Besides Quality Hotel (read my post on their porridge buffet here), Crystal Cafe at Killiney Road is another Taiwan porridge place worth visiting. It is an unpretentious cafe with no contemporary decor compared to other restaurants in the heart of Orchard. This restaurant looks rather old-fashioned which is probably why they have managed to preserve pocket-friendly prices for their porridge buffet.Sweet potato porridge is served here. The variety of food on the buffet line is not as huge as that of Quality Hotel’s but some of their dishes are superior in taste. I particularly like the hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimps), bittergourd in black bean sauce (doesn’t taste bitter at all) and pig trotters (plenty of meat and collagen!). The braising sauce for the chicken feet, pig trotters, stewed pork, braised eggs and beancurd skin (tau kee) is one of the best ones around (besides my grandmother’s of course).

All dishes here are truly food that makes the best accompaniments with the plain porridge as their flavours are salty and robust. I also like their choice of vegetables i.e. preserved mustard green, sugar snap peas and hairy gourd with dried shrimps that are packed with a nice tender crunch. Even the curry chicken is rich and flavourful (though oily). The only thing that I didn’t fancy was their fried smelt (locally known as ‘sua chiam’) that was left out too long and was soft and greasy. And how can we miss the usual condiments of salted egg, fried anchovies (ikan bilis), braised peanuts and our all time favourite fermented beancurd? These never go wrong with porridge!

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/03/taiwan-porridge-buffet-crystal-cafe-orchard-grand-court/

When I studied in the States, Krispy Kreme was something that my mates and I would always buy to enjoy on the go. It was affordable and there was always this ‘Buy a Dozen, Free a Dozen’ promotion going on so the group of us could easily devour 24 doughnuts at once.

When we came back to Singapore, we were starved of Krispy Kreme for years because none of the doughnuts sold here were comparable to theirs so when KK was finally here in Singapore, I was filled with much anticipation and expectations.

The first KK outlet opened at Tangs Orchard in October last year but I’m only blogging about it now because every time I queued up in the evening to want to buy a box of assorted doughnuts, only original glazed were left. So when I was running some errands in Orchard on Saturday morning, I walked past the Krispy Kreme outlet and there wasn’t any queue! How could I not jump at the chance to buy a couple of donuts to go?Sometimes I do wonder if these doughnuts will come and go like bubble tea previously. Arriving on our shores with a lot of hype. The first outlet becomes really successful then more branches start sprouting up all over the island. When the consumer market gets saturated, the brand makes a sudden exit. I sure hope not.

But these days, the queues at Krispy Kreme aren’t as exaggerated as when it first opened in October. So what’s the big deal about a KK donut? Is it really that tasty? Is each donut really worth the price of a meal? Or is it just a novelty?The Glazed Chocolate Cake is my all-time favourite. Just like its name, it is simply a soft and moist chocolate cake shaped in a donut and dunked in a super sweet sugar glaze. I must admit age (and hence a change of taste buds) has caught up with me and I no longer enjoy ‘sweet’ stuffs as much as I did when I was younger so this was really too sweet for me. Every bite was just a sugar rush and I couldn’t taste the slightest flavour of chocolate at all. But I still love how fluffy the cake is. Biting into the donut is effortless because it just crumbles and melts in your mouth. If the glaze can be made a little less sweet, I could easily have a few more of this.The husband ordered the New York Cheesecake that comes with a cheesecake filling and topped with a rich cream cheese icing and bits of graham crackers. I like the texture of the graham crackers but again, this was just too sweet for me.I really don’t remember KK’s glaze to be that saccharine sweet when I had it in the States but this was unbelievable sweet for me. So sweet that I got sick of it barely after 2-3 bites. The only consolation is the texture of the donut that just melts in the mouth. If you press down on the donut, it doesn’t spring back and becomes flattened immediately. That’s how moist and soft the inside is.

