours, after trying almost all their flavours. They also have very westernized flavours such as Eggnog, and instead of having it just during thanksgiving, they will be serving it all year round!There were several flavours that had alcohol in them, but were no signs to indicate, the staff just had to ask if we could take alcohol. The eggnog gelato was one of them, and it was my favourite, the tinge of alcohol sweetness was just perfect with some chocolatey bit goodness. I just wish they made eggnog milk shakes out of this, then my life would be complete!The Pistachio was very rich and not as creamy as you would expect, it had a slightly rough texture which would indicate the pistachio bits embedded into the gelato.As with any ice cream parlour in Singapore, they melt fast! Especially in areas that have al fresco dining. Having a wide range of gelatos gives me a feeling they are out to fight the already competitive gelato market. They do not offer typical flavours such as matcha or cookies and cream, but rather very unique flavours like Amorena which is a vanilla gelato with amorena cherries. It will blow your mind! Think of a super awesome raspberry ripple!Their peanut butter gelato is also superb, a simple and yet well made gelato.The bella stracciatella gelato was also one of my favourites, chocolate ice cream studded with white chocolate chunks and toasted hazelnuts!

I am excited to see how Seattle Pike Chowder will expand, having two brand outlets in Singapore. Their flagship store being here in Marine Parade and another cafe style shop in Dhoby Ghaut.

I would like to thank Reka and Seattle Pike Chowder for the amazing hospitality and food tasting invite.

I haven't been to Marche in over 10 years, and my friends wanted a place with a variety of food to suit everyone's tastebuds, so we choose Marche. If you don't want to queue a tleast 20 minutes on a thursday night at 7pm, make a reservation.There are lots of tables, some are bar top, and some are booths and some are just typical tables which you can join together to accomodate a big group.The first stall you see as you enter Marche is the fruit juice stall.

1. Watermelon JuiceThe watermelon juice tasted okay, nothing special. I would rather go elsewhere to get this watermelon juice.Pick up your own utensils.The desserts looks good!The rosti station had one of the longest queues!You can pick to have your rosti with sausages, smoked salmon and more.With so many potatoes placed here to decorate the stall, I wonder how much potatoes do they use on a daily basis.

2. Rosti with Smoked Salmon $16.90+I loved how generous they were with the smoked salmon, covered the entire plate of rosti! The smoked salmon wasn't too salty, it was perfect and the rosti was crispy on the top layers and soft and warmed to perfection in the center. This was exactly how I remembered it 10 years ago. It seems quality standards remained the same over the past decade! *applause*

3. Rosti with SausagesI picked both the chicken cheese sauage and the pork garlic sausage. The chicken cheese sausage was very juicy and flavourful. The pork garlic sausage (the shorter one) was a bit more dry and slightly harder to cut into. The sour cream added more flavour to the sausages.While waiting for my Rosti to be cooked, I watched this chef twirl and spin the pizza dough in the air, it was quite amazing and it made me want to try the pizza.

4. Onion Chicken PizzaThe pizza looked fine, till we cut it up and saw the amount of oil in it. The onion was more for decoration as it seemed pretty raw. The chicken cubes were tiny and the cheese wasn't sufficient enough. The outside crust was crispy but the inner pizza was dough and pretty much all the ingredient slid right off the pizza. Very disappointing.

5. PastaCheesy goodness and even the brocolli tasted awesome. A decent plate of pasta with simple flavours from the ham and brocolli

6. Roasted Half Chicken with SausagesThe chicken was very tender and juicy, even the breast meat was juicy. The sausages here were the same as the ones that came with the smoked salmon.

7. SaladThe salad seemed fresh, however there wasn't sufficient dressing on the salad. 

All in all, there were some hits and misses, and Yes I will go back for more rosti goodness, but I was surprised to see the bill of $140 for 4 pax. Is the food fresh? Yes sort of, I mean I can't say it's super fresh, but I know I didn't get sick from eating it. But the price just doesn't justify the quality of food we received. 

