Check out more food reviews on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com

Located within my office building at Shaw Centre, Bistro du Vin is one of those restaurants that appear to be on the pricier end of the spoon. But looking at the menu, I realised that their set lunch is actually rather reasonably priced if you don’t opt for the premium steak cuts, that is. Being part of the renowned Les Amis group, you can expect to indulge in good quality food at this classical French Bistro.

Bistro du Vin’s set lunch comes with 3 courses and costs $30++.

You can choose between 6 different Entrees to start off your meal with. I decided to go for the Ratatouille with deep-fried brandade since I’m not really a big fan of Foie Gras.Ratatouille (as you would have known from the movie), is basically a dish of stewed vegetables in a tomato-based sauce. The sourness of the tomato complemented by the sweet vegetables come together in a rather refreshing medley of flavours. And the brandade is actually made from salted cod covered in batter and deep-fried to a crisp. Being rather tasteless on its own, the brandade went really well with the ratatouille.

You will also get a basket of freshly baked bread while you wait for your orders to arrive. Mmm.. the smell of fresh bread can be really hypnotizing at times.For the mains (or Plat Principal), you also get to choose between 6 different items and can also opt for their premium steak cuts at an additional cost.When I saw Oven-Baked Spring Chicken with sautéed button mushrooms and bacon on the menu, I was actually expecting it to come with those crispy bacon strips you get with eggs benedict.. haha, but to my delight the “bacon” actually came as a thick cube of meat..Just look at that thick, glorious piece of bacon! Okay, I’m overreacting a little. But come on, it’s BACON. Everybody loves bacon, right? =P Well, unfortunately the chicken meat was a little bit on the dry side and there wasn’t much gravy or sauce from the sauteed mushrooms to complement the chicken. For big-eaters, you can also add-on more starch such as Truffled Fries or Mashed Potatoes even.

Now for the favourite part of my every meal – the dessert! If I had known that their Tiramisu wasn’t actually a traditional Italian-style Tiramisu, I would have probably opted for their Walnut Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream. But I was fooled by its novel name!That’s what they call a Pink Tiramisu. I did expect it to involve strawberries (usually anything “pink” would always have strawberries) but did not think that they would totally discard the cream cheese. There was a lot of cream but it’s not the kind of rich, thick mascarpone cheese you would find in traditional Italian Tiramisu. The only ‘tiramisu’ thing about it were the Savoiardi cookies dipped in liqeur. And at the base of the cup is a layer of strawberry sorbet.Overall, it was a rather good meal and the restaurant had quite a cozy atmosphere to it too. Plus the waiters were really attentive and kept adding water to my glass whenever I emptied it. They also have a wine cellar in a corner of the restaurant, with huge chunks of cured meat hanging from the ceiling. The best thing about Bistro du Vin is the toilet (or so I heard) which is decorated in a classical French style with retro posters.

Bon Appetit!

If you still haven't tried this Taiwanese dessert place, then you really should try it! Especially on hot days, this icy cold dessert is one of my favourite ways to cool off. =] Their Signature Blackball consists of a bit of everything that they offer. From the grass jelly, red beans, yam, sweet potato and pearls. This is by far the smoothest and most refreshing grass jelly you will ever get.

Read more on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com/timhowan

Phew.. it took me quite a while to find all those mandarin names of the dim sum.. but anyway, without further delay, let's get this 菠蘿包 BATTLE started! =D

Contestant 1: Tim Ho Wan 添好運The Su Pi Cha Shao Bao 酥皮叉燒包 ($4.50 for 3pcs) is what Tim Ho Wan is super famous for and they even have to limit the number of pau’s 1 person can order to 3 pieces. Once you’ve wolfed down all 3 pieces, then that’s it for the day. For $4.50 per 3 pieces, the size of this Char Siew Po Luo Pau is considerably smaller than a normal pau and fits nicely into my palm.I’ve been warned by my friends who went down there before me that the amount of char siew meat inside the pau is quite pathetic. And true enough, the char siew barely even filled up half of the bun. However, the quality of the meat they used is what you would find in a good Chinese restaurant. No complains there.

The char siew filling is consistently lean and tasted quite “premium”. haha.. I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s the kind of char siew pau you would only get in top-end Chinese restaurants. The bun is also very crispy, light and fluffy – it all just crumbles in your mouth, really.

All I needed was one char siew pau to be utterly satisfied, so we ended up dabao-ing the rest. Anyway, after having tasted the quality this char siew po luo pau at Tim Ho Wan, I decided to go on a mini-hunt for other po luo pau myself, to see if I can find anything that’s just as good.

After Google-ing around for a bit, I sniffed out a rather interesting lead located at TripleOne Somerset..

