Following our meal at The Chop House, we are looking for something to satisfy our sweet tooth. Quick check on desserts location around Vivocity, suggested St. Marc Cafe to be on the top of the list.Apparently St. Marc Cafe originated from Japan with more than 300 outlets in Japan. This Japanese with French influence café promise to 'provide good quality service, vibrant atmosphere, freshly brewed coffee and other varieties of drinks, and freshly-baked breads for a reasonable price.' Their most popular product is Chococro.Chococro is made from the best blend of Ghana and Ecuador Chocolate beans, wrapped with crispy rich buttery flavour Croissant dough. Unfortunately, Chococro - $2.40 (& White Chococro - $2.60) do not send my tongue wagging. The dough is not flaky, but it seems to be a little stale, the chocolate is just average, although it has good balance and not overly sweet. Maybe it was near closing time when we get there, or you can blame it on the recent rise of artisan bakery in Singapore, that expose us to better croissant base products compare to St Marc. (Chococros rating 6/10)The coffee are produced from a fully automated machine. The latte ($4.50) is average, diluted with very airy frothed milk. The latte that I tasted in 7-11 in Taiwan is better than this (rating 6/10). St Marc hot chocolate ($6) fare better than their latte, it has a nice blend and a good balance of sweetness and creaminess. (rating 7/10).However, what is worth your stomach space here. Little Fuji ($6.30). This combination of soft serve vanilla ice cream with brown butter Danish is just excellent. The Danish is very soft and flaky, while the soft serve ice cream has a perfect sweetness, texture and flavour. Beautiful. (Rating 8.5/10)For something with green tea flavour and chewy, Miyako ($8.20) is a good option. Green Tea Ice cream, with Soft serve vanilla ice cream, mochi and a dollop of red bean. It is refreshing and it has most of the traditional Japanese desserts ingredients and most of the texture are well represented here. Yum Yum! (Rating 8/10)The other positive factor about St Marc is their vibrant atmosphere. From far away, the cafe seems to invite you to come in and spend some time in the cafe. As promise, St Marc does provide a friendly and good service to a certain extend, most of the stuff is basically self service.

Overall, St Marc Cafe really deliver on its promise of good service and vibrant atmosphere. Their Chococro is not to my liking, however there are plenty of other breads and desserts that are worth coming back for. So if you are at Vivocity or Marina Square, give this place a try. Cheers!!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala Dining Experience, click / copy the link below to your browser: http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2014/04/StMarc-Cafe.html

The Chop House is a casual dining eatery under the umbrella of Wooloomooloo Group. The same HongKong group that set up Wooloomooloo steakhouse in Swissotel the Stamford, which I have a memorable experience with their tomahawk steak a few years back. We have been wanting to try out this place since its opening, but there is always something that block our path. Anyway, since Little Devil's ('LD') BFF have a craving for lamb chop, we finally pop in there.
At first they allocate us in the centre dining area, seated at a table for 4 but the size is about 1 square metre which is more appropriate for table for 2. The atmosphere was gorgeous, with the view of Sentosa through its floor to ceiling glass windows. It is very romantic atmosphere, but anticipating the space to place our food, we request to be move to a bigger table.We started the dinner with Crispy Calamari ($14) and Mussels Mariniere ($19). The calamari is tender yet slightly springy, coated with crispy batter. Seasoning is inconsistent, where some part can be bland while the other can be very salty. The Mussels Mariniere are perfectly executed where you can taste the wine in the broth. Unfortunately it was missing something to soak up the beautiful broth such as a bread or fries.For Mains, LD ordered Australian Grass Fed T-Bone Steak (400g, $49). T-Bone steak consist of two type of cut, short loin (the small part) and tenderloin (the larger part), which created a challenge in cooking both of them to the right preference (ha.ha, one of the challenge in Master Chef Korea). As usual, LD loves her steak medium rare, and they only manage to deliver medium rare on the tenderloin side, but overcook the short loin part to medium. The meat are tender and juicy, and the creamy mash potatoes that come with it just so smooth, creamy and so delicious. Honestly, the mash potatoes are actually better than the steak, so we ordered another side of creamy mash ($7).For my main, I have the USDA Prime Ribeye (200g, $36). It is cooked to medium rare as ordered. The meat is slightly chewy, not as tender as I expected from USDA prime ribeye. Sautéed potatoes are good and so does the accompanied peppercorn sauce. Portion is slightly small 200 gram, I wish they offer the 300 gram version. For the price I'm paying, I find the New Zealand standard steaks are so much better compare to the USDA in term of tenderness and price point.LD's BFF ordered Australian Double Lamb chops ($31). She said it was quite disappointing as the meat is tough and one of them are charred.For additional sides, we have the French Fries ($7) and creamy spinach ($8). Fries was double fried, probably with duck fat as it has that distinct crispiness and did not become soggy through the dinner. While the creamy spinach with onion is just smooth and tasty.The Drink menu here is very extensive. Our choice for the drink of the night is Cool Mint ($8) – lychee, lychee juice, mint sprigs, ginger ale, and soda. Serving is quite huge, about 500ml.The food menu offer quite extensive range, but it seems that the burger and their beef lollipop (braised beef shank size for 4 person) would be the better option compare to the steak. We decided to skip desserts here as we find what's on offer not enticing enough. The service is very good throughout and their service staff are very accommodating.Overall, we find the food that we had during this visit did not really wow us. It just seems to be odd where the sides dish are so much better than the main meal. In this case the creamy mash, creamy spinach and French fries are the star, instead of the steaks. I'm not sure if we will return, maybe when we can't find better creamy mash in other place, we might just unconsciously return here.

