After my family's dinner at Shin Minori, we weren't really willing to go home just yet. We took one of those family walk at Robertson Quay and someone merely suggested...

Anyone up for a cup of coffee?

You could see the sparkle in our eyes! Like Hello? We just had a Japanese buffet dinner just half an hour ago? I suggested Canele Patisserie but well, they were already close for the day and so... we went over to TCC @ Robertson Quay!Colombia Supremo ($7.90). A decent cuppa with a cookie to go by...It was my brother, Eddie first time to TCC. He had a hard time deciding what should he get. I strongly recommended to him the Chocolate of Wealth ($8.00). It's my personal favorite! I find myself getting this almost every time I visit TCC! Just look at the swills of chocolate fudge! As as they say... It's sinful that's for sure

What did I get right? Well, I wanted to try something new instead of the always having the same drink...Marble Cheese Coffee ($8.50). Initally, I thought it was some cheesecake infused drink. I guess the marble cheese comes from the grated cheese sprinkled on the top! Coffee and cheese maybe a weird combination... but surprisingly it turned out great! You slurp some cheese amidst the coffee and they just melt in your mouth! It was a whole new experience for me!How can we not have cakes while slurping coffee? Strawberry Yoghurt Roll ($5.80) A sponge based swiss roll with chunks of strawberries amidst a thick white yoghurt core and finish off with a layer of snow white cream. A very light cake, not overtly sweet. The strawberries were very sour though...

I find TCC's cakes to be just alright, nothing special but they are cheaper than your usual dessert cafes.
Which means I would often more than just two if I can afford that is.

The Connoisseur Concerto is one of those place I would go more often compared to other coffee chains. It maybe much more expensive than your typical starbucks coffee but the quality is far from it! Remember what you pay for is not just the drinks/desserts/main course but the ambience as well.

Initially, we settled on Intercontinental Hotel for High Tea but after consulting my highly sagacious High Tea Partner, I gave a thought and decided that it's best that I made another en-route, least it ruin my love for high tea. I trust my partner's taste, without a single doubt ;)

The Dessert Prince Jr. loves to conduct his private tea sessions at TCC. Like royalties we have always been, we picked our little corner and commence our private session...
We royalties do not like to wait and the cakes came promptly. Although I prefer my drinks to come first but at least they served us plain water before hand All hail the King! His Majesty The Royal Pumpkin Chessecake ($5.40). Cheesecake that's infused with delightful sweet pumpkin strands hidden within. We just couldn't stop singing praises of His Majesty!The Mango Diva ($5.60). Goddess of my revered fruit. Simplistic vanilla shortcakes glamorize with sweet mango mousse. I prefer diva to be in sliced form to the cuppa one. It's just a personal preference.Iced Cappuccino ($6.90) was what Jr. choose. He love the coffee as much as he love white foam.Usually, the Chocolate of Wealth is what I would opt for but ever since I started blogging, I feel the need to try out new stuffs instead of sticking to my personal comfort food. Or else, I would bore all of you to death!

In this case, the Strawberry Espresso Dream ($8.30) was something unfamiliar. Marshmallows and strawberry sauce is what caught my eyes. The bitterness from the strong espresso meets the sweetness from the strawberry drink. It's almost like a dream. A bittersweet dream but more on the sweeter aftertaste.There we were, as noble princes who love high tea...

As westernised as I am, there's always a side of me looking for old school desserts. Pulut hitam, ondeh ondeh, ching teng just to name a few but the most revered of all has got to be chendol. It's really a simple dessert if you wanna talk about the ingredients that goes into the dessert. Ice shavings, jackfruit, red ruby, red beans, sweet corns, coconut milk, gula meleka and let's not forget those green strips rice flour which is what define chendol as chendol.

I tired many local chendols but sadly none were even comparable to those across the bridge and much less beyond. Simply because almost everything that goes into our local ones often comes out from a metal can and all these processed ingredients aren't making your dessert better especially if it's made by inexperienced individual. Chendol ain't your healthy choice of dessert either so if I wanna have one, it's has to be worth clotting those arteries or else it's a firm NO.

I gave up on local ones, seeking only what I thought were the best on the other side of the bridge (Malaysia, especially Malacca.) but good things are hard to come by especially when it requires your passport to be scanned and stamped.

