For more reviews, visit www.ms-skinnyfat.com

D'Good Cafe is a whimsical spot to swing your worries away, right smack in the heart of Holland Village. It sits in a funky shop house unit that has 2 entrances and the layout reminded me of that children story about a house in a boot with many children (uh huh i really don't have much of a childhood).
D'Good Cafe specializes in single-origin coffee beans, which are roasted in-house. The owner is some crazy coffee fanatic and you can get your Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Jamaican beans done the siphon, drip, pour-over or espresso way. You wouldn't be able to miss the Elektra espresso machine at the counter! If you're up for something more exotic, there's the famous Kopi Luwak (civet coffee) from the Wahana Estate in Sumatra for $38 a pop. You can also make your own blend here at D'Good Cafe too.I liked the Bacon Carbonara ($15) more than the previous pasta. It's creamy (more on the milky side) and certainly more satisfying (only if you like cream). Generous portions of bacon too. It would be perfect with some fried bacon bit and an egg.
The Eggs Benedict ($13.50) was a sad sad portion. I was terribly disappointed by it in fact. The brioche was nice but was too thinly sliced. As a result, it was soaked through by the eggs. Too much vinegar was used in poaching the eggs and that contributed to the papery texture of the whites and that acidic taste. Holladaise sauce was weak too. Certainly not something i'd recommend ordering. Add on $3 to the breakfast sets for a Latte that is well balanced with a nice crema.
I must say we were all happy with our choice of caffeine. The Earl Grey Lavender Latte ($7) was aromatic without being overpowering. I'm fearful of lavender because it just smells and tastes a little like air freshener but this was just right. The Caramel Hot Chocolate ($7.50) will satisfy your sweet tooth because it's on the sweet side but i found the chocolate a tad artificial. The foam had somewhat of a brulee texture which was interesting. And if you like latte art, they do a lot of cute animal prints.
We concluded that the best part of the meal was the maple sea salt cheesecake ($9). You cannot miss this smokey sweet and creamy cheesecake. The cheese was rich but not too heavy and it went perfectly with the crunchy and compact graham crust. I suspect a lot of butter went into it but it's awesome. Repeat after me: Butter is awesome (especially salted ones).
D'Good Cafe also has a rooftop area for alfresco dining. This would be perfect at night or on an extremely cool day. 
I'd certainly be back for more cheesecake. Tried the Strawberry Cheesecake and it just didn't cut it after the mindblowingly good maple sea salt one. Enjoy this one!

For full reviews, visit my blog at www.ms-skinnyfat.com
There is no trick to staying skinny, it's a lot of exercise and watching your diet. Well with my hectic food blogging schedule and essentially my love for food, i make it a point to eat healthy on weekdays and i turn to salads for lunch! I love them because they are healthy and fresh and I also love preparing them myself. But if you don't have time to make your own, then check out The Lawn, the only Specialty Grill & Salad Café in Singapore
The grills are what make The Lawn different from the other salad spots. If you are a salad virgin, The Lawn helps with that veggie anxiety with their selection of savory and delicious grilled meats and seafood. Eating green doesn't mean that you gotta sacrifice on taste! So go Meat your Greens!
You could go with a salad base or have your grills with olive rice (comes with a side salad and dressings). Grills are at an additional price of between $3 to $5. Teriyaki Chicken is good, so are the seared Pacific Dory and Mushrooms but the best is the Garlic Prawns!
With 12 sauces to choose from, you're probably gonna have a hard time but i've done a sauce review on the blog so you just need to ref that. Top 3 would be, Red Island, Maple Peanut and Manly Mango. Wasahonie is really good too!
Now check out my creations!
Grilled Garlic Prawn Salad. With Tofu, Granola, Cheddar, Chestnut and Cous Cous. I loved the spicy garlic prawns a la aglio olio style. If you pick granola, make sure you choose a saucy sauce so that the granola wouldn't be too dry. The chestnuts are absolutely yummeh.
Grilled Black Pepper Duck Breast Salad. With Pasta (Fusilli), Corn, Alfafa Sprouts, Parmesan and Cashew Nuts. Love the umami of the parmesan. The pairing the duck with mango sauce is simply heavenly but the duck could be more pink. Make sure you remove the skin!
Ben's Beef Rub with Olive Rice. I love the preserved olive vegetables with rice! It may not be the healthiest considering that it's preserved in oil and there's plenty of carbs but this would be great for friends who are just not that into vegetables. Would love a brown rice option though! The beef cubes were a little tough too.
The Lawn previously operated out of the Biopolis outlet but they have added another store at AXA Tower in Shenton Way. If you are in a rush for time and are too lazy to create your own salad, there are a couple of planned salads for $12.90-$13.90. My advice? Grab a few of their order forms and keep them in office and you can plan your salad before lunch.