Black & Ink is nestled just a stone's throw away from Eunos MRT. You can't miss the huge store sign going along Changi Road. There is also a bus stop right in front of the shop, so even for someone who lives up North, it was still convenient to pop up.Straight away you will realize that though the cafe is horizontal wide, the dining area looks small in the right corner. However, once you step in, with the comfort of the air conditioning, along with the white and black tones, you somehow feel like you've stepped into a traditional "kopitiam"!I liked how you could feel all cosy and in this 16 seat dining area. We did end up spending about 2 hours here and not once did I think that the dining area was too small. The second you step into Black & Ink you are greeted by their cake offerings, which are pretty overwhelming!When I first spoke to Roy the brainchild of Black & Ink and asked for an online version of the menu, he explained that he created the menu around the coffee and hence, they have "damn good" cakes, pastries, gelato and breads. Their breads are made from natural yeast and everything else have no preservatives and additives. There's also less sugar in the cakes and gelato too.I was attracted to this place because of the pictures I had seen about their cookie cups. I mean, waffles served with ice cream is so over done now. It's time we moved on!They had a wide range of gelatos to pick from, all of which came down to Roy who personally promoted each flavour to us, based on what we liked. Thank you Roy for trying to meet our every need!The cookie cups looked alot bigger than I had expected and at $2 a cookie cup, I needed at least 2 of them!

1. Salted Egg Yolk Muffin $4.80Coffee is best paired with cakes and muffins and in this case, Salted egg yolk muffin!The colour of this warmed up muffin was so appetizing!!Roy explained to us how best to eat it! The salted egg yolk colour with the brown muffin was just terrific! The browned exterior of the muffin was slightly crusty and almost like eating a cookie.The muffin itself was quite dense as such, it held up well with the salted egg sauce and didn't turn the muffin soggy. I tasted a slight coconut flavour from the salted egg and I liked the sweet lemak aftertaste!

I highly recommend this to one who needs a light snack in the area.

2. Bread of the day with tuna mayonnaise $7.80 So here are the options for mains at Black & Ink, they don't exactly have a fully equipped kitchen for cooking, but they have ovens and simple cooking techniques could still be applied.Here is the focaccia with tuna mayonnaise. For 3 girls, we struggled to finish the sandwich, mainly because the focaccia bread is typical very filling. Roy said the bread was made with all natural ingredients, natural yeast, herbs, extra virgin olive oil, etc., which probably explains why the bread was so yummy! Definitely for the health conscious! The chips were nice too! We pretty much fought for the last piece of chip!

3. Spicy Lemongrass Chicken Burger with Mayonnaise $8.80After the delicious focaccia, we tried the burger. The buns are made with natural yeast and scattered with mixed seeds. It shows how much Big Roy cares about your health! The chicken itself wasn't spicy even though it's titled "spicy", it's more of a "green curry", thai style chicken. Checkout the thickeness of the chicken. We loved it! Although we feel that the bread didn't taste as nice when it turned soggy from the sauce.

4. Hot CoffeeManager Big Roy was trained in The Coffee School of Australia and is a certified SCAE advanced level Barista, so you can always expect an excellent cup of coffee here at Black & Ink! This cup truly aroused my senses, so much so that I went home and headed straight to the gym! I definitely wish I had this cup of coffee everyday before work!They also sell beans to take home with you so you can enjoy this goodness anyday!Coffee beans are the center of everything in this cafe!

5. Tapping Tapir Pineapple Calamansi $4.50Upon Roy's recommendation, my friend decided to get one of these fruity bottled drinks, that was supposedly a soda, but had very little carbonation, which we appreciate!The drink was very refreshing and the taste of the pineapple and calamansi was a great compliment, they paired up well!

6. Mao Shan Wang in cookie cup $7Okay, so I love durian but I've never actually found a durian ice cream that I liked. Some were too sweet, too artificially coloured yellow etc. But Roy did it right! I was luckily enough to come on a day whereby he was churning his first tub of Mao Shan Wang sorbet and unlike other fruity sorbet, this durian itself is creamy, hence even though it's termed a sorbet. It was creamy goodness! You could close your eyes and imagine that you were eating the real durian fruit! The cookie cup added a perfect crunch to the durian gelato as well!

7. Very Dark Chocolate Sorbet and Good'ol Days in cookie cup $9The dark chocolate sorbet was yummy, but I was still bigger fan of their award winning Good'ol days, as Roy termed it "Chendol without the chendol" and it really was! I loved the salty and sweet gula melaka taste and it paired up well with the dark sorbet. I am a huge fan of these cookie cups, I feel that the time of the ice cream cones and waffles should just give way for the new generation of cookie cups! Cookies and ice cream has always been seen as an ice cream sandwich, now Roy has given the cookies a purpose! The texture of the cookie itself is quite hard and you have to bite it with your mouth and savour the inner chocolate lining of the cookie cup!Here's big roy showing us how to do it right!Black & Ink may not have a huge food menu at the moment, but all the items are worth checking out especially the salted egg muffin, cookie cups, Mao Shang Wang gelato and the coffee! Big Roy is also super friendly and can help you make a decision on what to order! He has a big heart to share his love for cookie, cakes and gelato with everyone, you can see it in everything this cafe serves. This is how a every cafe should be!