The desserts and cakes served at Department Of Caffeine didn't look that fantastic hence we casted our eyes at FLOR Pâtisserie. This Japanese-styled cake shop serving authentic Japanese inspired French pastry was just a short 5 minutes stroll away.

While ordering, we feasted our eyes on the wide array of pretty pastries. It's a tough choice.

Their Ice Cheese Tarts ($3.40) are to die for! Plus you get to select from these 7 delectable flavours: Original, Mango, Strawberry, Caramel, Choco Orange, Green Tea as well as Yuzu & Maple. They are kept frozen in the fridge till ordered to maintain their freshness. I adore the intense cheese flavour packed within this small tartlet.

We have initial concerns that we will not be able to tell these exquisite fresh cream cakes apart but Earl Grey Choco ($6.95) with its delicate earl grey cream solved the issue with just one bite. The swiss roll of dark chocolate meringue and sweet banana goes really well as a package.

Mont Blanc ($6.95) is a swiss roll of special genoise sponge and chantilly cream, topped with whole sweetened Japanese chestnuts and delicate strands of French chestnut cream. It looks too good to be eaten!

We utterly enjoyed our weekend brunch. Department of Caffeine delighted us with their amazing breakfast offerings while FLOR Pâtisserie satisfied our cravings for sweet endings. They make wonderful complement for each other!

To read the full review with photos, please visit http://www.aspirantsg.com/department-of-caffeine-flor-perfect-complement-at-duxton/

The cafe service area is just this narrow strip of real estate, no hidden corners. The semi-industrial woody interior decor gave the cafe a no nonsense, pragmatic character.

With no spare seats around, customers are forced to put their bags and barang barang on the floor or have them placed on their laps. It can get quite unsightly, hope the management can provide a solution for this.

The cafe does not charge service fees so you have to queue and order your food. Magazines are placed near the counter for customers' browsing pleasure.

That's our French rose ($7) by Tea bone zen mind served in a dainty glass tea pot on a petite wooden tray. Hmm for $7, can give more rose buds? The rose tea commanded a light floral fragrance with slight tangy flavour.

Mork Speciality Hot Chocolate ($6.50) was supposedly a special blend of hot chocolate that offers greater emphasis on the cocoa flavour. It did achieved its objective ... by withholding sugar. We were not impressed.

Caffe Latte ($5) was pretty potent and definitely a great perk me up in the morning. Taste wise, it's quality caffeine but nothing outstanding.

Our Sausage, Mushrooms & Egg ($15.50) which consisted of English pork sausages with mushroom ragout topped by a sunny side up egg on toasted sourdough was first to be served. Hidden below the sunny side up was a generous portion of mushrooms. Thumbs up!

One of the cafe's 2 Main course & salad ($16 for regular salad and $18 for a large salad portion), Poached salmon with dill and mint sauce accompanied by Soba noodles with wakame, cucumber and sesame was up next. We were surprised that the entire dish was served cold even the salmon! But it was meant to be a cold dish so no fault of theirs. It tasted alright but not as attractive as a weekend brunch items.

I personally loved my Sundried tomato & herb waffles ($17). Served with bacon, scrambled eggs & maple bacon jam, it offers the perfect combination of all my favourite breakfast sides. It's like my breakfast dream come true.

But D.O.C Platter ($18) won hands down as our favourite breakfast item on their menu. Scrambled eggs & bacon wrapped meatloaf on toasted brioche served with tomato confit & cheese boccincini was a gorgeous sight to behold.

The runny eggs reminded me of Mcdonald's Big Breakfast but done so much better. The good people here are really generous with their meat and ingredients, look at that thick stack of meat!

The desserts and cakes served at Department Of Caffeine didn't look that fantastic hence we casted our eyes at FLOR Pâtisserie. We utterly enjoyed our weekend brunch. Department of Caffeine delighted us with their amazing breakfast offerings while FLOR Pâtisserie satisfied our cravings for sweet endings. They make wonderful complement for each other!

To read the full review with photos, please visit http://www.aspirantsg.com/department-of-caffeine-flor-perfect-complement-at-duxton/

Within just a short 20 minutes waitThe famous French roasted chicken Poulet Roti ($15.80 for half, $28.80 for whole) was served after the announcement of all the good news. Here's how the story for this supposedly amazing poultry goes - the entire chicken was brined for a full day in a traditional recipe before being placed in the rotisserie for a slow roast till the skin turns to a golden brown. We have to give it to the french when it comes to presentation. The sight of the beautifully roasted chicken was enough to whet our appetite and get us all hungry. On its own, the chicken was tender and succulent but not amazing yet. It only manages to hit home run with its home made mushroom Chardonnay sauce, that's what gave it the X factor.

Mediterranean Stew Lamb Shank ($15.80) consisted of baby lamb shank stewed with root vegetables and rosymary in its own jus infused with orange. The lamb meat was nice and soft but diners who are not comfortable with the distinctive smell of lamb should steer away from this dish. I am afraid I could not sense traces of orange infusion at all.

Braise De Canard ($15.80) was braised duck leg in sweet wine sauce on baby spinach topped with cranberry and glazed shallot. I came to the conclusion that the chefs here are pretty good with their meat. The dulcet wine sauce was truly an additional bonus!

