The passion and love for art and gelato has brought together 2 ladies Varsha Mulani and Anisa Tyebally to open Scoop of Art at Marine Parade Community Club back in July 2010. Its philosophy is to create an unique experience that combines Gelato enjoyment with Art appreciation.

Creative art pieces decorated the cafe giving it a funky and lively interior. Besides food and beverages, the cafe has a wide range of Art activities for everyone. With a free flow of paints and brushes, one can spend the day immersed in a relaxing art jamming such as tiles/canvas painting, t-shirt painting, umbrella painting, paint an animal coin bank or mug and many etc.

Scoop of Art has also hosted many events ranging from corporate team building to birthday parties and even Gelato workshops.

Even the famous local artist Wanton Doodle has drawn on the cupboard at Scoop of Art.

So far Scoop of Art has created over 60 Gelato flavours and everyday 18 different delectable gelato flavours will be available. The flavours are constantly rotated so that every visit comes with a different gelato experience.

If you are with a group of friends or family, the Scoop of Six ($10.50) will be great for sharing. You can choose any 6 flavours of your choices. The homemade gelato uses the freshest ingredients with no preservatives or food colouring. For my visit, I tired the White Chocolate with Raspberry, Raspberry, Ferraro Nutella, Alfonso Mango, Lemon Meringue Pie and Mars Bar & Sea Salt. I could not decide which is my favourite as I liked all of them. They all come with distinct strong flavours, smooth and creamy.

Their Premium Gelato is priced at $3.80 (small), $4.80 (medium) and $5.80 (large). Regular gelato is priced at $3.20 (small), $4.20 (medium) and $5.20 (large).

Scoop of Art is not just a gelato parlour. You can also grab a proper lunch or dinner with mains under $10. Currently the kitchen is run by an ex Botak Jones chef that creates the delicious menu. They also have student meal set that comes with a drink at $5.50 to $.6.50.

The Shepherd's Pie ($4.50) comes with a choice of either chicken or beef fillings. I really love the cheesy version by the cafe. The smooth mash potatoes with the flavourful beef stew was a winner for me. For the size of the shepherd's pie, it is definitely value for money too.

The Garlic Prawn Pasta ($8.00) is another winner for me! If you love your food hot and spicy this definitely brings a punch. The strong flavours and fresh crunchy prawns will definitely send your palate dancing.

After trying 2 dishes, I am already won over by the menu. The Torilla Melts with Thai Chilli Dip (R $5.50, L $8) comes with a choice of chicken or beef fillings. The Thai Chilli Dip made by the chef surprisingly was a delightful combination to the already delicious Tortilla Melts. It definitely lifted the dish to a new level.

For a hearty meal and if you are a cheese lover, you can try the Cheese Croque Sandwich ($8) that has ham, chicken pieces and mango. I like how the chef uses simple ingredients and combined them for a delectable dish.

I was down at 112 Katong last weekend to check out the new shopping mall in the east. Located at the basement of the mall is Obolo which means "the cake" in Portuguese. Obolo is behind the inspiring story of 2 architecture graduates Mac Woo & June Lee baking from homes to forming an online patisserie specializing in gourmet cheesecakes and chocolate cakes.

As the flagship patisserie cafe under Obolo’s repertoire of F&B lifestyle concepts, Obolo features a 44-seater open-concept cafe space and an impressive 8-feet showcase housing the best cakes and pastries that Obolo offers.

Obolo serves an array of gourmet fine tea from Gryphon Tea Company which are a good complement to their lovely dessert. I had the Sakura Flower Tea which is a green tea that is light and refreshing with a little bitter after taste.

If you can't decide what to order from the myriad of mouth watering fine cakes, pastries and desserts that fills up the entire showcase, the All Day Dessert Platter comes with the choice of 1 slice of cake/tart, 2 macarons and 1 scoop of ice cream at $14.90++.

For their widely acclaimed french styled macarons, I had the Salted Caramel Chocolate and Fraise macarons. The macarons were well executed with a good balance of sweetness and the shells were moist.

The waitress recommends us to their signature mousse cake, Noisette. The waitress told us that it was voted as top 50 cakes by Strait Times and Top 10 chocolate cakes by OMY.com. A good recommendation by the waitress. It is beautifully executed, moist with a good balance of sweetness too.

Walking into the 2 storey pre-war house is like stepping back into a bygone era. The restaurant is decorated with antique furniture and artifacts everywhere as if it is a antique museum.

