St Marc Cafe @ Vivo City

Menu:

Value Meal!

 

Interior:

 

Our order:

 

 

 

Passed by this cafe while having the dinner at Vivo City the other day. I was first drawn to the place by the wonderful smell of the delicious pastries. Upon closer investigation, I realized the cafe was actually a branch of the same cafe I visited when I was in Tokyo! I was ecstatic but I couldn't try it as I was too full from dinner.

 

Finally got time to come by this week and to my joy, I found that the Choco Cro that they are famous for tasted just as divine as the one in Tokyo! I requested for my Choco Cro to be heated up and let me tell you, the taste of the piping hot, slightly melted chocolate (sweet with just a tinge of bitterness) oozing out of the soft, buttery flaky croissant is just heavenly, I would eat this everyday if I could.

 

The Royal Milk Tea (S - $5, M - $6, L - $7) was also pretty good, I liked the well-balanced fusion of the tea leaves and rich, velvety steamed milk. Not the typical milk tea that is not much different from the ones served in bubble tea shops that some places have.

 

Since the lunch set (11am to 3pm) seemed pretty value for money, we decided to get the savory items as well. They were pretty ok, but I wouldn't be shelling out money just to buy it if it wasn't part of the set.

 

Highly recommend this place, I can't wait to go back!

Hoshino Coffee @ Plaza Singapura (星乃珈琲店)

 

My order... lol

Came across this place when I was shopping for some clothes for work at Plaza Singapura. The tantalizing display of the menu items on the table at the entrance of the cafe definitely caught my attention.

Although it was about 2.30pm when we got there, the place was packed and it had a line of people outside waiting to go in. But we were seated in about 10 minutes and our food arrived quickly once we were seated. There were quite a number of Japanese families and couples dining there so we knew that this place had to be good.

Interior of the restaurant.

Service button so you can easily get the attention of the servers.

Pot-Baked Curry Rice ($15)

Double Pancake Souffle ($12)

Blended tea with milk ($6.80)

We ordered the pancake souffle that they are supposed to be famous for (observed that nearly every table had ordered this item) and the server informed us that it would take 40 minutes to be ready and asked if we would be ok with them starting to make it first.

The pot-baked curry rice was one of the best curry rice I've had. The curry was thick and flavorful and had a nice, beefy aroma and it tasted even better once we mixed the runny egg yolk on top in. I liked that they baked and served it in the pot as it kept the rice piping hot.

The blended tea was a nice little palate cleanser before the highly anticipated pancake souffle came. However, it tasted like a typical red tea, not much to rave about, so I felt it was slightly overpriced.

Finally, it was time for the pancakes. My mouth was watering at the mere sight of it, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it.... and it did not disappoint. It was light and fluffy, kinda like a souffle, but not as soft and creamy since I guess it is supposed to be a fusion of the two. But it was perfect. Although the maple syrup given was pretty pathetic, it didn't matter cos the pancake souffle was already pretty damn good on it's own. I really like the whipped cream on top, it tasted kinda buttery and went well with the pancakes.

Despite being seated in a corner, service was really attentive with the servers clearing our tables whenever we were done with the food, bringing us side plates and new utensils and filling our iced water. Definitely plan on revisiting soon.

Festive High Tea @ tcc

 

Jolly Choco-man ($7.30)

Tea Set ($16.80)

Crime Scene Investigation.

Verdict: Tastes kinda crappy and horribly overpriced tbh.

High Tea Special at Coffee Stars by Dao

UOB Ladies' Card Exclusive at Coffee Stars by Dao, a set for 2 costs $35. Without the card, I think it's $45.

Comes with 2 pots of tea.

Assorted finger sandwiches.

Selection of some of their best cakes.

Loved all the cakes here! Of the two cheesecakes, I liked the one topped with cherry best, the cherries were so sweet and juicy. And both the coconut cakes were awesome, the fresh coconut paired with the light, fluffy cake was simply heavenly.

Scones and macaroons.

Scones were soft and not too dry and I liked the buttery cream and jam given. I didn't have high expectations for the macaroons but I was pleasantly surprised by the coconut one! The shell was done just right, light and soft and the filling for the coconut one had a slight salty buttery taste to it which I quite enjoyed.

Overall I really liked the set but thought it was a bit expensive, might be cheaper to just order a few cakes and drinks to share.

Heart Bistro @ Palais Renaissance

 

Went to try out Heart Bistro's Hi!Tea Platter as there was a 1-for-1 promo for DBS/POSB card members (till 31 August).

Tea in a heart shaped cup. The tea was kinda meh but I'm a sucker for nice presentation.

