When I first stepped into La Marelle, I thought a Candy Crush bomb exploded in it. Located on the second floor of a shophouse at Bagdhad Street (near Arab St), the bright airy cafe was adorned with colourful walls decorated with cloud and raindrops motifs, flowery paper lanterns, whimsical decorations and merchandise for sale. I went to La Marelle twice actually. The first time I was on my own, and the second time with two friends. It was surprising to find La Marelle rather empty on a weekend afternoon on both visits, which makes it a great place to hide from the over-populated cafes and hot weather.

Iced green tea latte ($6.50+)
Not for the cult fans of Starbucks' green tea latte. La Marelle's green tea latte was less sweet but I could still taste the matcha powder. A cool refreshing drink on a hot afternoon.Americano ($6.50+), Latte ($5.50+), Earl-grey tea ($4.50+) (clockwise from top)The drinks were average and nothing to shout about.

Bonjour Singapore ($14.90+)My friends ordered the Bonjour Singapore, which comprised of a butter croissant, grilled chipolata sausages, scrambled eggs and a side salad.
Something funny happened when my friend was ordering at the cashier. She asked to have the egg sunny-side up.
Cashier asked the cook if he can do sunny-side up.
Cook replied ok ... but after a few seconds, he asked, "How to cook sunny-side up?"

Anyway in the end, she just told the cook to do it scrambled style.
We were joyous when the scrambled eggs were successfully produced. Although they made it, they were not fluffy enough. As for the croissant which is supposedly their speciality, we could only say we had better ones. It would be better if the croissant was warmed before serving. The salad dressing was too sweet.

a Lait et Olio ($14.90+)

 

I didn't know how to pronounce the name so I could only point it on the menu to the cashier. Basically, it's spaghetti tossed in aglio-olio style and served with turkey bacon and cherry tomatoes. I find it too oily. There was too much olive oil until I could see a patch of it beneath. The turkey bacon was not bad though but would be better if there was more of it

Crumble cheesecake ($8.20+)

 

Hmmm quite expensive for a cheesecake. But actually it is more than a cheesecake. The top layer is made of sweet crumble topping that is dusted with sugar icing. The cheesecake beneath was creamy and cheese-intensive. But the thing is the crumble doesn't stick to the cheesecake and so I ate them separately. I love the presentation which had little pink, red and white sugar hearts sprinkled on top of chocolate syrup.

Service was great and La Marelle was run by friendly Muslims who appeared to be relatives. No service charge but there is GST. Free wifi was available (ask cashier for password).

Although the mains were a little over-rated and just average, I think La Marelle is still a good place to escape from the crowded malls on a weekend. Just go for the desserts instead of the mains.

For full review and pics, please visit http://weekendeatwhatsg.blogspot.sg/2014/08/la-marelle-cafe.html

Chicken Up is a place that I have been hearing about for the longest time. It probably has the best Korean fried chicken. Legend has it that it was picked by a Straits Times reporter in a blind test. I love the Korean style of double frying chickens which retains the chicken juices while keeping it crispy and crunchy. Thus, even though we found ourselves on a 1-hour waiting list, we didn't chicken out (pun intended). We were up for it and our hearts were unwavering, full of anticipation for our turn to devour this fried chicken.

Chicken Up is housed among the shophouses along Tanjong Pagar Road. On a good day with no crowds, you can choose to sit either indoors or outdoors. The patrons were mainly teenagers and youngsters. I thought it was quite noisy and rowdy. We felt like the oldest people there.We have heard a lot about the Chicken Up's cheap and good Korean fried chicken buffet at $25. 
We waited for damn long, like 15 mins before the first chicken arrived on our table. I found out from other reviews that each order is freshly fried so it takes longer time.