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala dining experience, click here:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2014/03/The-Chop-House.html

Dumplings / Jiaozi (饺子) is one of the most recognised food in Chinese culture. Eaten by not only the Chinese, but also very popular in many Asian countries. You can have it boiled, steamed or pan fried. For people in China, eating dumplings during Chinese New Year is a must, no matter which part or clan you come from. Speaking from experience, I ever ate 16 types of dumplings during a dinner session in Beijing, and it remain one of the best experience I ever had. To date, I still can't find anything to match it in Singapore.

We visited this place a few times before and we find the food here is close to those you find in Beijing or other North part of China. It was open by one of the past Chinese basketball star with his wife whom is also quite tall. One of the reason why the signboard now translated to Tall Girl Restaurant.Dumplings / Jiaozi are a must try here. There are a few variety of fillings, however suggest you order different types to try. The boiled dumplings allows you to enjoy the intended texture of the skin, which is slightly think like ban mian, but smooth and springy. The fillings are well seasoned and the portion is very generous. Their pork with cabbage or their pork with pickled Chinese cabbage are the one that we always ordered, dipped it in vinegar helps with digestion and balance the overwhelming feeling ('jelak') from too much dumplings.They have a pan fried version which is similar to gyoza. The skin are crispy, with slight bouncy texture. For a slight dim sum version, we tried their steam dumpling with beef fillings.One of the dish that is best enjoyed during the summer is Marinated Cold Noodle with Sesame Paste ($12). Refreshing is the most appropriate word to describe this dish. The noodle has a nice springy texture, well coated with the sesame dressing that combine fresh vegetables as well. If you want some kick in this dish, just add some cut chilli.The sweet and sour pork is slightly not to my likings. The meat is very lean, not enough fats.The service here is adequate, however similar to those you experience in China. In a matter of fact, you will think twice whether this place is in Singapore or not. The service staff can be loud, but please don't take it to heart. Think of the aunties shouting your drink order in any coffeeshop. Decoration is very minimum, like any normal traditional eating house, but at least it is air-conditioned.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal here especially when we have cravings for Northern Chinese food. They cooking style is very authentic, as this place are filled from China customers that stayed in Singapore and missing their food from back home. So if you want to try the real people's food, give this place a try. Cheers & Chifan!!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala dining experience, click here:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2014/03/eastern-northern-dumpling-restaurant.html

Extra Virgin Pizza is another F&B concept by under the umbrella of The Lo & Behold Group. This group is responsible for the ever popular establishment such as The White Rabbit, The Black Swan, Overeasy and Loof. Under the guidance of the young entrepreneur Wee Teng Wen and Daniel He, expect this group to deliver a fresh yet elegant dining on Singapore shore.

