This bun is mind-blowingly delicious. Molten cream cheese oozing out of pillowy soft and fluffy bread complete with juicy raisins for a sweet contrast mmm....

No wonder long queues form in front of Barcook Bakery everyday to get their hands on these coveted babies during lunch hours. Don't bother ordering just one or two, you'll have to wait patiently to get your order served anyway. You'll certainly be left wishing you had more after sinking your teeth into these!

And you won't regret it. At $1.30 each, this is one indulgence that doesn't cost your wallet a bomb. Eat them fresh out of the oven to enjoy the most out of this gastronomic experience, when the bun is still as soft and as plump as a pillow and the cheese, delectably oozy and scorching hot.

I've also tried the Maxi Cheese Bun and the Coffee Cheese Bun which were however, more ordinary.

The German Muesli Loaf ($2 for half a loaf), another hot favorite, comes packed with loads of seeds. Oops, I mean flaxseeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. There're raisins and walnuts too. Soft and tasty! While this can't beat my favorite raisin cream cheese bun, it's worth a try. Greedy me scarfed down several slices of these down after finishing two raisin cheese buns!

I finally got around to trying Royce's famed nama chocolate sometimes last year. According to Royce's website, this is made from "25% fresh cream from the lovingly tended cattle of Hokkaido". Awww... I love these cows from letting me enjoy such deliciously creamy chocolate!

Royce' nama chocolate is manufactured under the strictest hygiene conditions in their factory in Japan. You'll have to get through five "barriers" before you get get your hands on the chocs:
(i) the thoughtful thick silver packaging, accompanied by an ice pack, which preserves the integrity of the nama chocolate during your journey back home from the store
(ii) a paper wrapper
(iii) the box
(iv) a plastic wrapper
(v) the plastic cover of the container in which the chocolates sit in

I've tried three flavors of Royce's nama chocolates so far- bitter, grand marnier and cherry marnier. The last was a gift from someone who had just visited Bangkok and I don't think the cherry marnier flavor is available locally.

Each box of 20 retails for $15. A spoon is included to facilitate (compulsive!) eating.

Carefully picking a square up and placing it in your mouth, you sense the mild bitterness of the cocoa powder. As the chocolate starts to melt in your mouth, you delight upon tasting the cold fresh cream. Very quickly, you're greeted by a silky smooth sensation... and within a few seconds, the piece of chocolate is gone.
What do you do next? Pop another square into your mouth, of course!

I found the Bitter nama chocolate a tad too (errr...) bitter for me. Intensely dark, this flavor will please chocoholics who live on >75% cacao chocolate. As for the Grand Marnier and Cherry Marnier flavors, I liked how the mild alcoholic tinge complemented the chocolate. Subtle, that's the way I like alcohol in my chocolate (oops is this underage alcohol consumption?!?), unlike in liqeur chocolates where the booze hits you strong.

I find that the nama chocolate tastes even better after it's been left outside for a while (~1 hour) to soften. That way, it melts even faster in your mouth. Instant gratification!

Royce' truffle pralines are made of "rich praline cream mixed with milk chocolate and almonds". They were okay I suppose... good quality chocolate but I didn't like the roughness of the chopped almonds.

My cluster mistress suggested having dinner at 211 Roof Terrace Café after shopping for our monthly cluster birthday celebration. We were planning to save some stomach space for Kettle Chips, Cedele Carrot Walnut cake, Korean strawberries.... but we all ended up with full tummies anyway.

Located on the top floor (well, actually just the fourth) of Holland Village Shopping Centre, this cafe offers both indoor and al fresco dining. The ambience of the outdoor dining area was clearly the main attraction of the cafe, so how could we choose not to sit outside?