Yangnyum (below) - I loved the crispy and crackly moist skin which was coated with a sweet and spicy sauce and also sesame for additional crunch. It was not as spicy as it looks. More towards tones of sweetness. However, I found the meat a little tough.Soya chicken (below) - Marinated and coated with Korean soya sauce, the soya chicken wings were more tender than the yangnyum. Maybe it was because chicken wing parts are usually more tender and moist than other parts. These lovely wings were as crispy and flavourful as they look. A pity that they were not served piping hot.Spicy Up (below) - Looks can be deceiving. This innocent-looking golden brown chicken was a bit too spicy for me but not for my friend who is a spice girl (not the girl group). Served piping hot, the chicken's juices were sealed beneath the crispy skins. So juicy that the juices squirted out when I bite into them.We also got the Andong Chicken Stew (below) which is a soya sauce-based soup that comes with a chicken drumstick that has meat so tender that it fell of the bone easily, and other goodies such as potatoes, carrots, korean rice cakes. My friend enjoyed it a lot but I found the broth too salty for my palate.The salt-sprinkled truffle fries (below) were surprisingly not overpowering with the typical strong pungent truffle aroma. Thus, both my friend and I who are not big fans of truffles liked this.Service was really slow and we had to wait for a long time for them to give us the bill.
After which we waited a long time for them to collect the bill.
We eventually paid in exact cash instead of credit card because they were really wasting our time.
Personally we find this slightly overrated. I think the pieces were too big so we were really full after a few pieces. It would be perfect if they come in wings or drumlets. But still I think not bad lah. A change from usual KFC and better than KFC.

I swear my eyes were blinking with excitement when I heard there is a new Caribbean restaurant near Chinatown.

After all, it's the first time we have a restaurant (and the one and only one so far) in Singapore that offers Carribean cuisine. Set up by a Trinidad native. I immediately googled where is Trinidad. A search shows that the fastest air ticket from Singapore to Trinidad takes 30 hours *gasped*.

I was surprised to be able to get a reservation easily on a Friday night. The cosy restaurant is located at the last of the stretch of shophouses (same stretch as Esquina) along Jiak Chuan Road in Keong Saik/Chinatown area. I like the typical shop-house decor immediately even though it wasn't close to what I had imagined (I did harboured some fantasies that it will look like a movie set from Pirates of the Caribbean).The chill vibe and rustic decor offers a comforting respite from the hustle and bustle of a busy work week. There weren't a lot of items on the menu. A look at the drinks menu and Lychee Ooh Lala ($17, below) caught our attention immediately. A concoction of white rum, lychee liquer, lychee syrup, sugar syrup, lime juice, mint leaves and sprite, it did sound good. I liked that it wasn't very heavy on the bitterness and quite refreshing to drink.. Tasted some what like drinking a zesty lychee sprite. The food menu did not have any pictures of the dishes so we just went with what sounded nice. The sides ranged from $8 to $12 and the mains ranged from $24 to $34.

We got Wings n' Tings ($12, below) as one of the sides. It's actually boneless chicken fillets which was a good thing otherwise it will be messy to eat. The chicken meat was a bit tough and it was accompanied by a slightly spicy salsa sauce that tasted very much like spiced barbecue sauce. Eating with my eyes closed confirmed that my palate was eating sweet barbecue chicken. I was hoping to find a more exotic taste hence it was a little disappointing that it tasted like chicken in smoky BBQ sauce. The next side we got was the Slipper Lobster Cocktail ($15, below), which was avocado with marinated Slipper lobster served with mango and pineapple salsa. When the waiter served the plate, I actually asked, "What's this?". The lobster meat was in tiny pieces and mixed with cubes of mango and pineapple. In the centre was a big piece of avocado. Maybe I should have noted earlier that the description started with Avocado and the lobster was just a supporting role.Moving on to the mains, we had the Caribbean Jerk chicken ($24, below) with textures of sweet potato and Jerk BBQ sauce. Jerk chicken which is native of Jamaican is done by dry-rubbing or wet-marinating the meat with a very hot spice mixture. The chicken was fork-tender and flavorful. However, we weren't very impressed with the Jerk BBQ sauce which tasted like normal smoky barbecue sauce. I can't fault them for this dish but it was just not within our expectations as we thought Jerk sauce should be spicy.The last course The Catch of the Caribbean ($26, below) came with pan seared fish, coconut breaded prawns, pumpkin puree served with souscaille and Creole sauce. Visually impressive, it looks like a beach with a cave. The "beach sand" was actually the pumpkin puree. The fish, again, tasted very familiar and after a while I thought it tasted like the steamed garoupa served during Chinese weddings. Again, there was nothing wrong with this dish. It was well executed but it was just that I was expecting a stronger, exotic and a more multi-dimensional taste. Somehow I felt the creamy pumpkin puree did not complement the fish well. I liked the prawns which had a subtle coconut taste. Service could be faster and more attentive. Given that the place was quite empty on a Friday night, slow service is not exactly acceptable. My glass of water was never automatically refilled throughout the night.

