There are times when I buy food products because they have fanciful packagings. Though quality and taste are equally important but sometimes I can forego those two aspects for the cute packaging. I was shopping for gifts for my friends and passed by SOPHiSCA, a confectionery store from Taiwan that sells candies in wacky packaging. Their products are definitely overpriced but I suppose they make an interesting gift for my friends.

The marshmallow packaged like sanitary pads caught my attention and I reckon they will give a surprise to my friends when they opened the gift. Two versions of the marshmallow are available, one in blue and the other in pink. There are only five packets of marshmallow in each pack so they are definitely overpriced. But I refrained myself from thinking about the price when I was settling the payment at the cashier.

I love the packaging for SOPHiSCA’s fruit gummy snacks! They comes in a few flavors – apple, grape and peach. I picked peach because I love the color. That was a day that I lost self-control and embraced the shopaholic side of me.

For full review, please visit >
http://ahat247.wordpress.com/2014/03/08/sophisca-ion-orchard/

My lovely fam got me my favorite Chocolate cake from Chef Icon, a nature bakery established in 2008. The cake looks so yummy and it definitely taste as good as it looks. The cake is soft and the chocolate ganache is not too thick or overly sweet, just the way I like it to be.

I had their Hokkaido roll for breakfast. The matcha sponge cake is fluffy and goes very well with the light and creamy azuki flavored cream. The cream is of a similar texture as yogurt. Hmmm how nice if Chef Icon can sell the cream as an individual item. I would be happy to replace the ice-cream in my fridge with their chilled cream.

Overall I enjoyed the cakes from Chef Icon and I would love to try out their other offerings. But I am on a diet (and too lazy to travel) so perhaps I shall wait till the next time my friends buy me more yummy cakes to sample from Chef Icon.

For full review, please visit >
http://ahat247.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/chef-icon-nature-bakery/

For full review, please visit > 
http://ahat247.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/symmetry-cafe-restaurant-bar-singapore/We were greeted with big smiles from the friendly staff and it doesn’t take us a long time to decide what to order. All of us ordered the same main course – the café’s popular big breakfast! A serving of their truflle fries was also ordered to share among the group.Two friends ordered Symmetry’s milkshakes and they looked… tempting but I’m not too sure if I am willing to pay the price for it.I saw people ordering their waffles and the dessert look irresistible! Truffle fries and their waffles would make a beautiful combination for my next brunch at the eatery. Symmetry is a great eatery for brunch with friendly service staff and I suppose I will return pretty soon for another meal.

We ordered a meat dish, a vegetable dish and some naan bread for our meal. Though the restaurant marketed itself as a fast food restaurant, the serving time of the dishes is the same as a normal Indian restaurant. The butter chicken is a forgettable dish as the taste is rather flat and on the verge of being one-dimensional. The palek paneer fare better than the butter chicken. Chutney Mary’s dishes that I’ve tasted are forgettable and the chef could be a lot more generous with the ingredients. I don’t think I will return for another visit and I certainly won’t recommend this eatery to anyone.

For full review, please visit
http://ahat247.wordpress.com/2014/04/28/chutney-mary-indian-fast-food-east-coast/

For full review, please visit > 
http://ahat247.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/kensai-kitchen-singapore-liang-court/

You have to manage your expectations about having a buffet meal at this Japanese eatery. The buffet selection consist of 14 Japanese dishes, sliced fruits, two choices of fruit drinks, and a decent selection of coffee/tea beverages churned out by a Nespresso machine. The restaurant was fairly empty when I visited it on a Friday evening.

Kensai Kitchen also serves a-la-carte dishes such as fried pork cutlet and a wider range of beverages with additional costs but I reckon it is fine to stick to their buffet selection. There may not be a wide variety of dishes or seafood as compared to other Japanese buffets but the dishes should be enough to satisfy you. I haven’t got a chance to taste all the dishes even though there were only 14 dishes available that evening. Whenever the Chef has prepared any new servings of food at the buffet line, they will announced it loud and happily to the customers. During last order, if you have any dishes that you would like to eat and the buffet line has run out of it… fret not, the wait staff will take your order and the chef will specially prepared it and serve to your table.A buffet meal at this eatery feels like having a home-cooked meal with free-flow servings of food at a Japanese home prepared by a friendly and generous host. I enjoyed my meal at Kensai Kitchen because the food is comforting, great company (my best friend), great hospitality (from the staff) and no hungry crowd. The Japanese eatery may not serve amazing food but I am happy to come back for another meal soon.