Contestant 2: Imperial Treasure BakeryFor $1.80 per piece, this po luo pau was twice the size of the one you get at Tim Ho Wan and looks a lot more crispy with its golden brown crust. The char siew meat, however, is NO WHERE near Tim Ho Wan’s standard. The char siew filling is too chewy and not very consistent – the kind of char siew you would find at any hawker stall. Plus, the bun turned out to be not that crispy afterall. Instead of crumbling in your mouth, this po luo pau is a little chewier and you still get that “bread/bun” texture when you dig into it.

The Winner: Tim Ho Wan 添好運

Well, the 酥皮叉燒包 was not all that I got to try at Tim Ho Wan. We also ordered quite a number of their other famous dim sum. Let’s start with some of my favourites first..The Pan Fried Carrot Cake 香煎萝卜糕 ($4.50 for 3pcs) is quite awesome. They use Chinese sausages in it to give it this extra flavourful kick and unlike most carrot cake where it’s smooth throughout, you will still get bits of radish in between. Mmmmm.. absolutely yums! =PSiew mai 烧卖 ($5.00 for 4 pcs) is another must-order dish at any dim sum restaurant. How good a siew mai they serve actually determines how good the restaurant is.. hahaha, no la. I’m just kidding. But the siew mai at Tim Ho Wan is surprisingly better than their Har Gow.The Har Gow 晶莹鲜虾饺 ($5.50 for 4pcs) was not that great that day.. I had better ones in Melbourne before, where the prawns are super fresh and bouncy. This Har Gow was just average although they did stuff it quite full with prawn meat.The Beancurd Skin Roll with Shrimp 鲜虾腐皮卷 ($5.50 for 3pcs) is much better than the one you get at Crystal Jade. The skin is crispy and thin, and it was quite packed with shrimp meat.I guess the Osmanthus Jelly 杞子桂花糕 ($3.50 for 3pcs) is more of a ladies thing. I wouldn’t recommend you to try this unless you really like the taste of Osmanthus flower (桂花 guìhuā). The jelly is filled with flower petals and one small bite will fill up your mouth with a flower garden in full bloom. =DOut of the “Big 4 Heavenly Kings” 四大天王 dim sum, the Chee Cheong Fun 黄沙猪肠粉 ($5.50 for 3pcs) is my least favourite! Not only because I’m not a fan of pig’s liver, but also because the chee cheong fun wasn’t silky enough. We also did not get to try the Steam Egg Cake 香滑马来糕 ($3.80) which was sold out that day, but fret not, there’s always another chance to re-visit Tim Ho Wan again.A word of advice.. Even 2 weeks after the grand opening, the queues at Tim Ho Wan are still just as crazy! Don’t bother going there after 7:30pm hoping to get a table because the staff would have probably closed off the queue by then to ensure that those who managed to join the queue still get to eat before the restaurant closes at 10pm.

And be prepared to queue for at least an hour before you get a table (that is if you're lucky enough!). The good thing is that the Tim Ho Wan staff also distributed bottled water to everyone in the queue which is a very nice gesture towards all its patrons. Well, that's what I call awesome service!

Read more on my blog: www.jerjerjer.com/timhowan

Read more on www.JerJerJer.com (my blog): http://bit.ly/dgoodcafeThanks to a good friend of mine, CalvinTimo, I got to check out this newly opened Cafe at Holland Village! I’m always up for a good cuppa coffee even if it’s 7pm at night – somehow, caffeine does not really have an effect on my body. We had quite a number of cups that night and I could still fall soundly asleep the moment I got home.. haha.. I am like totally born to drink good coffee I guess! =PWhen I’m not drinking a (sinfully sweet) Frappuccino from Starbucks, I usually like my coffee bold, rich and sugarless, so I decided to give their Caffè Macchiato ($4) a shot. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what a “Caffè Macchiato” is – it’s basically a shot of espresso coffee with a tiny dollop of milk. What you’ll get is a creamy, rich miniature cup of coffee, and a shot straight to coffee heaven. =D

They also do Latte Art but it was a pity that I didn’t get a chance to see the barista in action..The bear is waving to you! haha.. isn’t it just too cute to drink? We didn’t drink this cup of Caffe Latte in the end because it got cold, but I did managed to try out their Ice Latte on a separate occasion, which had a bit too much milk and not enough espresso to it. Anyway, here are their delectable Cheesecakes (made by the boss himself!):If you ever visit d’Good Cafe, you definitely MUST try out their cheesecakes. The d’Good Strawberry Cheesecake ($8) is fluffy with a layer of sponge cake at the bottom and cream cheese in the middle, smothered with strawberry jam and a sprinkling of nuts. Plus, they use Korean Strawberries which are known to be sweeter than your regular USA/Australia Strawberries.If you’re like me and prefer something richer and more decadent, then go for the Maple Sea Salt Cheesecake ($8). All that creamy goodness and a crunchy base, typical of your classic New York Cheesecake. But interestingly enough, the owner uses Sea Salt and Maple Syrup to give it rather a unique twist. Well, cheese on its own has always been salty but you usually taste more of the sweet and sour in cheesecakes.

