Koskos

C says:

The lovely people behind SPR MRKT have opened Koskos, a takeout joint at the basement of Hong Leong Building (opposite Lau Pa Sat).

Catering to the time-strapped folk in the area, they offer soups, sandwiches and salads to-go. Some of their offerings include a smoked duck, pear and spinach sandwich, and garden and Niçoise salads. You can also mix and match from a range of more substantial salads, like quinoa with roast chicken and beetroot, sausage and corn fusilli, and a delicious but oh-so-hard to justify after a gym session potato salad.

They also have a range of (constantly changing) desserts available all day, like their classic bread pudding and a wicked double chocolate cake (above).

A small retail section sells goodies like Two Rabbits Smoky Chilli, Second Helpings' Ori Beenut Butter, and this adorable hedgehog doorstop. 

Can't. Continue. Hedgehog. Too. Cute. 

A says:

Yums.

Artisan Boulangerie Company (ABC)

C says:

I've attended a few corporate events at the Asia Square branch of ABC, and it has quickly become a firm favourite. They add a lovely personal touch and take great pains to make our events very enjoyable indeed.

Some of the bites that they offer are shot glasses with a mushroom, grana padano cheese and truffle risotto, seared ribeye steak with pepper sauce, tomato bruschetta and filo pastries with minced meat. All are really yummy, particularly the beef and the risotto shots, which everyone just can't seem to get enough of.

Their tarts are legendary. While many people predictably make a beeline for the chocolate tarts, I much prefer their lemon tarts, which have the perfect balance of sweet and tart. Their eclairs and fruit tarts are pretty good too, but give me the lemon tarts any time.

I like the place so much that I brought A for dinner one night after work. We had the linguine with meatballs, and the Serrano ham and emmental cheese panini. The linguine was clean and simple, and I really liked the panini. I would have preferred the addition of a slightly stronger cheese to add a bit more flavour and saltiness - some grana padano from the risotto would be perfect.

They also do one of the best pain au chocolats in town - light, flakey and fluffy, they're even better than some of the ones we had in Paris recently.

A says:

Pastries are great. Meatballs are great. Everything else is average. The branch at Asia Square does make for a great place for quiet weekday dinners in Shenton Way though.

Seriously Ice Cream

C says:

Seriously Ice Cream is our new go-to place if we want a light ice cream snack. Their ice creams are made without preservatives so the texture is a lot lighter and less dense than regular ice cream, but that’s also what makes it so light and refreshing.

They also do interesting flavour combinations, and they even have a mystery flavour every weekend. If you can guess every element of the mystery flavour, you get a free scoop of ice cream. It may sound easy enough, but with flavours like olive oil lemon oregano, or mango cardamom cheese curds, we haven’t gotten it right so far.

Our mainstay flavour is the amazing Lychee Rose, and we’ve also tried their blue cheese waffle with a miso gula Melaka ice cream. The waffle was a bit light on the blue cheese but you can always tell them to amp up the blue cheese when you order. The owners are really friendly and extremely accommodating.

A says:

Great flavours. Lychee Rose is must-try.

Seriously Ice Cream
Block 4 Everton Park
#01-44
Tel: 9621 6889
Closed Tuesdays

Gyoza Ya

C says:

I must admit I had my misgivings when we stepped into Gyoza Ya at the new Robinsons Orchard. Since it's a home-grown concept by the Akashi group, I assumed it was just a novelty restaurant without much substance. I was very pleased to be proven wrong - the food was simple but very tasty.

We tried the pork gyoza and the vegetable ones. Needless to say, the pork ones were far superior, with a sweet, flavourful filling. The vegetable filling was decent but a bit mushy and lacklustre compared to the pork.

By far the most interesting dish was the Jyajya Men - their Japanese take on zhajiang mien. After mixing up the cucumber, leeks, noodles and miso-based minced pork, you can season it further to your liking with more miso and vinegar. When you're down to the last few mouthfuls, they will give you a soft boiled egg to crack into the bowl and some hot sobayu, and you mix it up with more miso to form a noodle soup of sorts.

Given the limited menu, I don't recommend coming here if you're ravenous. It's good for a light bite if you're not very hungry.

A says:

Surprisingly good. Given the lack of dining options in the area, this makes it to the top of the list.

Gyoza Ya
260 Orchard Road
B1-02 Robinsons Orchard
Tel: 6737-5881

Sweet Spot Deli

C says:

Sweet Spot, Marina Bay Sands' pastry shop, has opened a NY-inspired deli selling bagels and cured meat sandwiches.