Overall, expect food that is cooked well but don't go there expecting exotic or unusual tastes. You won't get anything too crazy or mind-blowing. Caribbean cuisine is more familiar than I thought.

Although it didn't turn out as hyped as I initially thought it would be, the ambience of the restaurant is quite lovely for a "liming" session. Liming is a Caribbean urban term meaning hanging out with friends. They have a bar on the second level for some liming after dinner too. Personally, it was quite an eye opener to Caribbean cuisine. And I must count my blessings that I didn't have to fly for 30 hours to get to its hometown in order to try it.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://weekendeatwhatsg.blogspot.sg/2013/09/lime-house.html

Despite being a Singaporean since birth, I have never ventured into Farrer Park. It doesn't look ulu on the map (being two stops away from Dhoby Ghaut). But somehow there is nothing there for me to venture. Recently I saw an Openrice article on nice cafes to hangout, and one of them is L'etoile cafe hidden in Farrer Park along Owen Road. The small but cosy-looking picture of it was tempting enough for me to travel to Farrer Park. It's a two-storey indie cafe along a stretch of shophouses. L'etoile means "star" in French, and it's also the symbol of this cafe.

I was quite pleased when I stepped into L'etoile. The cafe was very bright and made use of full length windows. The use of different types of mismatched furniture made the place very colourful and homely. The designer of L'etoile should deserve some award for making it look so pretty and inviting! There are several corners which you can just laze in with your group of friends or with your significant other. Some of my favorite corners:

#1 - By the window on second floor. I love how the curtains blocked out the harsh sun rays and gave the place a soft focus look. #2 - Cosy corner on first floor. #3 - Cosy corner on second floor. If you look carefully below, this table is actually a sewing machine table. Quite creative to use as a dining table and it gives the place a nostalgic vibe too. One bird kills two stones!Sad to say, the food was quite forgettable for me. The Matcha Azuki Chiffon Cake ($5.90) was coarse and too dry for my liking. The Chicken Wings ($8) were a bit bland and not flavorful enough, and the portion was quite small for the price. As for the Big Breakfast ($14.90) which was served with toast, potato wedges, mushroom, bacon, sausages, eggs and greens, unfortunately it was more variety than quality. The Strawberry Soda and Ribena Soda ($4.90 each) were nothing to shout about too. In addition, I don't know why but it can be very noisy when everyone speaks at the same time. I suspect it has got to do with the material used for the ceiling or walls which amplifies the sounds made.

To conclude, I guess the main draw of L'etoile would be its chill vibe, vintage and whimsical decor, instead of the food. There were a lot of couples and groups of friends there. L'etoile also has free wifi and some power plug points (not a lot though.. two hidden behind the big sofa on second floor and two near the window). They also have a collection of travel books and magazines which you can read. It's worth a first visit for a lazy weekend although I don't think I will be going back anytime soon.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://weekendeatwhatsg.blogspot.sg/2013/08/l-cafe.html

I ordered the Black Pig Bolognese Fettucine ($13, below). Apparently this is their signature dish. Their pasta is made in Hokkaido so it's different from the normal western pasta. The fettucine was a bit hard and chewy, not really to my liking. But the black pig bolognese was quite tasty, well marinated with the tomato based sauce. 3.5/5My friend had the Full Size US Pork Chop Doria ($16, below). Doria is a Japanese type of food, similar to gratin but with a rice base. To me, it tasted like risotto. The tomato base was quite bland and diluted. I like the pork though which was juicy. 3/5We waited for quite some time for our food to arrive, probably 20 minutes. My friend's order was Doria which it was indicated on the menu that it will take 15 minutes to prepare. On the other hand, my Black Pig Bolognese Fettucine did not have a minimum preparation time indicated on the menu. However, at the end, my friend's Doria came first before my Black Pig Bolognese Fettucine.

After a not-so-satisfying main course, we were looking forward to the desserts hoping they would help to end the dinner with a wow. We had the Pont Neuf ($5.20, below) which was a cream puff crispy on the outside but creamy and soft on the inside. Yumms! 4/5Upon the strong recommendation of the service staff, we ordered the signature dessert Fruit Scoop ($7, below). To be honest, it was quite a normal fruit cream cake to us.. 3/5For more pictures and less-concised review, please visit http://weekendeatwhatsg.blogspot.sg/2013/08/dulcet-studio.html