The difference with this Maple Sea Salt Cheesecake is that it’s sweet, sour and also salty! You also get a rather fragrant whiff of the maple syrup with each bite. Mmmmm.. just thinking about it now, has me salivating in front of my computer screen! =PThey were all sold out of this Triplet Cheesecake ($8.50) when me and CalvinTimo were there that day, but I managed to go back on a separate occasion to try it. It’s $0.50 more than the other cheesecakes which makes you wonder what extra premium ingredient did they use that warrants the price difference. *shrugs* I’m not too sure actually, but this is a triple-layer cheesecake. On top, you have a rich layer of chocolate. In the middle is the cheese and right at the bottom is a layer of Oreos. If you’ve got a super duper sweet tooth, then you’ll probably like this because all three layers are just indulgently sweet.

Now on to the main courses for the night..Having just had an awesome Eggs Benedict at Benjamin Browns just a day before I went to d’Good Cafe, I must say that the one I had at Benjamin Browns was more indulgent. The homemade hollandaise sauce they used at d’Good Cafe could not really match up to my expectations for a sinfully rich and creamy sauce to compliment the poached eggs. Their Spaghetti Carbonara ($16) on the other hand was rather good! I do cook my own pastas once in a while and this Carbonara at d’Good Cafe has a rather “homecooked” vibe to it which I enjoyed. The creamy white sauce was thick and rich, and the bacon slices added to the savoury decadence of a good creamy pasta.

Well, our night was just getting started.. next, we had some coffee lessons from the boss himself. And learned about the roasting, brewing and blending of coffee. Check out this video of the coffee beans roasting:



What a cool machine, don’t you think? I would love to have it in my future house, although I’m actually eyeing their “Elektra” espresso machine too, which comes in the shape of a huge silver bell. The boss gave us some tips on roasting coffee beans and how some of the beans are actually “empty shells”. Even though these empty beans do not really affect the flavour of the coffee in the end, the boss still painstakingly takes the effort to pick out each and every empty shell after the beans have finished roasting.If you had noticed the tagline for d’Good Cafe earlier, it’s actually “Blend & Brew it the way you like it”. The reason behind this is that they offer a service where you can create your very own blend of coffee based on the qualities you want your coffee to have! This process is called Coffee Cupping and we had the chance to try it out first-hand.First, you fill up a form stating what type of flavours you like to have in your coffee: be it nutty, chocolatey, winery, citrusy, etc. Next, the barista will prepare a few cups of coffee for you, each made from a different variety coffee beans. You then take some time to sip each cup while rinsing your palate with plain water between each sip. Finally, you let the barista know which cup of coffee you prefer over the others and why.

They will then help you decide on what goes into your final blend of coffee which will be made up of the 3 distinct flavours that you had listed earlier on. Once you have gotten the perfect blend that you want, they will enter it into their database and you can even name your own unique blend! Psssst.. You can now order a “CalvinTimo” blend of coffee from d’Good Cafe if you wanted to. =D I didn’t get to create my own blend that day due to the lack of time..

To end off the night, we had a photo taken using the cafe’s polaroid camera! They decorate the walls with lots of photos of all their customers.. try finding our polaroid shot when you visit d’Good Cafe the next time! =PRead more on www.JerJerJer.com (my blog): http://bit.ly/dgoodcafe

I don't really understand what is all the rave about savory pies. It's not something that I would particularly crave for but I must say that the pies they serve here are not bad. I had the Chicken Pie lunch promotion for $12.95 and comes with a free coffee.The coffee here packs a punch and I usually like to drink hot coffees without sugar. It goes really well with the desserts that we ordered too! One sip of good coffee, accompanied by a scoop of cheesecake.. ahh, simply heavenly. =DThis Lemon Meringue Pie is so citrus-sy and sour that even though I usually like sour stuff, it was a little bit too much for me. Not to mention that the slice they gave us was huge and three of us had trouble finishing the cakes.Their New York Cheesecake was also pretty ok. It's not the best that I've tried before and was not that memorable but it was decently cheesy. =] Oh, one thing bad about this new outlet is the service - the lady at the cashier seemed pretty new and did not know how to handle the cashier properly. She also made a mistake with our orders.