One of the latest entrants to the F&B spread at ION Orchard, Becasse Bakery adds an additional notch of posh extravagance with it's array of French-inspired pastries and dishes.

Located on the 4th floor of ION, Becasse Bakery's design just came off as contemporary chic - I remember feeling 'wow-ed' seeing how the monogrammed black white floor contrasted and yet fit with the white cubic design of the ION ceiling.

The wow-factor reasserted itself again upon seeing the menu, albeit not in a very nice way. $18 for a quiche and $30 for a burger just sets off the warning alarms. A speculation which can only be confirmed by jumping right down into the food.

Our meal featured 2 of the bakery's signature dishes:

Becasse's namesake burger aims for the stars with a star-studded cast of exquisite ingredients. 2 100% Wagyu Beef patties sandwiching foie gras atop half melted Gruyere cheese simply makes for a very luxurious mouthful. And to
plump up the meal for bigger eaters, some kipfler potatoes baked in their skins with duck-fat for additional flavour.

Becasse Wagyu Burger - $27
Verdict: I wish I could say that I was bowled over by the taste as much as I was reading the description off the menu, but the star of the burger just did not quite deliver - the Wagyu Beef patties were just too processed to let the quality beef shine. Redeeming qualities came in the form of the rich foie gras and the Gruyere, which have the burger both flavour and taste.

I get pretty excited over something as sinful as duck fat but the kipflers just came across as pretty bland. Personally I'd still prefer the US potatoes for their taste. At the very least, they helped fill me a bit more!


Assorted seafood (mainly crab and prawn) baked together with macaroni and cheeses, the Seafood & Macaroni Bake at Becasse Bakery was another dish off the menu we thought we had to try. 

Seafood & Macaroni Bake - $27
Verdict: Fans of cheesy meals would probably snap this right up. The dish is best rates hot when each forkful brings up macaroni and seafood in equal proportions, trailing yummy, sticky threads of molten cheese. At $27 though, still a tad pricey for me.

It's been a couple of days since my visit to Becasse, and my wallet's still stinging. Given how hungry I still felt after settling the bill, I'd probably steer clear of the main courses and maybe head back there for a Parisian tea over macarons and iced chocolate.

While fellow cafe/restaurant Lola's is drumming up a storm further down along Simon's Road, I decided to revisit Ice Edge Cafe, just for old times sake. Before Lola's came along, the restaurant was pretty much one of the to-go places in Kovan for late desserts and drinks.Restaurant Interior
Nothing much has changed over the years - the restaurant expanded, but the bright orange walls and furnishings still remain at the centre of the restaurant interior.

For lunch I picked one of the recommended signature dishes from Ice Edge - the Seafood Aglio Olio which really gave me mixed signals. The seafood weren't really the freshest as advertised. While the single mussel was more dry and lack-lustre, the prawns though succulent, weren't cleaned out during prep. What won me over was really the pasta, which as al dente and had that perfect mix of oil and spice that I like with my aglio olio. Seafood Aglio Olio - $16.80
Personally, I find it hard to walk away from a dessert display empty-handed. Especially when they stock some really intense and exotic flavours. My choices: Mao Shan Wang + Belgian Dark ChocolateLarge Premium Gelato Cup - $7.60
The durian-chocolate combination is just hard to beat. And both flavours being strong, not 1 of the flavours would be drowned out by the other and you'd be able to enjoy aromatic durian and delectable chocolate by the spoonful.

Overall, a meal at Ice Edge Cafe's not cheap. But it was enjoyable especially when it came to the desserts. If ever there was a reason to head back, would be the signature Molten Mao Shan Wang Lava Cake. Molten Chocolate Cake there's aplenty, but a melted durian core? =D

With fine dining restaurants the like of Yan Ting at St Regis and Cherry Garden at Mandarin Oriental offering sumptuous dim sum spreads with price tags to match their 5-star ratings, it comes as no surprise when many people come away with a common misconception that a dim sum meal is exorbitant.

There are exceptions and having a good dim sum meal does not necessarily have to break the bank! On that note, I searched and I followed recommendations and found Shi Wei Xian Hong Kong Tim Sum at Aljunied Crescent. Nestled in the grey area between Geylang and Aljunied, it wasn't easy to find - especially with the number of food centres in the immediate vicinity. My advice? Seek out the Geylang East Swimming Complex and start working your way from there.On first sight, Shi Wei Xian Hong Kong Tim Sum might not look like much. Just a humble outfit in a coffeeshop where the stall is mostly kitchen churning out dim sum eagerly awaited by customers. Here's where I dispense my 2nd piece of advice: Be early. Or popular favourites get sold out right quick. When I reached at 1230, the stall was already out of their congee and Yam Puffs.