The Indo Thai restaurant offers both ala carte and buffet on their menu. We went for the buffet which cost $16.80+ per adult and $8.40+ for children under 10 years old. There were about 23 mains and 16 desserts/drinks on the buffet menu.

Unlike the usual Tahu Telor that is served in one big piece, the Tahu (Tofu) here came in small pieces. It looked mediocre but it was really very good. The Tahu was very soft and smooth.

What a weird combination of Seafood and Fried Egg as a salad dish. The Seafood Fried Egg Salad was served in a lime sauce with a tad of spiciness that married both the seafood and fried egg into a delightful salad.

Gado Gado is a typical Indonesia dish whereby vegetables are served in peanut sauce. I don't fancy the dish because I find it weird to eat vegetable in peanut sauce. Nevertheless, the peanut sauce itself was really nutty and flavourful.

The Steam Fish Spicy Lime Sauce was simple, fresh and nice. The boneless fish slices were not too spicy for the kids and they enjoyed it.

I find the Fried Fish Slice House Chilli was rather pedestrian. The house chilli did not manage to wow me.

Bumbu supposed to be a Indo Thai restaurant and I really not sure why the Sweet Sour Chicken dish is on the menu although they substitute pork with chicken since it is a Halal restaurant.

The Stir Fry Prawn with Egg has a nice fluffy and creamy texture. It was the kids favourite dish.

I think Sambal Kangkong is my favourite vegetable dish. I realized I usually order it when I dine outside. The belacan chilli infused with the kangkong was really shiok. It was not overcooked with a tad of crunchiness that I like.

I was a bit disappinted with the Black Pepper Beef. The beef was a bit rubbery which did not justify for the flavourful black pepper sauce.

You don't often get to find Cold Tofu with Preserved Egg served at restaurant. I remembered the first time I tried this dish in Taiwan and I fell in love with it. The cold tofu was tasteless but paired with preserved egg, salted egg and sauce, it just turned into a very beautiful dish.

The Mini Spring Roll surprised all of us. The restaurant used Otak for the spring roll's filling! It is an interesting and unique combination. The spring roll was fried perfectly with a nice colouring and the skin was very crispy.

You may realized I did not post any dessert pictures. We were so full that we could not eat anymore desserts!

Arteastiq located at the heart of Orchard at Mandarin Gallery, is a posh chill out tea lounge where customers can relax with friends or rest their tiring feet after a day of shopping at Orchard. Arteastiq has a fascinating range of special, alcoholic, dessert and fruit tea sets and an assortment of “teasers” (savouries) and desserts (premium gelato, cakes and scones) to go along in a luxurious and relaxing setting. Arteastiq offers an unique tea experience with its modern lounge and designer furniture by Marxx.

For a start, my partner and I tried the Dessert Tea which was an unique and interesting combination of tea and ice cream. We had the French Rose Tea with Champagne Vanilla Gelato and Oolong Tea with Lychee Martini Gelato. The Dessert Tea definitely won our hearts with the innovative and refreshing concept.

The Dessert Tea also comes with a small cup of the tea. I thought that was a nice warm touch to taste the true flavour of the freshly brewed tea's quality.

The Double Teasery came with 6 mini bites and cold cuts. On the top plate, there were the Signature Crispy Wraps and Apple Cake. The Crispy Wraps with Chicken Breast was an unique creation using Roti Prata to wrap a choice of your filling. The plain looking Apple Cake was surprisingly moist and flavourful. On the other Double Teasery, we tried the Crispy Wraps with Roasted Beef and Orange Cake. Both were excellent too.

On the lower plate, we have the Atlantic Smoked Salmon, Smoked Turkey Ham, Crabmeat Salad served with volvant, Spicy Jumbo Topshell with Chilled Mango Achar. The pinkish Atlantic Smoked Salmon rich savoury, buttery taste was very enjoyable but lacked the smokey flavour. Among all, the Crabmeat Salad served with volvant was our favourite. We would gladly substitute some of the other bites for more of it.

After finishing all the lovely food, for the second round of tea we went for the hot fruit tea. I had the Lychee Fruit Tea while my partner had the Pear Fruit Tea. It was a real enjoyment sipping a cup of tea in a cozy contemporary Europe ambient. At Arteastiq, each pot of tea is brewed separately on the spot with the freshest ingredients to assure quality. Hence, do be patient. Sit back, relax or browse the magazines that are readily available.

