This dessert hideout at a secluded corner of Holland Village had been on my list since it was opened years ago. The chef-owner Janice had won numerous awards for her pastry creations. However, there seemed to be less positive reviews than negative ones.


Some felt that the quality/portions of the desserts did not justify the expensive price tag while some felt the service was lacking. Finally mustered the necessary courage to visit and well, our experience was not fantastic but not too bad.


The Red Miso Caramel ($15) with mustard crumble sparked my curiosity as saltish desserts often excelled well than purely sweet desserts. The miso lemon foam was robust enough to pair with the slightly tangy mustard yuzu meringue, though my partner found the match rather odd. This interesting dessert would not dull your taste buds, even though the mustard taste was faint.


This Southeast Asian style dessert is named Shades of Green ($14) had nothing to do with trees but 2Ps - Pistachio and Pandan. The pistachio sponge and coconut mousse were quite forgettable, but what I remembered was the sweet and aromatic pandan gula melaka custard. Overall not too dense nor overly sweet. If you like kaya toasts or nyonya kuehs like ondeh ondeh just like me, you might love this one.


There was a petite tasting menu, from which we ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding ($10). But at $10 for a small slice, it was pricey and I should have stuck to the regular menu. With some wacky combinations of ingredients, I would not say that the desserts are extremely overpriced but more or less, on par with most western restaurants and even cafes here.

At least their dessert menu do not have boring renditions of molten lava cake, creme brulee or apple crumble. That said, don't be like me who wanted to save money by ordering the cheaper petite tasting creations. If you wish to go, do check out their website calendar as their opening days are irregular.



For full review and more photos, please visit: http://www.dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/07/2am-dessert-bar.html

Helmed by Chef Lau who is the brainchild behind the award winning lobster porridge at 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wan He Lou serves up wallet-friendly Chinese cuisine within comfortable air-conditioned environment. After opening for about a month, the team has created new dishes that seek to capture local tastes.Of course, the all time signature dish was the Lobster Porridge (Good for 2 pax) - $29.90. Though the lobster meat was isolated from the porridge, the yellow broth enhanced with lobster roe had hints of freshness from the sea. It does lack a bit of peppery kick, but on the very least it did not taste full of MSG.The Crispy Lotus in Salted Egg Yolk - $10.90, with doses of chilli padi made a very good dish to go along with rice, or even a snack if you have high tolerance of salt. The extra bits of aromatic curry leaves were a bonus.My favourite dish was the Stir Fry French Beans - $8.90. It might be a common dish in many restaurants but skills and experience are required to execute it well. What made this dish stood out were the super fragrant dried shrimps, garlic nibs and chilli padi. It actually had milky scents that reminded me of cereal prawn! Not all the dishes served are perfect but this place is certainly promising enough for a casual gathering with family or friends. Apart from the Lobster porridge, the Crispy Lotus in Salted Egg Yolk and the Stir fried French beans are dishes not to be missed.

Understandably, the restaurant is still at its experimental stage. Given more time, I'm sure the experienced chefs will be able to neat out the minor details and deliver consistent Chinese fare.

For full post and more pictures, visit http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/06/wan-he-lou-lobster-porridge.html.

Visit : http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/05/sur-nuevo-latino-kitchen-round-i.html for Full review and pics
There was a time when French cuisine seems to be the hallmark of quality western food in Singapore. But with the entrance of Spanish and the recent South American food, it is no wonder that the local news has marked 2013 as the year of Latin food.

Sur Nuevo is a homely Latin American kitchen opened by ex-MBS pastry chef, Alejandro Luna and and his close friend, Vitelio Reyes. "SUR Nuevo Latino" which means South New Latin, suggests that diners will be greeted with tantalising dishes inspired by Peru and Venezuela, the hometown of the chefs.I've always associated Latin American cuisine with street grub food but this place totally transformed and elevated my dining experience.Of course, not every journey begins on a smooth note. We thought we would fall in love with their highly popular Ceviche $24 (raw seafood marinated in citrus-mixture) but unfortunately not. The concentrated chilled lime, hot pepper juice and shaved red onions could not eliminate the fishiness of the raw fish chunks. The sweet potatoes were a temporary comfort but they were not as soft as we preferred.Torte de Maiz ($17)--twice baked corn soufflé with mushroom ragout, was the shortest soufflé I've ever had but with the texture was soft and moist. As a starter, the portion is small. Each component was either very sweet or very salty, especially the crumble of rare Peruvian cheese Queso Fresco. But they were a perfect match when eaten together.The Arepitas, were a Colombian street food consisting of deep-fried plump cornmeal patties stuffed with filling. But the downside is the mini palm-sized portion for $8 each. Better to come during lunch if you like regular size.
The version of Avocado and chicken coated in a light and creamy mayonaise was quite plain whereas the Queso blanco was simply dominated by the savoury cheese. It became tastier when we mixing both types of arepitas together.The spicy pork sausages in this Chorizo Carupanero ($18) were not spicy at all as kids who can't take a single tinge of spice chomped through the pot of sticky rice thrown in with bell peppers and white cheese.I believed we underestimated our appetite that day as we had not even reached our main courses. The Pescado Frito ($26) made a spectacular appearance with a whole fish encased in a crispy golden brown skin served with fried plaintains (not potato wedges) and refreshing coleslaw.