Their sandwiches come in a variety of options, with pastrami and/or corned beef, and sauerkraut or coleslaw. You can get a full portion, or a half. We ordered 2 halves, one with sauerkraut and one with coleslaw.

For a non-sandwich eater, I found these very good. The bread was buttery and grilled, the meats were tasty and the combination of ingredients was just right. I preferred the sauerkraut as it added a tart balance to the sweetish Russian dressing.

A also tried the smoked salmon bagel which in comparison wasn't as good. The smoked salmon was good but proportions were a bit off, and the bagel overpowered everything else. Much better deconstructed; the cream cheese here has a nice light texture.

Not sure how long it'll last, since it was pretty deserted on a Friday evening, but I'm sure A will want to come back at least a few more times.

A says:

Best deli-style sandwiches in Singapore. Awesome, awesome, awesome. The staff were super friendly too. Approved.

Sweet Spot Deli
#01-30 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
10 Bayfront Avenue
Tel: 6688-8584
Sun - Thurs: 8am to 11pm
Fri, Sat and PH: 8am to 12 mn

Lady M at One Fullerton

C says:

Lady M has opened its second outlet at One Fullerton, offering a wider selection of its signature mille crepes (like matcha) and other dessert creations.

We tried the banana mille feuille, and one of their other signature creations, the Checkers, which has alternating squares of vanilla and chocolate sponge cake bound together with a light pastry cream, and coated with a thick chocolate ganache.

The banana mille feuille was ok - it was more cream/custard than I expected, with only a small square of puff pastry and a thin outer layer acting as the feuille. The Checkers, on the other hand, was superb. Light, airy, with just enough cream and chocolate to not be overpowering. Possibly my new favourite cake.

The ambience at One Fullerton is also much more conducive to chilling than at Marina Square, with its harsh fluorescent lighting and openness to wandering passersby.

A says:

As much as I like mille crepes, I must say the Checkers cake is even better. Win!

Lady M Fullerton
#01-10, One Fullerton
Tel: 6820-0830
Open daily: 10 am - 10 pm
www.ladym.com.sg

Lady M Bakery

C says:

Lady M Bakery from New York allegedly created the concept of mille crepes, so when they opened their first outlet in Marina Square we were curious to find out just how good theirs were. Were they better than our favourite First Love Patisserie?

For one thing, they only have one flavour of mille crepes here at any given time. Due to production and manpower limitations, they can only focus on one flavour at a time.

They only had the original so we tried that. And yes, all things considered, I think it IS slightly better than the one from First Love. The vanilla cream is about the same standard, but Lady M's crepes are thinner and more fragrant.

Still, I don't think the difference is worth almost $2 more per slice, plus I like the varied flavours that First Love offers.

We also tried their cheesecake, which was light and creamy yet intensely cheesy.

All in all, while Lady M's flavours are limited (apparently it may improve when they open their second outlet at One Fullerton), my default will still be First Love.

A says:

The mille crepe here is better than the ones at First Love, but they are also $2 more each. So ultimately, it comes down to how much you want to pay.

Lady M Bakery
6 Raffles Boulevard
#02-103 Marina Square
Tel: 6822-2095
Open daily: 10-30 am - 9 pm

First Love Patisserie

C says:

Mille crepes are by no means new in Singapore. We first tried them a few years ago from Classic Cakes, and while we found it quite interesting, it didn't really grab us. Since then, more places have started offering it, but we've only recently become enamoured with the ones from First Love Patisserie at ION Orchard.

I think one of the reasons we like the mille crepes here is the fact that we can get individual slices, in a range of different flavours. They have original, cappuccino, matcha, oreo, strawberry, and 2 recent additions - belgian chocolate and blueberry.

We've actually tried most of the flavours, and our favourites are the original, cappuccino and oreo. The crepes are quite thin and fluffy, and the cream is light and not overpowering.

The matcha is probably the most underwhelming, and while the belgian chocolate is a good change from the original, die hard chocoholics will be disappointed because it's not particularly chocolatey.

If you buy 4 you get 1 free, which is a great deal but not very great for our diet at all.

A says:

I love mille crepes and these are awesome.

First Love Patisserie
2 Orchard Turn
#B4-63, ION Orchard
Tel: 6238-8006
Open daily: 11 am - 11 pm

More treats from Lek Lim

C says:

We went back to Lek Lim Nonya Kueh recently, to satisfy a craving for some of the items that really made an impact on us the last time, namely the chicken curry puffs, glutinous rice and steamed yam cake. The glutinous rice and yam cake were as good as I recall. While I still like the thin crisp skin and the flavour of the chicken curry puffs,  they've had their chilli level toned down, following feedback that they were too spicy. I find that slightly disappointing, since the spiciness really set them apart from other curry puffs, but I appreciate that my spice tolerance is higher than the average Joe's.
 