Mention Prima Taste and many of us will know the popular local brand that offers the very best of Singapore's much loved dishes through ready-to-cook pastes and premixes. Building on the success of Prima Taste ready-to-cook pastes and premixes, Prima Taste created the Prima Taste concept restaurant to serve 'True Singapore Cuisine'.

Located conveniently at level one of The Centrepoint at Orchard Road, Prima Taste Kitchen is a quick-serve restaurant which showcases Singapore food as well as variety and authentic good taste of Prima Taste products. The restaurant features sleek furnishings and a modern ambience accented with Singapore scenes and icons. Diners can also enjoy 'live' cooking demonstrations through the showcase kitchen.

For the food tasting session, I was introduced to some of the signature local favourites that is available on Prima Taste Kitchen menu. First up, I tried the handrolled Popiah filled with refreshing shredded vegetables, bamboo shoot, minced pork and mushroom, prawn and egg slices. I disliked Popiah that is wet and messy to eat with. Thumbs up to Prima Taste Kitchen, the fresh Popiah skin although thin can be easily picked up without the ingredients falling apart. I also noticed the Popiah is very popular with diners. Almost every table ordered it.

Next I get to try the Rojak. I was quite surprised that Prima Taste has their own sauce mix for making the Rojak. The Rojak sauce mix was really good! It tasted as good as some of the Rojak stalls or even better. These stalls can probably consider buying the Rojak sauce mix from Prima Taste instead.

Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of the signature dishes at Prima Taste Kitchen. The poached chicken was very tender and came with a thin jelly like skin. The chicken-flavoured rice was not oily and very fragrant. It also came with a medley of chilli, ginger and black soya sauces to further enhance the dish.

Laksa is my favourite local dish and I have high expectation when I tried the Laksa here. The Laksa has a rich and spicy coconut gravy which did not disappoint me. It is served with rice noodles, prawns, fish cake, cockles and tau pok. The rice noodles can also be purchased at the restaurant if you intend to cook some Laksa at home.

For a good bowl of Prawn Mee it is all down to the soup that makes the different. It must have the prawny taste and flavour from hours of brewing the prawn shells. How did the Prima Taste mix fare? Excellent! The soup was really very flavourful with the prawny taste.

Guess what? The Prima Taste Prawn Mee mix is also used to prepare the Fried Hokkien Mee dish! I thought that was pretty cool. Getting a pack of Prawn Mee mix and you can cook two different Singapore local dishes out of it. I really enjoyed the semi wet version of the Fried Hokkien Mee that infused with the prawny broth.

Many of my work associates from Greater China love to get the Bak Kut Teh Prima Taste mix whenever they are in town. Now they can sample both the dish and purchase the product at the same location. The Teochew style Bak Kut Teh has very tender pork ribs which came of the bone easily. The peppery soup came with a mild herbal taste which was a nice balance not overpowering each other. Personally I would prefer it to be more peppery.

The Curry Chicken has a rich and creamy gravy. However it lacked the spiciness that I was looking for. Anyway it is just a personally preference. The dish also came with white rice but you can request for the chicken-flavoured rice. The curry goes very well with either rice.

For those that has a sweet tooth, you can also check out the desserts on their menu. The Grass Jelly with Longan in Gula Melaka was a bit pedestrian but a refreshing dessert after a hot day shopping at Orchard Road. The Chendol on the other hand was a beautiful dessert with its sweet and strong flavours coming from the Gula Melaka and coconut milk. It would make the drink smoother if the shaved ice could be finer.

The Almond Pudding with Longan is a must try. I would have gone for more if not for all the earlier food tasting dishes. The balance in the almond flavours, neither too strong or light and with the right firmness in texture made it a very enjoyable dessert.

The Prima Taste ready-to-cook pastes and premixes are readily available for purchase at Prima Taste Kitchen. Regular and big users can save considerably through their party packs which is ONLY available at the outlet or online. In addition, certain popular products like Bak Chor Mee and Lor Mee are only available in party packs.

If you want to pick up some cooking skills and tips using Prima Taste pastes and products, you can check out Prima Taste's cooking workshop.

Overwhelmed by all the delicious dishes at Prima Taste Kitchen? Here is a tip for you. You can go for their Tea Time Special promotion between Mon to Friday from 230pm to 530pm where you can try the different dishes in sampling portions that would not hurt your pocket and stomach.