Pavé Chocolates is the sort of place I like, a place for friends to gather and spend a calorific afternoon together. Not only did they not chase us away even after our cakes were long gone, the friendly staff at the counter gave great recommendations which coincided exactly with our orders! Great minds think alike, haha.

For Alice ($8.50) sounds like a cake with a story. Perhaps, it’s made specially for a friend named Alice in mind, I do not know. And somehow it slipped my mind to ask. In any case, this is my favourite one out of all~ Not only is it an aesthetically pleasing creation, the combination of 50% dark milk chocolate mousse, vanilla crème brulee, and Williamette raspberries scores brownie points for being so smooth and rich, and the sweetness is just to my liking!

Maccha, Okinawan sweet potato and apricot? Sounds like a queer meld of ingredients to me. But the unlikely is transformed into a lovely Miyuki ($8.50) that has a myraid of flavours: slight bitterness from the green tea sponge; subtle sweetness from the purple potato; and faint tanginess from the apricot layer. I thought this would end up as a confused cake (think confused child), but I was gladly proven wrong =)

Around the corner from 3 Inch Sin is Taste Matters, an ice cream dessert shop opened by a husband-and-wife team. It used to be a six-seat ice cream parlor but now, it’s solely a takeaway shop and no photography is allowed. I reckon business must have been quite good cuz owner Richard revealed that he’s currently looking for a bigger shop, so relocation is a real possibility in the near future.

I was intrigued when I saw that yuzu ice cream ($5.50) is the special of the month. Yuzu sorbet I’ve had numerous times before, but yuzu ice cream? Nope, can’t remember when’s the last time I’ve had it, if ever. It’s sweet and sourish, creamy and smooth. Though it’s not bad, I still think yuzu makes a better sorbet than ice cream.

What knocked my socks off was the Dark and Sexy ($7.50, about 20mins waiting time)—a chocolate fondant that spills out insanely rich and dark chocolate lava like there’s no tomorrow. I particularly adore the distinct hint of espresso in it which brings out the bitterness even more.

My only grouse is that since it’s a takeaway shop now, the lava cake is inverted into a plastic cup after baking and the shape is pretty much “destroyed”, in the sense that the cake cracks open easily and the lava flows out without any probing. Which takes away my pleasure of breaking it open =( That’s one of the “highlights” of eating lava cake, isn’t it?

Steamed white asparagus with morel mushrooms and hollandaise sauce ($35++). Love this lots~ So tender and sweet.

Incredibly juicy and sweet Alaskan king crab leg ($115++) that’s jaw-droppingly expensive!

Oven-roasted Blue-eye cod with potato mash, mushrooms ($48++). Though competently done, this was overshadowed by the 2 excellent starters we had prior to this.

Pan fried fine apple tart “a la dragees” ($20++) that’s a tad oily, 2 delicious scoops of Havana rum-raisin ice cream and an assortment of exotic berries ($27++).

No doubt, this meal is definitely going into my “Top 10 Eats of 2010″!

Starter #1: Marinated Japanese bluefin tuna, smooth avocado marble, hearts of palm and intensely sweet cherry tomato.

This is a very ‘me’ starter cuz I like everything on the plate. And it’s most interesting cuz of the hearts of palm which I’ve never tried before. They have a very delicate flavour like artichokes and resemble thick white asparagus, sans tips.

Starter #2: Char-grilled Obsiblue prawn, al dente mushroom risotto and confit egg yolk.

This is even better than starter #1. Come on, who wouldn’t get weak at the sight of bright cheery confit egg yolk in all its wobbly glory?

Main: Main course #2: Japanese trout cooked “sous vide”, chanterelle mushrooms, spring onions

This was strong in flavours, leaning more towards the salty side of the scale. The trout was perfectly cooked but I can definitely do without the foam on top since it doesn’t really add any flavour to the dish.

Dessert: Strawberry-yuzu tiramisu, chocolate tuile, strawberry granitee.

What wins our votes is the superbly smooth and soft mascarpone cheese that’s second to none. The creamy yet light mouthfeel doesn’t taste like any other mascarpone cheese I’ve ever tried before and I even double-checked with the waitress to assure myself that I didn’t assume wrongly, haha. Minus some points for the so-subtle-it’s-almost-not-there citrus flavour though.

The 5 course Gourmet Menu ($88++ with coffee/tea included) is a good starting point for those who want to have a taste of what Garibaldi has to offer.

Amuse bouche was a small glass of baked pumpkin puree that’s literally a cheesy overkill.

The first 2 starters were plated together: tuna tartare with orange and grey mullet roe on the right, and pan seared Hokkaido scallop with green asparagus and truffle emulsion on the left.

Both dishes were prepared deftly, though nothing mind-blowing. The finely chopped raw tuna was fresh, the scallop tender with a slight firm bite in the center.

Main is either the roasted Atlantic cod in black olive crust and balsamic reduction or a pan fried lamb tenderloin with caramelised pearl onions. Of course, I went for the former. The oily fish was so tender and the classic combi of cod+olive is always a winning formula! Think Otto and Buko Nero.

Compared to the savoury, the sweets were definitely found to be wanting. The tiramisu had such a thick layer of licorice-scented (yiks!) mascarpone cream with minimal homemade ladyfinger biscuits in between. Better ones elsewhere, certainly.