Together with a host of other local food vendors, Lek Lim will be at the SFF Village (booth number 2) for the Singapore Food Festival, in a bid to introduce their kuehs to a new generation of fans. They will be selling some of their signature kuehs, as well as their pineapple tarts and almond cookies, that are usually only sold over the Chinese New Year period.
 

Both were delicious. The pineapple tart pastry was buttery without being too crumbly, and the pineapple filling was nicely balanced – not too sweet nor too tart. The almond cookies looked as though they would be filled with almond paste or similar, but they were actually just buttery cookies with chopped almond bits baked into them. These were really fragrant and light, with a tender crumb. I love that both are bite-sized – they’re really addictive and great for snacking, but disastrous for my diet.
 
I’m definitely ordering these come Chinese New Year, but in the meantime you can try them at the SFF Village, which will be held from 12 to 21 July. I’m not very sure about the details, so check out http://singaporefavouritefood.com/2013/sffvillage.html for more info.

A says:

Very delicious. I like.

Crostini Bar

C says:

Crostini Bar along Haji Lane seems to have a few dining concepts under one roof. Upstairs is Bar Stories, primarily a watering hole, and food is served downstairs. True to their name, their main focus is crostinis of all kinds, but few are aware that they also have a carte blanche menu, where you are served 5 or 8 courses of what the chef wants to prepare that day.
 
We made a reservation for dinner, and went with the intention of trying the carte blanche. When we arrived, after confirming that we were there for dinner, we were curiously still ushered upstairs. We sat at a tiny table for possibly 10 to 15 minutes, while waiters walked past us without paying any attention to us at all.

Finally, I couldn’t take it any more and flagged someone down, asking if we could order and what the carte blanche menu was like that day. He suggested that we didn't take the carte blanche because the wait could be long if the kitchen was busy. After disappearing for another 5 minutes, they finally took our order, then gave us a table downstairs.
 
That unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the meal. I wasn’t particularly happy that we were“forced” to order the crostinis, and we were seated next to the main door that people kept opening and not closing behind them.
 

As far as the food went, nothing was particularly outstanding. The grilled steak crostini was probably the best of the crostinis, and the slow cooked egg, a non-crostini item, gave some hints that the carte blanche definitely has potential.
 

The fairly lackluster meal was saved by the dessert, as well as the lychee martini that I ordered. Dessert was an espresso and chocolate mousse with bits of chocolate soil, which was surprisingly good. Both the coffee and the chocolate were perfectly balanced. The cocktail was also excellent, which I guess is to be expected given the bar upstairs.
 
I’m definitely still curious about the carte blanche menu, but given how inconvenient parking is in the area, I don’t foresee us coming back to try it any time soon.

A says:

Meh... I guess it's a good option if you're in the area and don't want the usual arab/indian/muslim food you'll find there.

Crostini Bar
55 Haji Lane
Tel: 6298-0838
Mon – Fri: 4 pm – 11 pm
Sat & Sun: 4 pm – 1.30 am

Pies and Coffee

C says:

This could well be our new favourite place to grab a fuss-free light meal. They currently have 3 outlets in Singapore (Turf City, Rochester Mall and somewhere in the East), but because of the ample free parking, so far we’ve only been to the Turf City one.
 
All the pies that we’ve tried here thus far – Duck Confit, Wagyu Beef Cheek, Chicken Cheddar and Seafood – have been really good. The crust is tender but not excessively flakey or crumbly, and the fillings are all different and all very tasty. I’m impressed that even though they’re just meant to be pie fillings, all the meats in the fillings are cooked really well – very tender and not overcooked or dried out.
 

Another good thing about them is that with every order of a savoury pie, you get a simple green salad and a big scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy. The salad is simply dressed with vinaigrette and pretty good, and I really like the mashed potatoes, which are hearty, rustic and have some texture from the added potato skins. We ordered a kid’s size Chicken Cheddar to go, which cost all of $5.45, and it still came with hefty portions of the salad and the mashed potato.
 
Not all of the pies on the menu are available on any given day, but it probably doesn’t matter because it seems like they’re all good.

A says:

Great pies. And while it seems a bit pricey, once you factor in the complimentary salad and mash, it's a pretty good deal. Plus, the coffee is great. Win!

Squirrel Bites

C says:

This tiny little unit in Vivocity, next to HK Kim Gary, sells, at first glance, deep fried flat bread with either sweet or savoury toppings. I perhaps unfairly dismissed them as an unhealthy waste of calories, but A was keen to try it so we ordered one - the chocolate, banana and coconut one.