But what I had to pick from, was nevertheless quite sufficient!Prawn Chee Cheong Fun - $2.50
Generally passable, the steamed rice paste wrap of the chee cheong fun was quite thick, but still went well with the slightly heavier soy sauce that came with the dish.
My complaint: The distribution of the prawns was poor, there was one roll which did not contain any prawn at all.Char Siew Pau - $1.60
It might not seem like much, but finding char siew pau at $0.80 a pop nowadays is quite a feat. While it wasn't a sensational hit, the dough was still soft and plump, and the ratio of bun to filling, nice and satisfying. Salad Prawn Dumpling - $2.40
Fried a deep golden yellow, the salad prawn dumpling was the only fried item I ordered. It was savoury, but you could taste how fish paste was mixed heavily into the prawn filling, which only served to dilute the taste of the prawns.Bean Sauce Pork Ribs - $2.50
Nothing spectacular here. The bean sauce could very be more gelat and tasty.Prawn Dumpling - $2.50
Passable, but again could be better had the skin been not so thick and the kitchen more generous with the prawns.Crab Meat Siew Mai - $2.50
Unlike your average Cantonese siew mai of pork and mushroom filling, the siew mai at Shi Wei Xian actually contained a combination of pork with crab meat. It's a first for me and I must say, it does indeed change the flavour profile that I've been used to for siew mai. 'Like'!

All in all, my dim sum brunch just set me back $14! Not too shabby isn't it? The food might not be wowing any pants off, but for this price, I would say it's probably as good as it gets. Try it!

Maybe it's just me, but knowing the fact that RamenPlay was set up by the same people at Bread Talk just doesn't inspire confidence or appeal. And that is probably the main reason why my first visit to this ever growing chain was barely a week ago.

The outlet at NEX Serangoon is big, spacious and it was pretty easy getting a seat outside of the peak mealtimes. 

Having no prior experience to go by, I went with the Sanpou Tonkotsu Ramen - one of the featured items on the menu. 
Sanpou (三宝) refers to the 3 featured ingredients within the dish - Cha Shu, Toroniku and Buta Kakuni all served in a pork bone broth. 

Even so, I didnt quite come away impressed. The Cha Shu and Toroniku were near undiscernible and tasted very much like unseasoned pieces of cooked ham. Saving grace did come from the Buta Kakuni aka Pork Belly in special sauce which was tender and flavorful from the sauce at the same time.

Very much a pork broth advocate when it comes to ramen, I was also pretty much disappointed with RamenPlay's rendition. The milky concoction just doesn't pack the punch in terms of taste. 
I did finish up on a high with an order of gyoza. Even though there was nothing spectacular, it was just as tasty as gyozas go, and I'm pretty satisfied with that.

Verdict: Would stick to my gut feel and leave ramen for the authentic ramen people.

Newfangled dining experiences seem to be all the rage lately and Keong Saik Road is just one of the few hotspots in town where you can see these changes in our local dining scene.

Muchachos would be one such example - taking one of the most down-to-earth of Mexican dishes, making it fully customizable and setting it in a bar concept no less.

And personally, the first impression wowed. I liked the chic minimalist design, bar counter seating and the interior decor that culminates in a dazzling array of bare naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

Build-your-own Burritos

The trip down the rabbit hole continued with the very flexible customization options available for you to get your very own burrito fix. 

1. Pick a size (12" or 10")
2. Then choose your choice of carbs, proteins, fats and salsas in the order. 

You might just get reminded of a Subway sub-building as you pick and mix your way down the end of the line.

My very own Carbi-vorous (Carbs + Carnivorous) burrito -- $13

The pick of ingredients: Mixed carbs of Texas long-grained rice and mashed Pinto beans fried in bacon fat + Carnitas (pork butt cooked in its own lard). No veggies anywhere!

Verdict: Maybe it came down to my choice of ingredients, but I wasn't so much blown away by the burrito as I was with the whole decor and DIY experience. The flour tortilla was tender but went cold pretty fast in the chill of the aircon. And inside, the ingredients were good, just missing that wow factor. Working my way through a 12" serving was a long slog for my taste buds. But I do want to highlight the pork butt though - exquisitely prepared, the flavours came through nicely when I had a big enough mouthful of pork.

$13 for a plate akin to a Mexican popiah is just not something that I would do again in a hurry? But it's just another dining experience down in the books that I do not regret.