For more reviews, visit my blog at www.ms-skinnyfat.com
The special weekday a la carte dim sum lunch menu is created by new Dim Sum Chef Lee Siaw Cheen and diners get to feast on an extensive selection of 35 soups, signature dishes, dim sum and desserts at $48.
There are 4 new enhanced signature dim sum creations which include Deep-fried Yam Puff with Foie Gras, Baked Egg Tart with Imperial Swiflet’s Nest and White Fungus, Steamed Berkshire Pork “Char Siu” Buns and Crispy Carrot Cake with Hai Tien Lo’s Signature XO Sauce. These are limited to one serving each per guest.
Of the lot, the Berkshire Pork “Char Siu” Buns was absolutely heavenly. Juicy and succulent meat in a delicious barbecue sauce lovingly wrapped by a fluffy sweet bun. But why only 1 serving?? I also liked the carrot cake which has nice chunks of radish and chinese sausage. This is best paired with the spicy XO sauce.
Diners also get unlimited servings of the classic dim sum. The Wok-seared Spinach Dumplings may look really green on the outside but it's also packed with juicy minced pork inside. Delicious!
The Deep-fried Pork Dumpling “Ham Shui Gok”. It's really crispy on the outside but has a mochi-like texture inside and it is filled with juicy pork with mushrooms. When eaten all at once, it tastes like a Hakka Abacus Seed 算盘子.
If dimsum alone doesn't fill you up, there are also 9 Hai Tien Lo Signatures to pick from which includes hearty dishes like Szechuan Spicy chicken, Grouper fish fillet and Cantonese Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs.. Each table is limited to one serving of any three items.
The Homemade Bean Curd with Crab Meat and Eggplant in Supreme Stock comes highly recommended. Absolutely silky and fragrant tofu in a carrot, radish and chicken supreme stock. Slurps!
If you like something fried (who doesn't), the Deep-fried Soft Shell Crab with Pepper Sauce is rather delightful. Just work it off later really.
What is a Cantonese meal without soup right? Pick from either the Traditional Double-Boiled Soup or the Lobster with Shredded Abalone and Vegetables in Thick Broth (one serving of any one item per person). The little green puffs are made of vegetables. Now you can drink your greens too!
For desserts, i went with the Double-boiled Osmanthus Tea with Pear and White Fungus which is light and refreshing. I liked that it's not too sweet.
The Mango Sago with Pomelo was a hot favorite. This drinks like a mango smoothie and is surprisingly light as well. If there's more space in your dessert tummy, you could go with the Black Sesame Paste with Glutinous Rice Dumpling.
So here you go, Hai Tien Lo's Weekday Dim Sum Buffet. It's perfect for business lunches and definitely for times when you simply just need to treat yourself.

For full reviews, visit my blog at www.ms-skinnyfat.com

A good love story always begins with fresh, rustic bread. I couldn't help but fall in love with this all-day bakery/brasserie that serves up freshly baked organic breads in their little shophouse along Bukit Timah Road.
We started with the Bircher Muesli ($10), my go to when I want something healthier. TMP's version is smoother but you could still get the great taste of Granny Smith, muesli, puffed brown rice, oats, maple syrup, nuts, cinnamon in a yogurt mix. I love how tangy the dish was and it's a great starter to share but it certainly will fill you up if you have it as a main.
The French Toast Salpicon ($19) is a delightful plate with the many colorful fruits. It may look like an ordinary sweet french toast but it hides a huge secret within it.
Cut through that fluffy brioche and out spills a savory combination of chicken, spinach and mushrooms. Weird it is not, in fact I thought the gravy could be more creamy and savory. It's really a go-bold-or-go-home dish. The strawberry-smoked maple syrup was delightful with the toast though.
The 62 Degree Eggs Benedict with Smoked salmon ($22) is another favorite with diners. TMP got all the ingredients right; perfect salmon, creamy avocado, seaweed crumbs on crunchy sourdough but the somewhat weak in-house hollandaise sauce didn't managed to lift the dish. The overall taste was a lil blah.
The Guinness Pot Pie ($24) got most of the things right. Hearty beef stew with Guinness topped with a buttery flaky puffed pastry. This is the perfect cold weather dish!
For desserts, the Mela Con Formaggi ($14) is a sweet-savoury combination of granny smith, banana caramel sauce, chocolate soil, citrus mascarpone, homemade honeycomb and parmigiano reggiano chips. I couldn't stop eating this one...
 

For full review, visit my blog at www.ms-skinnyfat.com
Man Fu Yuan is one of Singapore’s finest Chinese restaurants, serving classic Cantonese cuisine created especially for the restaurant by a Hong Kong Master Chef. From now till 31 May 2014, Man Fu Yuan is serving some glorious dishes from the good old days, made using good quality ingredients and special and laborious techniques.
Now here are some favorites from the Nostalgic Menu. The flavourful Mixed Beef Stew with handmade beef balls 牛什牛丸煲 ($28 per portion). I love how the meat is tender and savory. The beef balls were succulent and had nice chunks of water chestnut in them. This is the perfect comfort food.
Tea-smoked Pork Belly Char Siew 脆皮叉烧 ($24 per portion) takes centre stage, featuring pork belly marinated in a combination of Chinese rose wine and barbecue sauce. It's fatty and decadent but hey YOLO.
I loved the Hong Kong Style Steamed Pork Belly in Shrimp Paste 港式咸虾酱蒸花肉 ($28 per portion). This is another comfort dish and i can fully identify with the flavors though i've never had this dish before. Salty, stinky and oh damn delicious. Give me another 2 bowls of rice.
Pig Trotters with Vinegar 猪脚醋 ($28 per portion). The meat was well braised in plum vinegar and you can smell the sour perfume from far. The dish is on the oily side though.
If you find these flavors familiar and are craving for it now, Man Fu Yuan's A Taste of Nostalgia Menu will be available as part of a rotating a la carte menu available daily till 31 May 2014. Do call the restaurant to find out if they'll be serving your favorite dish before heading down!