Looks dry and lifeless? Wait till you dig your fork into the tender and fresh meat. This was the first dish that everyone concurred that it was excellent, and perhaps better than the Thai-style fried Garoupa. The specially concocted hot pepper cream sauce (warned by the chef to be extremely spicy) was not intense so we had to compromise with the next best option-Tabasco sauce.Our 2nd main course-Pollo ala Brassa ($28) was one of the best grilled chicken which we came across in Singapore. The succulent meat beneath the lightly salted and peppery chicken skin complemented the bed of sweet corn purée. Nearly mistaken the green Mojo de Ajo sauce to be wasabi but its garlicky and limey taste never fail to awake our palates.

After so much food, we are still far from the end. For the savoury dishes, the main courses were so satisfying that I recommend skipping the first few appetizers and go straight for them. The climax was the DESSERTS! Not because I am a dessert fan but those here are really SUPERB. So allow me to pause a little while to digest....as this post is getting too long. hehe....To be continued......

For Full post: www.dairycream.blogspot.sg

Click HERE! http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/04/zhen-zhou-dao-porridge.html for FULL Review and Pictures
Some might think that celebrity cafes are over-rated in the media and their food quality is lacking. However, this may be an exception. Run by the chef-owner Mr Sean Goh and his wife, Ms Grace Lim (whose father is the prominent gourmand-actor Moses Lim), this air-conditioned cafe serves unpretentious home-style porridges that are steaming hot and flavorful.Instead of their classic minced pork and pork liver porridge, we went for the Scallop porridge ($18) which was filled with generous amount of sweet and plump scallops that justified its hefty price tag. True to speak, the porridge was not cooked down to paste-like congee but not as watery as Teo chew porridge. Somewhat like a Cantonese-Teo Chew hybrid. Go for the lobster porridge($48) below if you wish to pamper yourself.The Braised Platter $6 consists of pork belly, beancurd puffs, beancurd and egg stewed in dark soya sauce. The flavorful braised gravy penetrates all the ingredients, reminding us of those Taiwanese home-style braised dishes. Same goes for the braised chicken wings $ 4(pic below)which are not too oily but succulent.How can one afford to miss Salmon Yu Sheng ($6) when having porridge? The version here is truly fresh (with an extra seal of approval from the old folk who grew up eating freshly caught fish) and appetizing with the splash of the zesty lime dressing.

The porridge may be slightly more expensive than average hawker fare ($3-$6.50) but is value for money. A comfortable and cooling place that allows one to enjoy tasty porridge without sweating profusely.

Full Post: www.dairycream.blogspot.sg

Click HERE http://www.dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/03/maison-kayser-singapore-tarts.html
for FULL review! One should not mistaken this Carre Tartin $5.80 for an average apple crumble because this is much complicated in terms of the baking technique. The apples are caramelized and consolidated into jelly, producing a bittersweet taste that balances the Vanilla white chocolate mousse. The best part comes when you sink into the crunchy base that is dotted with cookies crumbles and grinded nuts.Having tried their outstanding eclairs previously, their Custard Cream Puff $3.70 failed to shine equally as the choux pastry does not have the crusty bite on the surface which I looked out for.

Nonetheless, this Tarte Monge $6.20 emerged as a very well-executed pastry draped with tangy Red Berries. The unique selling point lies in the use of White Cheese which is not too satiating. With the sweetness coming only from the moist vanilla sponge, the filling of this fromage tart is so fantastic that I can forgive the average brown crust.The Tarte Brazilia ($5.60) is an ideal combination of baked coffee and chocolate custard filling because the taste can become dull if its only chocolate. The tart shell faced similar problem as the Tarte Monge but fortunately fully baked to the extent of producing a slightly charred aftertaste.

They have the classics lemon meringue tart, raspberry fruit tart , chocolate pear tart and tiramisu. But since these are quite commonly found in other places, i would like to recommend something different like the above at Maison Kayser.

For full review : http://www.dairycream.blogspot.sg/2013/03/maison-kayser-singapore-tarts.html