Although Thai Express's rendition is still no where near the standards of those street side ones you find in Malacca, it is still one of the better ones I slurped/stirred/digged in Singapore but it's definitely my definition of good chendol. It's even more tempting to grab one after reading the description of the menu:

"Fragrant jackfruit slices, colorful strains of chendol and chewy flour bits in a sea of rich coconut milk and traditional Thai palm sugar."

I might not be a fan of Thai food but for the a good bowl cup of chendol, I wouldn't mind having tom yum or green curry for dinner or better yet.

The partner and I are busy people and we hardly meet but between the both of us, we share a similar passion for tea and all things sweet. We might not be the best of friends but I believe our friendship goes way beyond than sipping tea and gossiping.

When we do have the spare time to meet, it's almost always food expeditions on a whole new level that's for sure! We're very much, willing to travel and explore different parts of Singapore searching of niche cafes for tea. On one such expedition, we discovered the pretty-much deserted area within CBD area, China Square Central. There's hardly anyone on the streets but still we decided to take a stroll, looking for a good place for tea.

By coincidence, we found The Tea Party Cafe along the rows of cafes and restaurants. I probably reckon it's the name that made the decision for us rather than the really affordable, no GST & service charge food but did that matter? Of course not!There was an 50% discount of your second drink and we really need a cold drink after braving through the scorching Sun. I couldn't differ-shade my Iced Hazelnut Latte ($5.70) from my partner's Iced Butterscotch Latte ($2.85 after 50% discount) since the beige liquidish content looked all the same to me.Although I won't be including their Carbonara ($8.50) into my list of best pastas since the linguine a tad too dry. Maybe I prefer my Carbonara to be bathe in a pool of creamy sauce? My partner would appreciate an additional egg yolk on her pasta.Both of us decided upon the Roast Duck Pizza ($8.20) which comes as a set with a free-flow bowl of soup. At a glance, one would find red tomatoes, green capsicums and caramelized onions and melted cheese above the bread crust. We thought we were cheated when we couldn't see any meat in it. We were proven wrong when we took our first bite. All hidden within the melted cheese!Hot soup came in two forms. It's either Chicken Soup which was hardly justified since we couldn't see any poultry meat (My partner prefer calling the broth ABC soup because of all the carrots and onions.) or the French Onion Soup which I was kinda addictive.We got ourselves a six layered Chocolate Truffle. The taste reminded me of those old school densey chocolaty cake although we wished our truffle wasn't too dry which led to my partner seeking happiness in rainbow cake afterwards.

The cafe might not whip out really exceptionally wonderful food but it's a nice place to chill and relax with a few friends over tea. It's just like my partner say; It's a nice place for tea...

When my aunt came to my house claiming she has a surprise for me and my family, hinting it's one of my favourite food that is only eaten once a year, I already knew it was bound to be mooncakes given the time of the year. The only question that bugged me was whether it was the traditional oven baked or soft snowskins ones. Personally, I prefer the snowskins over the baked ones but as long as it's a well-made one, I'm more than happy to chomp them one by one.

Then came the distinctive footsteps of a office lady and like a small child waiting impatiently for his turn on the slide, I greeted her with a grin and she pass me a box and before she could say anything else, I rushed into the kitchen eager to see what's inside.I have never heard of Xin Cuisine at Holiday Inn much less trying out their mooncakes. It was a first time experience with six in a row, pink and white. It was a sight to behold but hold a on sec. How's the taste? That, I was about to know...All I know was how unique these two were. The pink ones known as Soursop & Chocolate Crunch was a total disaster just waiting to be munched. First bite was cold and powdery taste which is typical of all snowskins mooncakes. Subsequent chewing was made horrible with the sourness from the fruit with the crunchy chocolate bits within it. It wasn't even photo worthy when I tried to slice it. Everything just stick to the knife in bits and pieces.

Where there are disappointments, all we need is just a saving grace to save the day. Grace came in the form of Champagne Chocolate & Pandan Lotus Paste. It was soft but definitely firmer. I was taken by surprise when I was consumed by the intense liquor taste emitted from the white chocolate core. The sweet green paste came only after the liquor aftertaste wears off. A wonderful experience if you are looking for alcoholic mooncakes in town.I sort of realised how bakers are willing to push the extend of inventing new ones every single year. While some worked out great, there are always a few (in my opinion) will never work and one of which would surely be Soursop & Chocolate Crunch which will serve me as a reminder.