Little Devil and I actually chanced upon Extra Virgin Pizza while looking for a quick lunch place in United Square. To our benefit, they were offering one for one pizza promotion with UOB Card.

As it is lunch, we only ordered 2 pizzas. Spotted Pig ($26) and Prosciutto & Arugula ($26). Both pizza are based with tomato and mozarella cheese. Each pizza is about personal size, cut to 6 slices each. Spotted pig toppings are spicy pepperoni, pork sausage, applewood smoked ham and pecorino. This generous ingredients resulted in a delicious well baked pizza with a subtle heat / spiciness coming from the pepperoni. Meanwhile the Prosciotto & Arugula provide a more healthy version to offset the meaty pizza. The prosciutto di parma, baby arugula and parmagiano reggiano provide a good combination. Again the ingredients are generous and fresh. Although the toppings are good, we find that some areas can be improved especially on the dough and the timing in the oven. The dough is not rolled out consistently. The area without the toppings turn out to be to thick and chewy and it tasted like the dough are not evenly cooked. Based on our experience eating in pizzeria using brick ovens, we understand that pizzas cooked brick oven have the rustic burnt feeling. However on that day it was just too much burnt areas and created a bitter taste on the pizza. (Hopefully management can accept our feedback, Hint Hint!!)For drink, we ordered Ice Lemon Tea ($5.50), which is homemade (they separated the sugar) and tasted very good. Ambiance in this branch was great. The place is quite spacious there are a lot of natural lighting in the restaurant during the day. Service is very minimum, as we need to order at the counter and make payment first. Not sure what is the reason behind this, as there are sufficient service staff to provide full service. Overall we find that Extra Virgin Pizza has the ingredients and potential to compete with the higher end pizzeria. At this point of time, the components has not come together yet. With a little bit of tweaking and adjustment they will soon be there. Pricing is slightly on the high side. Luckily we have UOB Card to thank for the promo. Cheers!!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala dining experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2014/02/extra-virgin-pizza-spotted-pig-and.html

Two Fat Men is a Gastro Bar located along East Coast Road. This little establishment open from 5pm to 1 in the morning. During the weekend it also serve Live Premier League matches for those football lovers in Singapore. For those with hungry stomachs, they serve Western Food and Thai Street Food to go along with their wide variety of beers, cocktails and mocktails.

We decided Bacon & Egg Burger ($11.20) and Portabello Burger ($13.90) from the Western Menu. The burgers are served in the simple and bare version. When the menu said burger, it basically mean burger with no side dish such as fries or salad at all. The patties are meaty and juicy. For the bacon and eggs, it is accompany by the crispy bacon, however it can be a bit salty. While the portabello mushroom is almost as the burger patties in size. It might looks plain, however it is full of flavour. Grilled Pork Neck ($9.90), Grill Squid ($11.90) and Tang Hoon Prawn ($9.90) were our choice from the Thai Street Food menu. The Grilled Pork Neck with Tamarind Spicy Sauce is the favourite item in the Two Fat Men. The pork neck has been marinated over a long period, the meat is tender and succulent with a nice grill burnt flavour The same can be said with the grill squid, tender and not chewy. The charred from the frill actually helps to accentuate the flavour the squid.Unlike the grilled pork neck and squid, the Tang Hoon Prawn is slightly disappointing. The tang hoon is slightly dry and they seems to be a bit shy about using the herbs, resulting the dish to taste on a bland side. In Thailand, they will normally use pork fat to oil the tang hoon, maybe they can use olive oil to compensate the health conscious Singaporean and kick up a notch on the spice level. The prawns are fresh and juicy. 'The service is friendly but minimum. The decoration is very simple. Customer has a choice of outdoor open air seating, or indoor with round marble tables like old kopitiam style instead of a bar. Overall, we find the serving of Western and Thai food are quite unique. The food are delicious, however Thai Street food has been tone down version from its original version. Combine with the drinks, live EPL, and late opening hours, this is definitely a good place for late night dining, hang out place or watch Manchester United Games!!!

For the complete Chubby Botak Koala experience, click / copy the link below to your browser:
http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2014/01/two-fat-men-thai-or-western-food-you.html