Iberico Pork Belly ($15.80) consisted of braised Spanish iberico pork belly served with mashed potato, leek confit and double mustard. I am not sure if I am personally biased towards pork belly in general but it is just impossible to go wrong with this delectable part of the pig. Ladies need not be overly concerned. Despite the word belly, the meat was still pretty lean overall with mild hints of fats in every bite. This is definitely my favourite dish for the evening!

To sum it up, Poulet offers casual French dining that's decent and won't hurt your pocket.

For full review and photos, please visit http://www.aspirantsg.com/poulet-the-french-roasted-chicken-flew-to-chinatown-point/

Not known to many of the younger Singaporeans, the very spot where the cafe stands used to be the canteen of the former River Valley Swimming Complex. The cafe conserved the wall and floor mosaic tiles from its nostalgic 1970’s.

Bulk of the cafe sitting spaces are outdoors which makes it quite a 'hot' chill out place during the day. This was really a pity because I really loved how they spruce up the area with recycled pellets and the bright pink chairs. Nevertheless, I know where to bring my BFFs for post dinner coffee and cakes.

For those who can't take the blazing noon time heat (like me), you either have to call and reserve your table a few days in advance or keep your fingers cross. There are 2 table tops and a long side table in the air-conditioned area. Thankfully, we managed to secure one of the round tables. Overheard the owner sharing with his other customers that the kitchen behind the 'Keep Calm' wall used to be the swimming pools male changing room. What an incredible change of use!

The staffs were amazingly friendly and attentive. Coffee & tea were promptly served within minutes after we have made our orders. That's my cappuccino.

Both our orders were served together. Great job on the service! That's my friend's order of TFBB Champion Breakfast ($23.00) - a really heavy brekkie which consist of 2 poached eggs served on a toasted brioche, roasted rosemary potatoes, garlicky mushrooms, swirly sage chicken sausage and 2 chicken chipolata (to replace a side of beef bacon as he does not take beef). Despite his usual big appetite, he did not manage to clear his plate. The portion was just too huge.

I opted for Towkay Ng’s Egg Benedict ($11.50). Not sure why I kept calling it Towkay Neo, was there a Mediacorp drama with Towkay Neo previously? Anyway, mine was a much smaller breakfast with 2 poached eggs served on a toasted brioche, sauteed spinach, roasted rosemary potatoes and an Italian version of a Hollandaise. The treatment of the eggs was perfect but I am not that excited about Italian Hollandaise. It's a significantly watered down version of the original hollandaise, doesn't taste as sinful. As much as we would love to try Today's Special, our stomach had absolutely no more room for more.

Still, we went over to their cakes counter to check out their offerings. The Ab Fab Red Velvet Cake (Single $9.00, Whole 9" $90.00, Cupcakes (by the dozen) $4.50) looks absolutely stunning! Plus they use only valrhona chocolates to bake it.

Their Green Tea Almond Praline (Single $7.50, Whole $75.00, Cupcake (by the dozen) $4.50) -an almond praline butter torte is filled and covered with a delicious swiss meringue Macha butter cream looks equally desirable.

Thanks for making my weekends fabulous, baker boy!

To read the full review with photos, please visit http://www.aspirantsg.com/the-baker-boy-at-viridian-arthouse-made-my-sunday-fabulous/

For full write up & photos, please visit my blog: http://www.aspirantsg.com/foodie-food/exquisite-french-christmas-eve-dinner-2fifteen-kitchen/singapore

My Christmas Eve Feast comes free this year with a lucky win from OpenRice Christmas Contest. This means ditching the traditional turkey and all for an exquisite 5 course French Dinner at 2fifteen Kitchen in Buona Vista’s Rochester Mall.

Having made reservations for 2, we were quickly settled in by an attentive waiter. If not for the win, I will need to fork out $98 per pax for what's to come next.

Bread was served for small talks before the course commence. Warm & crispy at the edge, the bread was perfect with the flavorful chilled tuna. Pity that only butter was served for the 2nd serving.

We started our festive meal with Sea-fruit Platter. The use of 'fruit' was not a spelling mistake, it was deliberate to highlight the delightful pairing of fresh seafood with fruits. The colourful dish included Poached Boston Lobster with Grapefruit and Citrus Oil, Warm Octopus Leg with Pomelo Jelly, and Oyster on Watermelon and Passionfruit Coulis.

The Oyster on Watermelon and Passionfruit Coulis was especially pleasing to the eye. The raw oyster accompanied by sweet watermelon and zesty passionfruit coulis offered an enjoyable erratic flavour that's hard to forget.

Next up was the lobster bisque-infused Brittany-style Scallop with Chorizo Sausage. The scallop delivered a lovely bouncy chew. There was too little of the sausage to make out much from it.

We moved on to Jerusalem Artichoke Soup and Duck Foie Gras with a touch of Garlic Oil. The gratifying soup was just what was needed to balance the richness of the foie gras.

For the main, we have a choice between the Australian 150-day grain-fed Beef Hanging Tender with Truffle Mashed Potatoes or Pan-seared Rosy Snapper Fillet with Crispy Herb’s Crust with Truffle Mashed Potatoes and Brown Jus.

The sweet ending to the 5-course meal was a dainty Chestnut ‘Christmas Tree’ Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream. Points awarded for the pretty layout but the 3-layer chestnut cake and ice cream was a little too ordinary. Fruits never really cut it when it comes to desserts for me.

Tea was ordered after our 5 course dinner to aid digestion. The side cookies are unbelievably cute!

The food borders between good & amazing but the service by the more experienced waiter was excellent.