I stand corrected. I may not have this regularly because I still think it's pretty unhealthy, but I have to admit that it was pretty tasty. The dough turned out to be really light and fluffy, almost like a donut. It's dusted with cinnamon sugar before your chosen toppings are added.

Each one is prepared to order, so you do have to wait a while; we had to and there wasn't even much of a queue.

A says:

Surprisingly good. It definitely tastes better than it looks. I definitely wouldn't mind having another one sometime.

OKB

C says:

OKB stands for both Our Kind of Bakery/Bistro, and One Kampong Bahru, its address. By day, between 11 and 6, it's a bakery selling home-made cakes, cookies, breads and pastries. In the evening, it becomes a bar/bistro, serving up drinks and sharing plates of bar bites.

We only discovered this place after trying one of the Bakery's cookies - a buttery shortbread studded with cranberries that they created for Christmas. I was so enamoured with the melt-in-your-mouth gem that I did a bit of online research, and called them to find out more.

Turns out the cranberry cookie isn't on their regular menu, but the pastry chef can whip up some to order if you give her enough notice (about 2 to 3 days). We arranged to collect the cookies on a Friday evening after work, and headed there for dinner.

The place is really cosy and small, with a pretty limited seating area. Tables are also quite small, which makes it a bit of a challenge for us given how much we order. Still, the food and especially the service more than make up for it.

Two standout dishes we had, not coincidentally also their two most popular, were the chicken wings and the steak. The mid-joint wings were marinated in a belachan butter marinade, then fried. I think there was only a light coating, and no batter - just the way I like it. The marinade was super flavourful and mildly spicy, and the wings were cooked to perfection. Each order comes with 4 wings; we're gonna need 2 orders next time.

When we ordered the steak, we asked for it to be medium rare, but were told that the steak is actually slowed cooked through, because they sous vide it, and sear it upon order. I'm pleasantly surprised that they take so much trouble; it certainly shows because the dish was really good.

The pan-seared scallop with buah keluak oil was pretty good too, with the very meaty scallop cooked perfectly. I couldn't really taste the buah keluak oil though. 

The pan fried Haloumi cheese with tomatoes and the chilli crab rillette were, in comparison, a little disappointing. They weren't bad, just a bit ordinary compared to the other dishes.

For dessert, we shared a salted caramel cupcake, and a mini blueberry and lemongrass creme brulee. Both were surprisingly very good. The cupcake interestingly used a chocolate rather than a vanilla base, and was very moist and light.

I had some reservations about the flavour combination for the creme brulee, but I needn't have worried. You could just about taste both the blueberry and the lemongrass, but neither were overwhelming.

Overall, I was very impressed with both their baked goods and their bistro offerings. Parking is a bit of a problem, as is seating/table space, but those aren't enough to keep us from going back. Those wings were amazing.

A says:

The food ranges from average to above average, but the desserts are awesome. The place is a bit cramped and the service a bit iffy (which I'm hoping are just teething problems since they've been open less than a month).

Overall, I'd go again, mostly for the desserts.

OKB
1 Kampong Bahru Road
Tel: 6220-4711
www.okbtreats.com
www.onekampongbahru.com

Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery

C says:

Atetoomuch was invited by Gavan, third generation owner of Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery in Bedok North, to view their operations and have a go at making our own ang ku kueh. The company was started by his grandparents in the 60s as a home kitchen, and only moved to Bedok in 1986. They have relied solely on word-of-mouth all these years, mainly supplying to hotels and other stores. Now that Gavan has come on board, he thought it would be good to introduce the younger generation to the snacks of yesteryear, and to revive interest in our local culinary delicacies.

As part of his efforts to reach out, he's set up Lek Lim's website, www.kuehkueh.com.sg, where you can view their product catalogue, and also place online orders.

Pretty much all of the items that they make onsite (they sell some things like kueh ambon that they don't make themselves) are hand-made, which is a dying art these days.

The ang ku kueh session was a hoot. They make 4 different kinds of ang ku kueh here - the traditional green bean, peanut, coconut and salty green bean. They gave us the first 3 to try our hands at making, with the filling in pre-rolled balls.

I found it lots of fun. The first one I made was a bit iffy, but after a few failed attempts I must say mine didn't look too bad. A's first attempt was a tragic monstrosity, haha. It took 3 of us long enough to make 16; I can't imagine making trays and trays of these on a daily basis.

We got to take home the ones that we made (since I don't think anyone will pay good money for our misshapen attempts), and I must say, if our experiments already tasted this good, I can only imagine how the professional ones will be. The skin is light, and tasty in its own right. The fillings are very generous, and in particular we really liked the peanut.