The platter consisted of a mushroom quiche, 2 small sandwiches, chicken and tuna, banana cake and a brownie. Really enjoyed this as it had 2 of my favourite things, mushrooms and bananas! Mushroom quiche was great and I liked the sandwiches as well as the bread was toasted till slightly crunchy. Banana cake was good but the brownie was a bit dry for me.

Bill came up to $25 for 2 people, a pretty good deal if you ask me ;)

Arteastiq @ Mandarin Gallery

Bought some coupons on Bigdeal.sg and went to have the Set Meal today.

Very nice setting for a girls' day oh yeeeah

Earl Grey Lavender Tea. The small snack that comes with it is great!

Ginger Spice Iced Tea. Highly recommend this. Perfect for cooling down on a hot day.

Tuscan Crispy Brioche Panini Turkey. Ordered this cos it has brie cheese in it mmmmm.

Viva La Fiesta Tortilla Duck Breast. The sour plum sauce goes very well with the tender duck breast.

Gelato for dessert. Lychee tea and durian.

Dessert tea! Pomelo tea with pear tea gelato! Me gusta.

Cocospoon. Vanilla steam milk with milk chocolate. Very comforting.

Very nice setting and delicious food. But the serving for the food was kinda pathetically small. Saw many reviews complaining about the service but I have no complaints at all. I really enjoyed sitting back on the couch and watching the clouds go by above but the food is seriously overpriced. The price of the tea was quite all right though so I would probably only return for the delicious ginger spice tea.

Coffee Stars by Dao

I've walked past this place quite a few times and have always wanted to try it out just cos it looks pretty. Finally got a chance to try it out last Saturday, I was feeling super tired after walking from 313 to Wisma lol, was still recovering from a fever ok, and needed a place to chillax.

Random pic of my Bal on the seat. First time carrying out, it's not as heavy as I thought it would be, yay!

Honey Lemon Tea for my sore throat.

It tasted horrible! It's like they accidentally added too much honey and decided to add extra lemon juice to make up for the mistake. Idk if it's supposed to taste like that, they didn't offer to change it when I complained about it, just added more hot water for me -_-

Oolong tea. Kinda meh.

Pandan coconut cake with fresh coconut. This was delicious! Also, according to the manager, they only serve a limited amount everyday.

Anyway I just read up a bit about this restaurant, apparently it is a very popular cafe/restaurant from Thailand. Although this experience was not too good, I'll definitely give this place another chance and return to try the Thai food next time.

1-For-1 All Day Breakfast @ Coffee Bean

This offer is only available if you pay using the Coffee Bean Card. I don't think it's available at all Coffee Bean outlets, but I've seen it at both Orchard Central and 313@Somerset.

2 sets for $7.90. Good deal amirite?

Comes with tea as well.

I love the salad.

High Tea @ tcc

Available from 2pm to 5pm daily for the month of February:

You can choose to have it with either coffee or tea.

A set costs about $21 after GST and service charge and is meant to be shared between 2 people.

Although it is actually filling enough despite appearances, I feel it is not really worth the money. The sandwiches were not very good and the tea was mediocre, it tasted like Lipton tea and that costs like what, $0.10 a bag? The rest of the food was pretty decent though, I really enjoyed the yellow heart thing, no idea what it is lol, but it tastes a bit like bak kwa, and the tiramisu.

Christmas Afternoon Tea @ Chihuly Lounge

We made our reservations about two weeks before Christmas and had to make payment in advance, they probably wanted to prevent people from not showing up and wasting the space. I didn't know this before, but the Ritz Carlton is packed at Christmas. When we arrived, just slightly before 2.30pm, the Greenhouse, just opposite Chihuly Lounge was filled with people, probably enjoying the lunch buffet. The Chihuly Lounge looked kind of deserted in comparison, but that was because the Afternoon Tea Buffet only starts at 2.30pm. It started filling up about 30 minutes later.

Christmas tree in the lobby.

View from my seat, I was next to the buffet table \o/ The place had a really nice ambience.

Table setting. They had honey from Heidard!

Savory items.

Desserts! There was also a live station where the chef prepared warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. IT WAS AWESOME!

Iced peach tea. Instead of regular ice cubes, they had little balls of frozen tea, this prevented the tea from becoming diluted as the ice melted. Really nice presentation.

Lychee martini, yummy! There was a really friendly guy, carrying a tray of these around.

The buffet had a limited spread, but everything was really good. The food was refilled frequently, thus ensuring that they didn't turn cold from sitting out there for too long and service was very attentive, with plates being cleared once you left the table to get other stuff. The only bad thing was the scones were not particularly good and they didn't have my favorite dessert, bread pudding!

At about $50, I thought the price was quite reasonable. I'd definitely want to return and try the regular weekend afternoon tea next time!