I've never watched the film Babette's Feast, but I'm pretty sure the food served at the same-name restro-bar in Singapore is definitely Not as sleep-inducing as the film for me. I love French food as well as Japanese food and nothing could sound more anticipating than the fusion of both. One classic example is the Duck Confit Donburi $28 where the humble rice staple of Japanese students and office workers alike are prepared the French way. Or more precisely, the familiar kentang aka potato is upgraded to premium Japanese grains, drizzled with some mysterious Babette sauce and topped off with a crispy duck leg that was slightly leaden and dry. The steak and foie gras donburi $28, draws from the humble gyudon, though it's difficult to equate both beef dishes in actuality. Yet I would happily trade a gyudon for this hearty bowl because the less-than-medium doneness steak is comfortingly soft, coming close to my best steak in Tokyo. The degree of seasoning might be a little harsh but just fine if you have them with the rice. I love soba but the Salmon & Soba $17 did less to ruffle up my serenity. The sous-vide salmon was overdone and bland, falling out of sync with the sweet tamagoyaki and nori flakes, though I appreciated the smooth firm bites of buckwheat noodles.

On the other spectrum of the menu "Small plates and tapas" are some comfort dishes, meant to satisfy late night pangs without too much unnecessary calories. The Charred Cauliflower ($8) is an unusual order; white flower heads literally "charred" to the right softness, served with a very mild yuzu velouté and lots of aromatic fried ginger. Signature Honey Yuzu Ice Blended, Yuzu Beer, Passionfruit Gin Cocktail, Hot Matcha Latte. I thought avocados and octopus are two very unfriendly lowbrow ingredients but Babette has transformed them into something delicious. Avocado puree are sagely accessorized with fatty aburi, crunchy pickles, tomatoes in the Roasted Avocados $12 to produce an unfamiliar yet awesome texture. Think an inverted salmon tartare. TheOctopus salad with Japanese dressing $17 and citrus segments provided a perky slab of acid to cut thorough the smoky flavours of grilled octopus. The food that night was a mixture of appealing and ho-hum, but not till I chanced upon another gastronomic epiphany of my life. Ladies and gentleman.......let us welcome the Matcha Lava Cake! *applauses*Not a novelty as Smoulders has launched a petty and unsatisfactory version years ago. But this was a terrific, dream-come-true amalgamation of the East meets West. Like the Madame Butterfly in the realm of plated desserts. So delicate was the molten creation that my heart wrenched in agony as I tearing down the walls with a ting fork and let the gooey yet viscous matcha flow. Not only will you feel tremendous guilt with every bite, lusting at the mellowness of the brew. But you'll be left inconsolable and wanting more when you are done.

Full review: http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2014/10/babette-dessert-epiphany.html

The Pancake Wave in Japan at might be the motivation behind the launch of pancakes at the Westgate outlet and it is the first overseas outlet to do so. (You can't find pancakes in any Japan outlets either). But pioneering new items are attached with great risks. Outlook were not very optimistic for the pancakes, which had a common problem of being too weighty, dense and chewy.

Portion size is good for desserts but the whipped cream wilted badly at the mercy of the heat emitted from those fresh-of-the-griddles batter. There are currently four variants - Caramel Nutty Pancake, Banana Choco Pancake, Rainbow Fruity Pancake, and Happy Berry Pancake.
So perhaps it may be good to practice some patience and await a better batch of 2nd-generation pancakes as the recipe undergoes a revamp. In the meantime, keep calm and try some of the unique curry that meets the local tastebuds.
How can Japanese curry be so spicy that it sets off a burning sensation on the tongue? Yes, chilli heads will be delighted to know that one can get some kick-a** curry at Coco Ichibanya, if you order the highest level 5. I took up the challenge to have a taste and it approximates close to our punchy Southeast Asian Sambal. But for those who love the classically sweet Japanese curry, go for level 0.