The al fresco area was furnished with wooden furniture and plenty of plants, along with a water foundation. For a laid-back atmosphere, good for a nice catch-up with pals (:

We shared Calamari Rings as an appetizer. No complaints here- we got tender squid rings encased in a light, non-oily batter coating

My Seafood Risotto featured plump rice grains, swimming in a rich tomato cream sauce. The rich tomato cream sauce was tolerable at first, but soon grew too heavy. Mushy rice grains would have rendered me unable to finish the whole plate, but thankfully, I was able to finish up everything as every rice grain was well-cooked and al dente. No complains about the prawns, squid rings and mussels which accompanied the dish.

I sampled a bit of my dining partner's Organic Brown Rice with Pan-fried Fish and Mango Chutney (can't quite remember the name). This was not too bad- the rice was cooked equally well, while the fish had a flaky and moist interior.

I also had two slices of my friend's 211 Pizza. She eats rather slowly and had to rush back to school for something, so I helped her to finish her food haha. This bacon and veggie thin-crusted pizza was my favorite of the three entrees, especially the chewy cheese topping.

The draw of this cafe is clearly the ambience, and perhaps the view (which I don't find to be special, maybe because my home is on the top floor of my apartment block). Portions were decently sized, but honestly, the food quality- though acceptable- was not sufficient to justify a return visit.

A craving for egg tarts hit me one morning. Desperate, I gave the one from my school canteen's drink stall a try, which (expectedly) fell short of my expectations.

No more risk-taking this time round- I went to Tong Heng to get my fix. Coincidentally, the shop, located along South Bridge Road, is just a very short walk away from dear K Ki and the popular Maxwell Food Centre.

The original egg tart here costs $1.40, a tad expensive for a takeaway place (there are a few tables and chairs though) but absolutely worth it. It's not even expensive for a nice treat.

I'd never say no to soft, smooth egg custard. Especially when it's served warm and made even more delicious when coupled with a thin pastry base for contrast. And oh, the custard to pastry ratio here really hit the spot too!

Note that the egg tarts are best eaten when they are just out of the oven, when the pastry is still crisp, flaky and light. When left out for a while, the pastry becomes somewhat like a biscuit crust. The custard is also slurpaliciously (is there such a word?) wobbly when they're freshly baked!

Tong Heng's egg cake is also a hot favorite. However, I don't quite fancy the variant of egg cake sold here. I'll save my stomach for more egg tarts!

I sampled the Stracciatella, Fior de Latte, Pistachio and Almond and eventually settled for a single scoop of Pistachio gelato ($3.90). With two scoops going for $4.50 and three for $5.20, I definitely would have gotten myself a triple treat if not for my mild flu :/

Darn, I should have just gotten three scoops anyway. Spooning a generous spoonful of Galto's gelato in my mouth left my tastebuds singing for joy! I savored every bit of this lusciously smooth and indulgently rich goodness. Mmmm I'll definitely drop by everytime I attend a concert at the nearby Esplanade (I timed, it's 10 mins away if you brisk walk.) While I certainly enjoyed the intense, nutty pistachio flavour, it's the silky rich texture of Galto's gelato that I'm most impressed by.

On another visit, I tried the Stracciatella gelato and apricot sorbet. Galta's version of the former used to feature delightfully crunchy chocolate balls in creamy milk gelato, but it has now revamped its Stracciatella to the authentic version. Now, it contains chocolate shavings instead of chocolate balls. Pistachio firmly remains as my favorite, but as with Galta's other milk-based flavors, this gelato was uber smooth and creamy. Joy!

Perhaps Galta should come up with another flavor featuring those chocolate balls. They really provide a nice contrast to the rich gelato.

On to the oh-so-very fruity apricot flavor! Every spoonful delivered an intense burst of the robust flavor of this golden stone fruit. Equally tasty was the apple (apple nola?) sorbet which I sampled. Galta's fruit-based flavors are refreshing and much lighter than their indulgent milk-based counterparts. They'll suit who're looking for a lighter treat.

While termed as gelato, Galta's version is actually closer to ice-cream as it is rich and dense. Oh well, I still love it anyway!