And my verdict? I love the texture a lot but I wish KK could come up with a Original version without glaze so I can enjoy the donut on its own without the need to gulp down water to wash away that cloyingly sweet taste. Also, the price of each donut is simply too steep. I’ll stick back with Dunkin Donuts for now and my very own home-baked ones.

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/07/krispy-kreme-tangs-orchard/

I can never resist warm, moist bread and I must say this basket is filled with fresh assorted breads and delightful bread sticks. Here, being an Italian restaurant, only serves premium olive oil which you can dip the bread in. The husband loved the olive oil but I really preferred butter instead which was obviously not available here. Eat my bread the French way, that’s my preferred style. Nevertheless, these carbs still tasted good and fresh on their own.This was some scallop tartare on the house. Serving size was too small to properly gauge the taste but it was a nice gesture from the chef. The amuse-bouche varies every night depending on what the chef comes up with.Mozzarella and Parma Ham. What could go wrong? The sharpness and the saltiness all married together in this. However, pan-frying the parma ham had made it a little chewy because this was way done yet not to the crispy stage. Not doing justice to the ham.A perfectly pan-seared piece of foie gras that was creamy and flavoursome but we didn’t think it went well with the poached pear that tasted flat in texture. The balsamic dressing, bitter greens and caramelized pears just didn’t complement the lovely liver.This was too fishy for our liking and the husband thought it tasted a little weird but we couldn’t tell what it was. I loved the grissini though.

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/12/senso-ristorante-bar-club-street/

In the beginning when M&S had revamped its flagship store and started their first bakery here at Wheelock, I was initially a little skeptical as I thought the bakery would probably serve up expensive yet mediocre pastries. But I was wrong. The prices of the breads and pastries were comparable with other bakeries or probably lower for certain items.

After trying most of the items in the bakery, these are my two short-listed must-tries:It might not be the prettiest cheese twist and it looked as though there was barely any cheese but you just need to take one bite to enjoy that rich, cheesy flavour beneath those layers of pastry. As these twists had been left out for some time, the pastry was no longer warm or crispy but it didn’t affect the overall taste and texture because it had a lovely moist and chewy interior that I really liked.The palmier here was probably the best I ever had. The pastry was extremely crispy (yet not too brown or burnt) and flaky with the right amount of butter flavour and sweetness. Some of you might remember the big flat sugar pastry that was really popular in the 80s as almost all bakeries then would sell it. It tasted exactly like the palmier except that the shape and size were different. I grew up snacking on that flat pastry so that’s why I have a soft spot for palmiers now because they really bring back some fond childhood ‘snacking’ memories. And at $1.50 for a big hand size piece, it’s probably one of the cheapest pastries you can get in town these days.

Whenever I chance upon a NYDC, I’d get reminded of an old classmate who really loved dining there that she’d always order the same baked rice, same pizza and same mudpie every time. This was more than 10 years ago when there was a NYDC outlet at Suntec City so it became one of our favourite after-class lunch hangout places.

Though I no longer have cravings for the same food, I do like to indulge in a mudpie once in a while.Double chocolate chip and mocha almond fudge ice cream with cookie chunks, nestled on an Oreo cookie base with chocolate fudge and whipped cream. Sounds and looks inviting, isn’t it? I always have a soft spot for mudpies because I like the firm and dense texture of the ice cream as compared to a soft serve that melts easily. When this mudpie is first served to the table, it looks frosty on the side because it came out straight from the freezer. It takes a lot of effort to cut through with a fork as it’s really hard so I just have to eat bit by bit. I love the Oreo crunch that gives a light chocolatey flavour. The two ice creams may blend with each other but it’s the double chocolate chip one that wins in taste and flavour.A luscious carrot cake with walnuts and cream cheese frosting. I love the generous helping of walnuts inside as well as on top of the cake though I’m not a big fan of them as walnuts tend to be quite dry but do have a rich, nutty taste to them. The cake itself is pretty light and the cream cheese frosting was just right too. It’d be nice to have thicker layers of cream cheese as the cake is a little dry.

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/16/nydc-new-york-dessert-cafe-holland-village/