Full review: http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2014/10/coco-ichibanya-westgate-new-pancake-wave.html

Full review on http://dairycream.blogspot.sg/2014/10/creamier-singapore.html
I've heard lots of scary stories about the crowdedness of this little ice cream-waffles shop. Took a gamble and popped by on a Sunday evening to check what the commotion is l about. Yes, packed with people but we managed to get a table of four easily without waiting, thankfully. Premium ice creams cost $0.90 more per than the usual scoop of $3.30. Rather redundant, since 80% of the choices were premium flavours and might as well sell them at the premium price.Waffles with Thai Milk & Earl Grey Lavender ice cream $11.80. Waffles were good--crispy, eggy and sweet. The ice creams that I've tried, Black Sesame, Rich Dark Choc with Ferrero, Cookies and Cream, including those ordered (Thai Milk, Earl Grey Lavender, Peanut Butter Jelly) were silky, luscious and dense. Peanut Butter Jelly $4.20

What distorted the happy ice cream moments was not the food, not the agony of waiting, but the grim lackluster service. Not referring to every staff but the two frontline ice cream servers cum...erm "taste-testers" who were quite dutifully taste-testing the flavours yet displayed an air of cold nonchalance towards customers. At least, put on a smile, yeah?

Well, could popularity breed a sense of indifference? I suspect so.

Sunday Folks. Sunday Market. Shrove Tuesday.

I'm not sure why these cafes are named after days of the week but I do know that they are run by passionate young people. Honestly, Shrove Tuesday is only my third cafe after returning from Tokyo. While I still hold a healthy skepticism with regards to the quality of cafe food, I am delighted to discover some stellar food here.Gelato is no longer a novelty but there is something playful when it comes to the Italian ice cream here. It's Gelato desserts. This magnum-lookalike "Milk Chocolate Classico" might not be convince you to splurge $10 but wait till you sink your teeth into the chocolate shell. Instead of the typical artificial-tasting buttery ice confectionary, a dense caramel brownie-like layer concealed in the fresh and smooth vanilla gelato, made it extremely pleasurable yet gratifying. Count yourself lucky if you managed to detonate one of their "BOMB" (bizzare ice cream balls), especially the salted caramel version which was unavailable during my visit.Same goes for the Matcha & Black Sesame gelato ($2.50/$3 for premium). Yes, these might be my two favourite flavors but there is a reason why they are standouts of their own species. The Black sesame gelato grabbed our attention away from its matcha counterpart due to its warm earthy nuttiness, thanks to the incorporation of grinded BS seeds and BS paste. But be forewarned that the sugar content for both flavours were askew. Waffles ($5) were light and delicately crisp on the edges, crawling in with subtle honey sweetness. Cakes are not as stellar as the gelato so expect standards to fluctuate with the nature of pastries. Baked goods like the Strawberry Rose Red Velvet ($4.50) had a stale, uninspiring rose buttercream, clearly not performing at its utmost. Though neither coffee nor orange was discernible in the Ivory Orange Coffee Mousse ($4.50), the texture of the mousse was smooth and wholesome. While there is a range of other cakes such as Peanut Banana, Tiramisu and cheesecakes, I'm contented with their gelato creations, which I hope can be further experimented and one day expand to become the forte of the cafe, apart from waffles and coffee.

When it comes to Korean cuisine, I prefer the traditional or more homely dishes such as bibimbap, japchae instead of the big pot stew or BBQ. So I thought this casual Korean restaurant with outlets in many countries might be a good place to satisfy that occasion Korean food cravings. After all, it focuses on the "Bibimbap" and makes it flexible. Diners can customize their bibimbap by choosing the type of rice, topping and sauce.
We had the Hotstone Bibimbap with Black Rice, Spicy Pork and Sesame sauce ($16) as well as the Bibimbap ($15) in the same combination but with Citron Soysauce. With a just a dollar difference, the Hotstone version would definitely be a better option if you like your food warm. As a highly versatile dish that can be paired with a variety of colorful toppings, I like this customized concept as it simplifies this Korean rice dish but preserves the texture and flavours. At least, we no longer have to stick to THAT sweet red sauce. Ginseng Orange Salad was not available so we switched to Pan Fried Tofu and Stir Fry Kimchee Pork ($14) which were larger than shown on menu. The plain tofu complemented the salty stir fry but I thought why don't they just cut the tofu and stir-fry everything together? The seasonal edition Gangnam Style Fried Chicken ($12) came with three different sauces -salt/sweet/spicy. The golden fried chicken that contained surprising bits of chilli and vegetables, were tender with crisp exterior. Since it was already very salted, the salt dip doesn't serve any purpose. The Sweet Potato Mattang ($6) were similar to the Japanese Daigaku-Imo, not crunchy but soft and mushy. Topped with crispy rice crackers and walnuts, they were coated in just the right amount of honey but not exactly piping hot.

Food is overall quite good but the poor service were too glaring to go undetected. It's never a rule of courtesy to remove diner's plate without asking if they have finished with the food.