The long awaited Woodlands Xchange opened with much hype months ago, introducing a new line of shops along the walkways of the Woodlands MRT Station. It’s opening saw the addition of more new F&B tenants that supplements the high demand that Causeway Point caters to especially on weekends, which also gives consumers more food options than before Cafe O is one of the tenants of Woodlands Xchange.Toast sets are one of my favourite local breakfasts options, and here the set ($4.50) comes with the usual suspects; coffee/tea with the toasted soft buns (with a choice of kaya & butter, butter or butter & sugar) and soft-boiled eggs. The Kopi here may somewhat appeal to those who love having more condensed milk in their coffee. I opted for simply Kaya in my soft buns, and while the kaya was nothing to shout about, I loved how fluffy the bread was on the inside despite being toasted crispy on the outside. Eggs were a little disappointing by being slightly overcooked, and I am not sure if there are the usual pepper and soy sauce to add but I don’t recall seeing those around.Roti Prata was slightly pricey at $1.20 per piece for plain and $2 per piece for egg. This would definitely hit well for those who love the doughier version than the crispy ones. The portion of egg used in the Egg Prata also was rather generous for today’s standards especially when compared to some coffeeshop stalls out there. The curry was flavourful though slightly on the greasy side as well.

From the original Paradise Inn branding, The Paraduse Group has since expanded and now includes LE Restaurant and Tapas Bar, Taste Paradise, Paradise Pavilion, Seafood Paradise, Canton Paradise, Paradise Dynasty, My Nasi and even catering company One Paradise. Kungfu Paradise remains as one of the most unique ones under the umbrella which targets a younger audience with a fusion theme where “east-meets-west”.

The menu is pretty much of a mix of everything. Expect to find a menu similar to Hong Kong tea rooms, thrown with a bit of western dishes and then mixed with a few Japanese elements. The Steamed Custard Lava Bun ($3.90) is one of the few dimsums offered here. The bun had quite a thick skin and required a few bites to get to the bursting lava inside. Some parts are also not very liquid as well.The Sausage "Babe" Rice ($12.80) is one of the various baked rice dishes offered here. Kungfu Paradise allows customers to choose which sauce they would like their Baked Rice to come in, with choices of Tomato, Cream or Curry. There was sufficient cheese covering the rice, and it was stringy upon being pulled about. Few chili flakes were spotted on the cheese but they did not carry any level of spiciness. There were two types of sausages used in this dish; a western type of sausage which is the one in white that had a bit of pepper in it and the red one which was Taiwan sausage.Following the not-so-impressive Steamed Custard Lava Bun, we were hoping that the Chocolate Lava Cake ($6.80) will not turn out underwhelming. We were sort of relieved when it came, and with a vanilla ice-cream as well. The ice-cream seemed pretty much supplied, but the lava cake was warmed sufficiently so as to allow the chocolate lava to be liquid enough. The chocolate was also not full of cloying sweetness as well.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/10/15/kungfu-paradise-jcube/

Pique Nique should be no stranger to cafe hoppers. Ever since last year with its first outlet appearing in Ngee Ann City, it had been known as a place for all-day breakfast and sweet treats. The outlet in jCube feels much more soothing with a huge tree located in the centre of the cafe, and the lush green carpeting of the patio-like space is a great setting for a nice “picnic”.I was craving for a good brunch that was light, hence I went for the Norwegian Benedict ($14.00). This item probably got its name from the smoked salmon, which is coupled with sour cream atop English Muffins and a salad at the side. The whole dish was of a decent quality, but apart from the pretty presentation there was not really much to be mentioned. Overall it was lacking the wow-factor.The Classic Benedict ($12.00) differs from the Norwegian Benedict by replacing the smoked salmon with ham and sour cream with hollandaise sauce. The hollandaise sauce seemed rather savoury though it came with an aftertaste I was not particularly fond of. Apart from that much of the dish remains largely similar, and also was not really outstanding.The Pique Nique’s Big Breakfast ($15.80) is somewhat like a full works in the menu. Comes with baked beans with capsicums, sausage, bacon, toast, salad, choice of sunny side-up, poached or scrambled eggs and a complimenting orange juice or a cup of coffee. The baked beans were rather impressive as it did not carry the generic taste of canned baked beans and instead was heavy with the taste of tomato puree nicely spiced with capsicums. The sausage was tender and the bacon was crispy though slightly dry. The others were again decent, but lacking the wow factor.The Latte ($5.00) was actually pretty good as it felt rather balanced and neither too acidic or burnt. The cute latte art definitely got me.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/pique-nique-jcube/

I guess there is no need for an introduction to this shophouse cum warehouse place in Jalan Besar. Opened to much hype last year, Chye Seng Huat Hardware is a cafe with an easily misrepresented name.The weather these days were so crazy that I seemed to only want something iced or cold to cool down from the heat. Cold Brew probably deserve distinctions just on presentation alone. Where else would they serve cold coffee in a medicine bottle? If only coffee is the medication to the sore throat I was having that day. Behind all the fancy packaging however was quite a strong brew. The Papa Pahelta blend feels rather pure and is pretty acidic, so it may not be a hit to those who love slightly earthy blends. Nonetheless it was quite a good cup of cold coffee.The Almond Croissant looked quite unique. It had a pretty nice almond crust on the outside which was pretty light and alluring. The Croissant however did not seem to fare well. It was a very doughy croissant which felt more like a bread and seemed to have been left there for quite some time as it was very difficult to slice. It just does not seem to have met the least of the expectations of a decent croissant.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/09/15/chye-seng-huat-hardware-tyrwhitt-road/

This cafe is relatively new, having only opened past a month and already they are visited by quite a number of blogs, with more photos being shared and uploaded on Instagram and such. Here, you can find drawings that resembles a homely decorated house, with a drawing of the Le Petit Prince on the opposite of what seems to be him being carried into the sky by some birds. A lot of books are also on display, all of which either The Little Prince books in various languages or related merchandise.The Cream Puffs were on the house. These were by far impressive with its moistness and sponginess. Even the cream was pretty up to mark by being subtly sweetThe Choco Eclairs ($2.50) are also pretty well done. The pastry was just of the right texture. The chocolate cream was alright, but was in the edge of sweet instead of richness.The Strawberry Swiss Rolls ($2.90) are often featured on blogs, and since they were only $2.90 for two I decided to go straight for them. No mistakes made; these are really soft and spongy with a nice layer of silky strawberry cream in the middle which fits together well.

For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2013/08/21/the-little-prince-cafe-somme-road/