Some of the other items that really stood out were the curry puffs, the glutinous rice, and the steamed yam cake.

The curry puff was outstanding. In the age of machine-made Old Chang Kee curry puffs, with thick dough and dumbed-down filling, this is a joy to eat. The skin is thin, and the filling is properly spicy with a hint of kaffir lime leaf. Since Madam Moh doesn't make her pyramid curry puffs any more, I think this is now the best traditional fried curry puff around.

They do both a fried and a steamed yam cake; I was surprised that both A and I preferred the steamed one. The ingredients added heaps of flavour, and I like the fact that they added chopped bits of yam to add texture as well.

They make soon kueh, koo chye (chive) kueh and png (rice) kueh as well. I liked the fillings, especially for the soon kueh, but I personally found the skin a little too thick. I would have liked the skin to be a little thinner so that I can taste more of the ingredients.

They also make kueh salat, kueh lapis (9 layer kueh), ondeh ondeh and tapioca cake. The ondeh ondeh was good, but I wasn't as fond of the salat and lapis; I think I'm used to slightly sweeter versions of both of them.

The mindset these days, especially as we become more affluent and well-travelled, is that these local snacks are too reminescent of our grandparents' day. Cupcakes and macarons are all the rage, and local kuehs are seen as "uncool". A and I are probably culprits of this mentality as well, but sampling some of Lek Lim's snacks, and thoroughly enjoying them, has made me realise that sometimes, it's good to just go back to the basics. Nostalgia defininitely tastes good.

A says:

Everything was great except for the layer cake and the kueh salat. I highly recommend it if you're into old school local "snack" foods.

Lek Lim Nonya Cake Confectionery
Block 84, Bedok North Street 4
#01-21
Tel: 6449-0815
Mon - Sat: 4 am to 6 pm
Sun: 4 am to 2 pm
www.kuehkueh.com.sg

Paul again

C says:

When we went back to Paul Bakery again for lunch on a Saturday, it was considerably more crowded. Luckily most of the people in the sizeable queue were in larger groups so we managed to breeze past the queue to a table for 2.

The menu has been updated slightly, with a few new additions like the smoked salmon tartine that A ordered. The bread was a little too hard, and the celery dice in the mayo kinda threw me off. I preferred the smoked chicken tartine I had the last time.

I ordered the rosti with mushrooms, which was very good - juicy garlicky mushrooms on a crisp potato pancake. I fancy they do their hot dishes better than their cold ones.

I planned to order the mille feuille that eluded me the first time, but then I saw the strawberry eclair. Wow. That had my name written all over it, and it didn't disappoint. Softly whipped pastry cream, fresh strawberries and a light choux pastry. Divine.

A had the waffle with chocolate sauce and chantilly cream. A bit ordinary. The waffle was super light and fluffy, but we've had better ones. Like the one at L'Entrecote.

Desserts here are fabulous; mains, a little more touch and go. I reckon it's a great place for ladies who lunch. Sigh.

A says:

It’s my kind of menu. Lots of smoked salmon and desserts. The quality is decent, but not really spectacular. Surprisingly, C’s rosti was the best thing we had. I’ll probably be back if I’m in the area.

Paul Bakery

391A Orchard Road

#03-16/16A/17, Ngee Ann City Tower A

Tel: 6836-5932

Open daily: 10 am – 11 pm (last order 9.45 pm)

Paul Bakery

C says:

I'd like to consider our unplanned visit to Paul as somewhat of a teaser. We were there minutes before last orders on a Sunday night, so understandably some of their signature items that we wanted to try were sold out. Still, our experience was good enough that we definitely want to return.

Tartines, crepes and potato pancakes make up most of their menu. I had the roast chicken tartine with a dollop of cream cheese - given that I'm not really one for sandwiches, this was much better than expected. The tartine was an open-faced sandwich, and the chicken was very tender and had a nice smokiness.

A had potato pancakes (a bit like a rosti patty) topped with smoked salmon, which he was very happy with. I liked that the smoked salmon wasn't excessively salty.

The Mille Feiulle I wanted was sold out so I got a strawberry tart instead that was quite nice. A's sugar crepes were very simple, and very good because of it.

To be honest, I don't know how packed this place is on weekend mornings/brunch, but if it's not insane I'd like to come back to try more.

A says:

Totally me. I like.

391A Orchard Road

#03-16/16A/17, Ngee Ann City Tower A

Tel: 6836-5932

Open daily: 10 am – 11 pm (last order 9.45 pm)